Epidural
The short definition
An epidural is pain relief for labour, injected into the space around the spinal cord in the lower back, which numbs the lower body.
What it actually means
An anaesthetist — a specialist doctor — puts a needle into the lower back. A thin tube is threaded through it into the epidural space, the gap around the spinal cord. The needle comes out and the tube stays in, so the medicine can be topped up.
She stays awake. That is the part most people get wrong. An epidural numbs the lower body for the pain of contractions. She is awake for the birth and can still push the baby out.
Generally she will not be able to walk afterwards. A few large hospitals offer a walking epidural, which allows more movement.
It does not make a caesarean more likely. It may make the second stage of labour longer and an assisted birth — forceps or a ventouse — more likely.
Where Dadda will hear it
Twice. Once in the third trimester, during the conversation about pain relief preferences, which is a decision made before labour starts.
Then in the room. "Do you want to talk about an epidural?" is a question asked of her, not of him, and the answer is hers. It is also a word some couples have agreed on in advance and some have not, which is worth knowing before the day.
A cannula — a drip — usually goes into the arm first, before the epidural itself. So the first thing he sees is somebody doing a different procedure.
Not to be confused with
- A spinal block. A single injection, straight into the fluid around the spinal cord, which cannot be topped up. An epidural leaves a tube in place so it can be. Both numb the lower body; they are not the same thing.
- General anaesthetic. With an epidural she is awake. Under a general she is asleep, and a support person is not in the operating room.
- A decision he makes. Having an epidural is her choice. His job is to know what the word means before it is said.