difference between anaesthesia and epidural

I was given epidural during my first pregnancy for a c section ....
with epidural i was conscious through out the procedure just that lower body got numb ..

yes there are side effects with an epidural ...
i had got severe spinal headache ... but it got resolved within 3 - 4 days ... may not be the same for all ...otherwise it was a great success ...

some may get back ache ... but anyone can develop after delivery .


when performing c sections usually an epidural is preferred , if the doctor and anesthesiologists are experienced , that is because monitoring the patient is lesser with epidural than with general anesthesia.
also developing breathing complications are higher with GA

 

You will be given epidural for labor whether it is vaginal(only if your request it) or C-section (will be given for sure).
Epidural may or may not give back pains. I had a C-section and ofcourse an epidural but no back pain at all. I might have had the pinching feeling for 3-4 days but after that it was gone. But back pain can occur even in vaginal deliveries. So it all depends on your body as to how fast your recovery period is and how fast you get up and walk after your C-section.

Anaesthesia in C-section is possible but is usually avoided unless absolutely necessary.

Enjoy your pregnancy

 

I was given epidural for both kids. I started to shiver and they reduced the dosage upto 1ml for 1 hr. First it was a long labor and i didn't feel any pain. For second i had a very short labor, pain was intense and almost ready for del when i reached hospital, still i asked for epidural and even b4 i get numb, i delivered....so epidural didn't help much........
I didn't get any back ache......

 

Hey pridelady

Congrats for your pregnancy.
In CS they use anaesthesia some times where they inject you in the spinal chordonly once with a heavy dose of medicine which keps your lower body numb.Its given in other abdominal surgeries too.

FOr epidural they insert a big needle first in the spine then put a small pipe there abd continuously feed the medicine fron that pipe. This way the dose can be controlled abd ven stopped on fully dialating so that we can push effectively.

As other have said the side effects like back pain can occure in noramal non medicated deliveries too it all depends on our body. this spine injection both in epidural and in anaesthesia depends on the doctors skill too.

deepa

 

does it hurt ?

 

are you asking about spinal anesthesia ???

if yes ..... actually it doesnt .... you feel the pressure ...
thats what i felt , but the posture during this anesthesia is really important to get proper anesthesia .
i was stabbed ( it didnt pain though ) almost 3 times cos i moved a bit when they inserted the needle .

 

If the epidural is done by a anesthesiologists that is experienced .. most of the time there is no side effects.. If you notice the epidural is done by a new anesthesiologist or a nurse.. they can mess up.. and then the ladies sometimes.. get back ache / head ache..

In C- section they prefer epidural and not general anesthesia beacuse it takes LONG time for you to come out of the the medication and WAKE UP.. the doctors would like you to start Feeding the baby As soon as possible after delivery and this is not possible if you are knocked out with the heavy medication of general anesthesia for many hours.. the baby will be given formula bottle then.. (not so good) --- also with epidural, you get to hear the baby first cry and see the baby after a few mins of c-section delivery .. all this you will miss out in general anesthesia