When to Ask for Epidural

Filed in archive Childbirth on August 7, 2008

Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, Image# 5348752

I tried to go medication-free with my first-born and but with my second pregnancy, I decided that I wanted to have an epidural way before the delivery date. What I didn't know was when exactly should I ask for it.

I don't want to ask of it too early because I wanted to be able to walk around as I've been told gravity does help the baby on its journey towards the birth canal. I want to be able to be on my feet and try to breathe the pains away until I can, and based on my previous experience, I thought I could probably tolerate the labor pains until late into the labor if I so wanted. On the other hand, I didn't want to postpone the epidural up to the point that it was too late.

While there are many references indicating how early one can ask for an epidural (as soon as the cervix is about 3-4 cm dilated), there isn't much info on how late can one ask for it. It seems that as long as you can keep still during the contractions (the insertion of the catheter does take a while, perhaps over a couple of contractions), it is never too late to get an epidural, medically speaking. If you get really late into the labor, it just might not take effect before the baby goes out.