Forum - 27 weeks > Birth - Worried about the birth? Wondering about pain relief? Share your worries and expectations here on the final 3 months of your magical journey. This thread is called '
According to my last antenatal class (and i hope that i am remembering this right - worth checking with your midwife or doctor) - when you have an epiduiral your blood pressure tends to drop for awhile. This can be harmful to you and your baby (but only in extreme circumstances and i think most women are fine). With lower blood pressure it is harder to find a vein to put a drip / IV in, so before the epiduiral they put one in, jsut incase (they dont neccessarily attach you to a drip, just get you prepared so they can just insert the drip, with the needle already in your arm/hand. Makes sense? I dont know if i am explaining this well! If your blood pressure stays low or continues to drop then they'd put in fluids to try and raise it. They wouldnt put in pain relief into the drip as the epiduiral should be doing that.
Hope that helps!
In the UK at least, if you have an epiduiral you'll have a drip thing put in your hand before. Could be different in the US/Canada.
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