i had 5 kids and 5 epidrals and didnt think twice about when they asked if i wanted one!!!

They are safe for mom and baby, but like others have said are done at a specific point during labor and cannot be done too late into it, either. It can delay delivery, because mom loses the sensation of urge to push. I delivered natural with both of mine, but then I only labored 1 hour with each-don't hate me!!

Epidurals are safe these days. They've come a long way.

As a retired nurse I can verify a few of your questions.
1. You must be dilated two at least 2 fingers before they will consider giving your DIL an epidural. For the reasons Amma stated.
2. If your DIL she dilates too rapidly she will not be able to have the epidural because the delivery will come too quickly for it to take effect
3. It will not hurt the baby since the drugs deaded the nerve pain of the mother and it's injected into the facet joints of the spine. It does not go into her blood stream and effect the baby.

I hope this answers your questions and lessens everyones misgivings. If you have any other questions just PM me.

Best wishes to all

i would leave that to the doctors to say.all you can do really is be there with her and watch her who knows maybe your daugther will have a fast and easy delivery every woman is different in child birth only they can really say for sure whats best for her and baby.

Most of all I think each woman needs to be comfortable with her own process so I try not to comment.

I had my babies at home with a midwife. I always knew that would be my choice however DH was in the Navy with our first pregnancy. The hospital had some pretty midevil mandatory practices that I could not agree with. Homebirth got us around that. My personal belief is that birth is a natural process that doctors have made a medical one. If a woman needs medical assistance then whatever she needs is okay but if a pregnancy is natural and normal then let it progress that way. I also had a high school friend who was permanently paralyzed from a botched epidural. After that I knew that I could never sit still and allow someone to stick a needle in my spine. Both babies were born at home, neither had needless drops put in their eyes, neither were ever away from DH or I, DH was the first human touch they felt at birth. DS slept through the night at 2 weeks old and DD slept through the nigh at 3 weeks. They were peaceful, happy babies.

I agree...I would wait to see if it's really necessary.
I think a lot of first time mothers are amazed at how soon they "forget" labor pain. I wouldn't recommend it early in labor as it sometimes stops the process. But whatever she is comfortable with should be the guage.

I am another who went through over 20 hours of pretty good labor with a pitocin drip added on to find out that my son was transvers with his head wedged in my hip. Finally got the epidural and my son was delivered with forceps ... yes I do know that they are not used now, but I knew my doctor was experienced with them with no problems and my son is just fine. I'm sure today I would have been whisked off for a c-section.

Yes, I agree. She is in Denver and I am in NH, just trying to stay up with the time. This is her show and the medical team will do what is best.

piney

On another note...when our second child was born, her birth was a c-section because she had sommer-saulted and stuck in a transverse lie (sideways position) and there was no way she'd turn back. One of my brothers-in-law told me I "took the easy way out"....Then his wife had the rest of their children by c-section...My SIL agreed...NOT easy, but safer!

The spinal canal is covered by 3 layers, called the meninges. The arachnoid, the Dural and the epidural. (Sorry if I misspelled). A spinal block puts the anesthetics directly into the spinal canal after the needle has gone through all 3 meninges. The epidural puts the anesthetic in the epidural space before it reaches the canal, in the epidural space. The difference here is minimal, but the epidural goes not as deep. In any event, at the lumbar level the spinal cord is almost finished.