A doula provides continuous support to you and your partner at your birth. Birth is still transformative even when medical intervention is required or desired. Having a doula may help you with an epidural because…

• Most epidurals block most of the intense contractions of birth, but do not usually relieve the pressure that comes with second-stage labor.
• Labor may progress too quickly to receive an epidural.
• Epidurals do not provide complete relief for back labor but now confine the mother and prevent her from doing many of the positions that relieve the pain of back labor.
• You may need to wait for the anesthesiologist or IV fluid.
• It may take 20 minutes to run the epidural in and another 15 minutes for pain relief.
• In order to push most effectively, the epidural should wear off as you "labor down."
• Epidurals come with other interventions: IVs, urinary catheters, continuous fetal monitoring either externally or internally, frequent blood pressure monitoring, maternal temperature checks. They also often result in shaking, distressing numbness, and breakthrough pain that may need some explanation.
• Sometimes the epidural does not "take" on both sides.
• The likelihood of needing many higher-level interventions up to and including Caesarean birth is significantly statistically reduced by waiting until you are at least 5cm dilated.

• Information
• Relaxation techniques
• Pain relief management
• Continuous support to both you and your partner

• suggest position changes
• get you ice chips
• massage your hands, scalp, shoulders, and acupressure points
• keep you company