Now that you are pregnant you may wonder about a few things. For example about pain during the birth. How bad will it be? What if you cannot cope? Is there anything you can get for the pain?

Giving birth hurts. There is no escape from that. But each birth is different and one woman may find it easier to cope with the pain than the other. Nobody can predict how much pain you will have. But do not get too concerned about it, there are all kinds of ways to relieve the pain. With or without medication. At home and in the hospital.

The leaflet ‘Your birth. How to deal with pain?’ lists everything that may help.

During the pregnancy it is very important to prepare properly for the birth together with your midwife. Being well informed about the birth and about experiencing pain is important for the birth to progress satisfactorily, a pregnancy course may help with that.

If you wish to use medication for the pain relief, you can chose between the epidural analgesia or the remifentanyl (morfine) with an i.v. line. This decision depends on your preferences and the stage of labour that you are in. Please discuss your wishes with your midwife. If you choose to receive an epidural or the remifantyl i.v. line, the gynaecologists or the midwife of the hospital will take over the care for the birth. We as midwives from De Bakermat try to stay with you if you want us present with you during the birth. Depending on what you need from our care. Because the responsibility for the care during labour and birth than goes over to the medical obstetricians team, we can not always stay with you. We will do wat we can to meet your request.