Some of you may know, this was suggested early last year, that women should (if they want one) pay for an epidural, as this cost the Trusts alot more money, the anaethetist, in general longer labour, constant CTG, and (as a result) increased intervention rates.
So what do you think??
Do you think they should be made to pay/contribute in any way?
Do you think we should be disuading women from having them??
Thoughts please, as controversial as you like, I don't mind, it makes for a good debate (mind you p's and q's though lol) x

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What? Flat rate pay for it regardless? Or pay for it if its not medically indicated to be of any use other that to relieve pain?

What about women who are far too tired to keep going and need one to rest?

What about women who are to have a planned section?

Epidural for repairs?

Would they all be charged?

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I think women should be expected to pay something if there isn't a medical reason for them to have one. They do seem to lead to more interventions in labour, and can seem like an easy option for some women.

I don't feel they should have to pay if it is for a caesarean section though, planned or otherwise, because if mum is awake during delivery then she can start to bond with her baby a lot sooner than if she was to have a general anaesthetic, and her recovery time will be better too.

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Student Midwife 2007

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I Can see your point but where do u draw the line between a woman being a bit of a whimp and saying "i cant do it any more" and a woman genuinely being so exhausted she cant push any more and needs the epidural to give her a rest.

I think that a midwife can gauge if a woman is just too exhausted to carry on, surely that depends on how long her labour has been, especially the second stage when she has been actively pushing possibly with little or not progress being made?

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Student Midwife 2007

Student uni rep
Educational Resources Manager

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I appreciate your point but whos gonna argue with a labouring woman about whether she really really needs the epidural and in your opinion she doesnt and if she has it she will have ot pay for it.

Can u see where Im coming from?

Please dont take offence, after all, I havent even startded my training yet but i quite like debating and think it will do we well in the long run to see both sides of an arguement before im faced with the situation.

I think it would be something that would need to be discussed during the ante natal period if charging ever came into force. You couldn't have a woman turning up in labour and then telling her she would have to pay for an epidural, that would be totally wrong I think.

I guess there are points for and against this, and you are always going to have a situation where it just doesn't seem right to charge someone for this.

I do understand where you are coming from, and I agree it is good to debate a subject and see both sides of the coin.

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Student Midwife 2007

Student uni rep
Educational Resources Manager

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I think that now women want it cos they 'can't cope with pain'!

My cousin is expecting her first child in July and one of the first things she said to me was 'I'm going to have an epidural because I don't like pain'!!!

I think if midwives can re-educate women to trust themselves and their bodies, women wouldn't feel the need to have it so much. When I was doing birth prep most of the women were asking me what birth was like. My anwser was that yes it hurts, it's going to, but to try and view every pain as a positive (not easy I know).
I would say to them that if they break there leg, it awful and there is no reward for that pain. Yet the pain felt in birth is bringing you one step closer to holding your baby for the first time, and it's the greatest reward you'll ever have.


Off topic abit there, ooops.
I'm not sure about charging though. I think on one hand, yes we should, but on the other hand, the woman has the right to choose and if she has had real evidenced based advice then hopefully she can make the right descision.

I think that a woman may make choices during labour she may not have made while not in labour. To be charged money for the choices made while in immense pain, probably frightened and in unfamiliar surroundings while using the NHS which we already pay for in national insurance is a bit of a farce really. If epidurals are costing too much to use as a "labour aid" then don't make them available to women they're not medically indicated for. Don't make them an option. Taking the stance... "You may have this... but you'll have to give us this..." would put women's back up and if they didn't already know this, probably ruin their labour experience by adding more worry to a woman that perhaps would actually benefit in herself for using one, but now has the added financial implications of doing so... it also screams socio-economic divide... what about those who cannot afford it but want one? Too much of a class issue for my liking... No thanks.

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I think littlenoo has said what I wanted to before I lost the plot!!!!

Thank you