Adele aka The Real Mumma, recently welcome her second child, a baby girl and streamed updates on Facebook as she experienced different stages of labour.

One of the images Adele shared on her Facebook page showed her trying to breathe through her contractions using the gas. She pointed out that she really didn’t like it at all.  “I feel like a teenage stoner, I don’t like it”

It got us wondering how our MoM’s felt about using the gas. So we asked on Facebook.

This is what they said -

Many mums said it made them feel terrible and nauseous so they couldn’t continue using it…

– “It made me loopy and my head felt really light like a balloon. Got sick and threw up both times.”

– “I had one suck and that was it made me feel horribly sick didn’t try anything else after that.”

– “For me the gas does not do anything. The only thing it did was make me feel really sick and mouth went really dry. It did help with concentration but made me feel to sick, so i didn’t bother using anything.”

– “I did not like it. The gas made me feel panicked. I dont like that spacey dizzy feeling and didnt really do anything for the pain.”

While other mums said it was AWESOME!

– “I loved the gas. They pretty much had to pry it out of my hands after my daughter was delivered.”

– “I absolutely love the gas o remember I kept saying ‘are you sure it’s working properly’ and ‘I feel like I’m in a night club really drunk'”

– “I loved the gas! Best part of labour.”

– “I asked them if they could install the gas at home to help me deal with my 2 year olds terrible twos whilst using it to birth my second daughter.”

– ” I loved my gas black tunnel….until the midwife ripped the mask out of my hands and made me face the reality of having to give birth.”

– “Loved the happy gas! Did make me feel sick but I was so off my face I had supersonic hearing I could even hear the walk signal beeping out on the street from inside my room.”

– “Also hallucinated though and thought I was a character from Ben and Holly’s magical kingdom, and sadly can’t remember much of the actual “birth” of my son.”

– “Love the gas ! Always made me talk a load of crap, which put my mind of the obvious haha.”

– “Was good for me was talking a lot of crap lol also felt like I was floating on clouds then falling was a good feeling but don’t know how my husband did lol nearly squeezed his wrist off! oooppps. I also remember me saying you did this tooooo meeeeeeee to him.”

What is the gas?

Nitrous Oxide (N20) is otherwise known as laughing gas. It is an anaesthetic gas that has been used since the beginning of the last century. It is commonly used at the dentist, during surgery and as a pain relief method during labour.

Nitrous Oxide is mixed with oxygen. The concentration of Nitrous Oxide that a woman in labour receives varies between 30 to 70%.

The effectiveness of Nitrous Oxide as pain relief in labour varies from woman to woman. Less than 50 per cent of women find it a satisfactory form of pain relief, 20 per cent obtain some pain relief for some of the time and around 30 per cent find it totally ineffective.

What are the advantages of using Nitrous Oxide during labour?

The advantages of using Nitrous Oxide during labour is that it provides some pain relief for some women. Women using Nitrous Oxide remain awake and in control of their own pain relief. Nitrous Oxide does not interfere with contractions, the time Nitrous Oxide remains effective is short and there are no obvious short term effects on mother and baby that have been noted to date.
What are the disadvantages of using Nitrous Oxide during labour?

Disadvantages of using Nitrous Oxide during labour include:
– Nausea and/or vomiting
– Not a reliable form of pain relief
– Women can become drowsy, confused or disorientated. Some women experience these feelings as quite unpleasant
– The face mask can make some women feel claustrophobic

What pain relief did you prefer using during childbirth? 

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Image via Facebook.