This is an option at the Birthing Center I go to. It’s the only pain relief medication they offer. Insurance doesn’t cover it (I am sure that it would in many instances, just not in this one) so I will need to pay out of pocket for this if I want it. It’s $150, which doesn’t sound unreasonable.
Has anyone used this? I know that it’s more common outside the US. Did it help? Would you use it again or recommend it?
I haven’t had it during labour (currently TTC #1) but I did have it during my wisdom tooth extraction both times (I had two done at a time) and I thought it was great! It’s most definitely on my radar for when I do go through labour.
It would depend on what you want from pain relief though, as I found it really took me out of the experience. I was mostly aware of what was happening, but I really didn’t care! To be fair, it was not my only pain relief, I had local anesthetic as well as some Ativan so I’m not 100% sure what N2O is like on its own, but it seems like it might be worthwhile!
Yep, I used it for the first 4 hours of my 6-hour labour (my labour was quite fast and intense for a first time compared to the average, I think). I would hardly classify it as pain relief at all. It did help to start off with, because it made me focus on breathing deeply (desperately trying to get as much into my lungs as I could) and made me feel like I was doing something to get through contractions, and to stay calm and relatively relaxed. It also made me slightly dizzy and light-headed, which wasn’t unpleasant I found. It barely touched the pain, though, and really did absolutely nothing to it as labour went on and the contractions got stronger. It was a sort of distraction in the early stages, so it certainly wasn’t useless, but there comes a point where the pain is so strong you can’t distract yourself from it at all (or I couldn’t anyway). I didn’t really have any interest in experiencing the full pain of giving birth so for me it didn’t really cut it, and I got an epidural for the final two hours.
My mother gave birth to both of us with only laughing gas and she said it didn’t touch the pain for her either, but it helped her feel like it wasn’t really happening to her, that she was someone else. That wasn’t exactly my experience but I sort of know what she means.
I would use it again, sure. But I also wouldn’t hesitate again to move on to some actual pain relief once it gets really intense.
I think this is different from what they use at the dentist, bc its a mix of 50/50 oxygen and nitrous oxide. So probably not as strong.
Thanks! Yeah, I have no opposition to epidurals, its just that this place doesn’t offer any stronger pain meds to move on to. So, if you had to pay $150 out of pocket for the nitrous, would you feel like it was worth it?
Is this the same as Entonox or what is sometimes called gas and air? Different countries seem to call it different things but it sounds very similar as far as experiences go. I think it is one and the same.
Anyway, if it is, then yes I used it for baby number 1. For baby 1, 2 and 3 it was used for stitches afterwards. During stitches is is awesome, that’s when I would recommend it. During labour I used it during the later stages and it was the only pain med I used. I found it didn’t really do anything for pain but it takes you out of your body a bit and leaves your brain a bit foggy and unfocused on the pain so much I guess. I didn’t really like the feeling of being a bit out of control of things and unable to focus on the task at hand, but that’s what it kind of does I think. Not really a super-efficient pain blocker but not totally useless. [name_m]Worth[/name_m] a try anyway since it does no harm. I think it can make you a bit nauseous but then you stop sucking on it and it’s pretty immediate. If you suck hard enough it can get you pretty darn high… like I said, good for stitches, but not a great ‘buzz’ when you are trying to push out a baby. you can still stand up when using it but it does make you pretty light-heated. I personally found the birth pool with number 3 baby to be a lot more effective for pain management than gas. I also chipped a tooth sucking on the nozzle with baby # 1. That pissed me off a bit!
Whoa, chipping a tooth does not sound like a helpful thing to happen in the midst of labor! Yes, I think this is the same thing as gas and air. Thanks for the insight about using it during labor vs during stitches. That makes sense about needing to be focused on the labor. That is great to know about the effect disappearing quickly when you stop sucking on it- I was worried about reacting badly to it since I don’t always do very well on pain medications.
They do have birth pools available, so that is good to know about that being more effective for you than the gas and air. i guess I will try it, it’s better to have it on hand than wish I had it, right?
I had it for my daughter’s birth, I found it a bit hard to get the hang of at first, but it was helpful once I had the rhythm of it sorted. I found it relaxed me a little and took a little of the edge off the pain. Once I started pushing I was told to hand it back, so that was a bit sad! I would definitely recommend it, especially as it’s only $150. Seems like a reasonable price for it. I had wanted to labour in a birth pool but they were all taken when I arrived 
maybe next time 
Thanks, nannster! Taking the edge off the pain sounds like a good idea. They just started offering it and its rare in [name_u]America[/name_u] during labor (though common for dentistry) for some reason, so I hadn’t been able to find anyone in real life who has tried it.
Yes, @tarynkay, chipping a tooth was just the icing on the cake!!! Definitely better to have it on hand, you might use it for a bit then have a break then go back to it. [name_m]Just[/name_m] don’t bite down too hard on the nozzle!
@nannster, know what you mean about being sad to give it back. With my 2nd I was having stitches and was sucking the gas. Apparently I was moving too much so they said to give it back and hand over my brand new baby so I could concentrate on staying still. Then my baby was being held by my partner and she was crying, and I had no gas and no baby so I was crying. Hah, funny now, but not then.
They give you a nozzle and you are the one holding it and deciding when/whether to use it. Thanks for telling me about the nausea! I have been worried I may react that way since I don’t always react well to meds. But the fact that I can try it and then just stop using it immediately if I don’t like it is convincing me to give it a try.
That sucks about the spinal headache! [name_f]Do[/name_f] you think you would try an epidural again, or did that experience put you off so much that you wouldnt?
Yes, I used it and I loved it. Had nothing at all with baby #1 and just N.O. with baby #2 after a long labour. It doesn’t kill the pain but it certainly took the edge off. It’s very normal to use it here ([name_m]New[/name_m] Zealand), I wonder why it’s not more common elsewhere? Seems very harmless compared to other pain relief options.
Also, it wears off so fast (that’s why you have to keep breathing it in for it to keep working) that if you don’t like the effect it has on you, just stop breathing it in, and you’ll pretty much instantly feel fine again.
I hope the pic attached - this is from my labour with [name_u]Cato[/name_u], sucking on the gas and air nozzle!
Thanks, milasmama!
I really don’t know why it’s not more common here. It does seem odd, especially since dentists do use it so it’s not like its unavailable or considered unsafe. I read that only 4 hospitals in the US even offer it? This Birthing Center only just started offering it so even though I know several women who’ve had babies there, it wasn’t an option yet so none of them could tell me how it was.
Both my deliveries were in [name_u]Sweden[/name_u] and I used only the nitrous oxide gas. I had a mask that I could hold to my own face when I felt like I wanted it. For me it gave me some sense of control in a situation that otherwise felt quite out of my control. I didn’t feel fuzzy or out of it. I am not sure how much pain relief it actually provided but since I had managed delivering the twins with it reasonably well, I figured it would be fine for my singleton delivery as well. And as I said, it gave me that sense of control that I really needed to feel calm and focus.
Good luck with your choice and upcoming delivery!
Thanks! It is very encouraging to hear that you were able to deliver twins with just nitrous oxide!
[name_f]Taryn[/name_f], it’s not used in the US because it is difficult to dose and monitor, and it 100% crosses the placenta and affects the baby as opposed to local analgesia (epidurals and spinals). It’s a dissociating agent, not an actual painkiller, and it also acts on the vasculature to lower the blood pressure (again, in both you and the baby). It’s considered inferior and not the standard of care, but freestanding birth centers do not have the capacity to offer anything else.
It is used elsewhere as a cost-conscious method, to avoid a anaesthesia consultation.
Thank you! I will definitely do more research on it, then. Can you recommend any resources about this in particular? I really don’t want to take any unnecessary risks with the pain control, especially if it might cause low blood pressure since I already have very low bp.
This is the best; it’s technical though. Check out the references listed at the end.
In efficacy studies, as compared to inhaling just plain air, there was no statistically significant decrease in pain.
Edit: I looked through the literature re: systemic low blood pressure and NO, and I think I was repeating an old rumor which has been disproven. NO is metabolized so quickly that the low-blood-pressure effects are almost entirely restricted to the blood vessels in your lungs. That can cause a slightly different set of problems, but none that are very long-lasting.
The other thing to think about is that it’s a ‘dissociative’ agent, meaning it kind of makes you high. It takes you ‘out of’ your pain, rather than pharmacologically addressing the root cause of the pain. If remembering every detail of your birth is important to you, you might think twice.
Thank you, [name_m]Blade[/name_m]!
My birth center has it as an option as well but I don’t plan on using it. At least not right now. This will be my 5th pain-med free birth so I feel like at this point I don’t really need it, I’m used to it lol. They did explain to me how to use it if I ended up wanting to and I feel like I’d be too disrtacted to breathe properly with it haha.
[name_f]Do[/name_f] they offer water births at your birth center? That’s what I plan on doing.