General anesthesia safe?

[ZoeG]

I was wondering in case I have to have a c-section if general anesthesia is safe/recommended.  I started doing some research and found some answers from ob/gyns that said it was riskier than spinal or epidural anesthesia however it depends on what your specific medical conditions are.  You can check their answers out here (http://bit.ly/qKO1zk) if you're curious- have you all heard/experienced anything differently?

[ChristineMP]

LOL...yes, 19 years :) My oldest will be 21 this week and my youngest turned 19 last month. I am having my third child a month before my 42nd birthday :) This is the first child my husband and I will have together (we've both been married before and have children with other people).

It's SO different this time around because I know so much more (I am a nurse now). I don't think I even thought about the possibility of a c-section with my others...

[JoyRenee]

Oh wow Christine! 19 years apart?! That's like starting all over again. Congratulations to you!!! I love the book Your Best Birth by Ricki Lake and Ina May's Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin if you haven't read those. Sounds like you've got a good plan. Usually avoiding the epidural and moving around will help prevent problems from occurring and thus needing emergency intervention.

[ChristineMP]

There are ALWAYS risks with any kind of anesthesia...and general anesthesia has a higher risk of complications than an epidural.

I understand your concern. I am 21 weeks pregnant with my third child (but my 2nd child was born 19 years ago!). Both of my children were born vaginally without an epidural and I plan to not have an epidural with this one...the downside is that I know without an epidural, if something were to happen and I need a c-section, I'm almost guaranteed to have general anesthesia. If I were to go ahead and have an epidural, I wouldn't have to worry about that...BUT I wouldn't be able to walk during labor (I chose my hospital specifically because they have telemetry fetal monitoring so I CAN walk during labor) and epidurals have their own risks...and the ONLY reason I am even considering one is to avoid the possibility of general anesthesia...

Pregnancy and childbirth can make even the sanest, most level-headed women go crazy thinking about what if??

[JoyRenee]

Well general anesthesia will knock you out; you won't be awake for the birth. This is typically only used for women who are allergic to other anesthetics and in very emergent situations. I know some doctors say epidurals and anesthesia don't affect baby but anything you put in your body will affect them so there's always risk.

Typically OBs will prefer you to have an epidural over general anesthesia so you can be present and awake for the birth of your baby. But again, if it is an extreme emergency they'll use general to knock you out fast.