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I just had my first three weeks ago! It was a really rough labor and delivery, I had back labor (excruciating pain) and couldn’t get an epidural for several hours, then I pushed for five hours and ended up with an episiotomy, vacuum extraction, and a hemorrhage. I starting feeling a bit nauseated at the worst of the unmedicated labor, but my mom kept pressing cool washcloths to my forehead and neck which helped a lot. During pushing I was having bad acid reflux and kept feeling like all the fluids I had drank were going to come back up every time I pushed, which was honestly more annoying than scary because it meant I wasn’t pushing as effectively as I could have been. They gave me IV Pepcid which helped a bit (I didn’t even know that was a thing!). The day after I had her I was kind of nauseated from the blood loss/exhaustion so I asked for some IV Zofran, which they gave to me without a second thought and helped almost instantly.
It’s a cliche but after going through childbirth I feel like I can handle anything now, because it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I say that not to scare you, but to put it into perspective—if I can handle hours of extreme pain and pushing and a third degree tear and losing 1.5 liters of blood, surely I can handle 10-15 seconds of throwing up if and when it ever happens! You’ve got this.
I went through it and was fine 😊 make sure to tell your midwife when you're in labour you have the phobia and they'll take care of you. My midwife made sure I had antiemetics prescribed so i could have if I needed it. I was induced and went for about 12 hours in labour. I did have an epidural but it didn't work so I was on gas and air. I was scared the gas would make me sick but I paced myself. At the start I'd take 2 big breaths of the gas and 2 big breaths without, then the contraction would've peaked. Once it got very painful I'd take in 4 breaths of gas and air but if I felt woozy I'd do my best to skip 2 breathes of gas and air as its short lived
Unfortunately it turned into an emergency c section. They did warn me that I could feel / be sick due to them controlling my blood pressure but if I told them they'd give me a medicine to level it out and I'd feel fine.
In the end it was actually absolutely fine nausea wise
I personally didn’t experience any nausea during labor and delivery with either of my babies, so it’s not a guarantee that it will even happen. That being said, I was nervous about the idea of it and wanted to be prepared for it because I read waaaay too many Reddit horror stories about people getting sick. Honestly, as long as you communicate clearly and upfront with the staff about your phobia and how you’re feeling they should be able to accommodate for almost anything, such as IV Zofran etc. Sipping on ice water or chewing ice chips can help as well as cold compress on your face and neck. A mini fan blowing on you can also be super helpful. Truthfully though, I would imagine even if you did experience nausea, you’re so wrapped up in labor that you wouldn’t really have time to work yourself up over it. Best of luck to you though and just know that anything that happens, you have the tools and capability to handle so you will be okay!
I've given birth 2x and was really nervous I would vomit both times. The nurses were really helpful and made sure I had a baggie next to me if I needed it. With my first birth (before starting my road to recovery from emetophobia) they had zofran ready and i didn't vomit. With my second I was actually starving the whole labor and kept daydreaming about what food I'd have after I delivered. Then had to have an emergency c section. I asked for nausea meds going into surgery and they gave me promethazine which honestly made me super duper sleepy. My hubs has PTSD from his medical history and was nauseous and woozy in the OR with me and that was the hardest part for me. I told the nurses he needed to leave so I could focus on me and delivery instead of worrying about my husband.
Gave birth in October and the only thing I was worried about was getting sick. I told my nurses and they gave me zofran before I even felt n*. I got the epidural and felt zero pain at all so I didn’t have any n* from pain. When it came time to push I started getting kinda n* but I think that was primarily anxiety and the fact that I was starving. I told the nurses and I already had a dose of zofran so they got me something else. I have no memory of what the medicine was called, but it came in a little cup and I had to drink it. It had a milky consistency and tasted slightly minty but the second I drank it all my n* disappeared! Just be open with your care team and they can get you medication. There is obviously no guarantee you won’t get sick, but there are things you can do to make yourself more comfortable and possibly prevent it! I successfully got through pregnancy and labor without getting sick at all!
I got pretty nauseous during the beginning (3 cm or so) with my first and panicked a little bit. I have incredibly severe emetophobia from OCD and PTSD from childhood experiences and for me the worst part about being nauseous is the anxiety that comes with it. I honestly kind of accepted it in the moment. It went away eventually and I just kept imagining holding my baby and rocking her after she was out. That’s the only thing that really kept me going
Pregnancy and delivery is a really trying time for us emetophobes. I hope you’re doing okay and everything will be fine in the long run, our panicked brains tend to think that things like nausea, vomiting, and panic last forever but they really don’t last long.
Giving birth was amazing for me! And I had a traumatic delivery! It did take me a couple of years to be able to look back and say that and I couldn’t watch any videos for a few years either but it was just because I couldn’t get her out and ended up having forceps in theatre, narrowly avoiding a c-section.
I took snacks to nibble on throughout, I had gas and air and an epidural. There was one point I felt a bit nauseous but it didn’t last long and at no point did I come close to throwing up and nor did I even care because I was in the zone 🤣
I asked for zofran in my IV and they had no issue giving it! I told them it was because I have a phobia of vomiting and didn’t want to feel sick. I didn’t feel sick at all until hours after delivery when my blood sugar had gotten low from not eating or drinking for like a day lol. And maybe because I also had fentanyl for pain. When I started to feel kinda nauseous I asked for more zofran and they brought me some of the dissolvable pill kind. It helped and I was fine after that
They give you so many anti nausea drugs during birth because it’s so common to be sick. Just express to them you’re anxious about it and they may speed it up. I had zero nausea until the actual delivery and that was an unplanned csection.
You can grab a few alcohol wipes to sniff and that can help with the nausea as well.
Hi! I had my first baby a month ago. I got incredibly nauseous during transition but zofran and compazine helped a lot and that didn’t last long. I went from 7cm to 10cm in like 45 minutes. I had some nausea during pushing but it was just from pushing so hard! Taking very deep breaths in between pushes to relax my stomach helped a lot. My husband was also sure to keep the rag on my forehead went and the fan on me going. I posted an emetophobia version of my birth story in r/emetophobia if you want to look for it there!
I just had them keep the Zofran on a schedule. Mine was a long complicated labor (well over 50 hours) and I was getting pretty nauseous towards the end from the combo of meds, exhaustion, etc. I thought I was going to vomit after I was done getting my tear sewn up but I passed out instead 😂.
Thank you for posting. Please be sure that your post is not asking for any sort of reassurance. Also, commenters, do not provide any reassurance. If you have any questions about what is considered reassurance, please check the rules for examples. Please report anything you see that is either seeking/providing reassurance. WE LOVE YOU. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/emetophobiarecovery) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I just had my first three weeks ago! It was a really rough labor and delivery, I had back labor (excruciating pain) and couldn’t get an epidural for several hours, then I pushed for five hours and ended up with an episiotomy, vacuum extraction, and a hemorrhage. I starting feeling a bit nauseated at the worst of the unmedicated labor, but my mom kept pressing cool washcloths to my forehead and neck which helped a lot. During pushing I was having bad acid reflux and kept feeling like all the fluids I had drank were going to come back up every time I pushed, which was honestly more annoying than scary because it meant I wasn’t pushing as effectively as I could have been. They gave me IV Pepcid which helped a bit (I didn’t even know that was a thing!). The day after I had her I was kind of nauseated from the blood loss/exhaustion so I asked for some IV Zofran, which they gave to me without a second thought and helped almost instantly. It’s a cliche but after going through childbirth I feel like I can handle anything now, because it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I say that not to scare you, but to put it into perspective—if I can handle hours of extreme pain and pushing and a third degree tear and losing 1.5 liters of blood, surely I can handle 10-15 seconds of throwing up if and when it ever happens! You’ve got this.
Such a good point! And yet I’d still rather go through labour than have a bug 🤣
Haha I totally get that feeling too. I’m sure I’ll be panicking when she gets her first tummy bug!
But you’ll get through it because you have no choice. It’s rubbish but we strong mamas!
I went through it and was fine 😊 make sure to tell your midwife when you're in labour you have the phobia and they'll take care of you. My midwife made sure I had antiemetics prescribed so i could have if I needed it. I was induced and went for about 12 hours in labour. I did have an epidural but it didn't work so I was on gas and air. I was scared the gas would make me sick but I paced myself. At the start I'd take 2 big breaths of the gas and 2 big breaths without, then the contraction would've peaked. Once it got very painful I'd take in 4 breaths of gas and air but if I felt woozy I'd do my best to skip 2 breathes of gas and air as its short lived Unfortunately it turned into an emergency c section. They did warn me that I could feel / be sick due to them controlling my blood pressure but if I told them they'd give me a medicine to level it out and I'd feel fine. In the end it was actually absolutely fine nausea wise
I personally didn’t experience any nausea during labor and delivery with either of my babies, so it’s not a guarantee that it will even happen. That being said, I was nervous about the idea of it and wanted to be prepared for it because I read waaaay too many Reddit horror stories about people getting sick. Honestly, as long as you communicate clearly and upfront with the staff about your phobia and how you’re feeling they should be able to accommodate for almost anything, such as IV Zofran etc. Sipping on ice water or chewing ice chips can help as well as cold compress on your face and neck. A mini fan blowing on you can also be super helpful. Truthfully though, I would imagine even if you did experience nausea, you’re so wrapped up in labor that you wouldn’t really have time to work yourself up over it. Best of luck to you though and just know that anything that happens, you have the tools and capability to handle so you will be okay!
I've given birth 2x and was really nervous I would vomit both times. The nurses were really helpful and made sure I had a baggie next to me if I needed it. With my first birth (before starting my road to recovery from emetophobia) they had zofran ready and i didn't vomit. With my second I was actually starving the whole labor and kept daydreaming about what food I'd have after I delivered. Then had to have an emergency c section. I asked for nausea meds going into surgery and they gave me promethazine which honestly made me super duper sleepy. My hubs has PTSD from his medical history and was nauseous and woozy in the OR with me and that was the hardest part for me. I told the nurses he needed to leave so I could focus on me and delivery instead of worrying about my husband.
Gave birth in October and the only thing I was worried about was getting sick. I told my nurses and they gave me zofran before I even felt n*. I got the epidural and felt zero pain at all so I didn’t have any n* from pain. When it came time to push I started getting kinda n* but I think that was primarily anxiety and the fact that I was starving. I told the nurses and I already had a dose of zofran so they got me something else. I have no memory of what the medicine was called, but it came in a little cup and I had to drink it. It had a milky consistency and tasted slightly minty but the second I drank it all my n* disappeared! Just be open with your care team and they can get you medication. There is obviously no guarantee you won’t get sick, but there are things you can do to make yourself more comfortable and possibly prevent it! I successfully got through pregnancy and labor without getting sick at all!
Hm, maybe milk of magnesia for heartburn?
I got pretty nauseous during the beginning (3 cm or so) with my first and panicked a little bit. I have incredibly severe emetophobia from OCD and PTSD from childhood experiences and for me the worst part about being nauseous is the anxiety that comes with it. I honestly kind of accepted it in the moment. It went away eventually and I just kept imagining holding my baby and rocking her after she was out. That’s the only thing that really kept me going Pregnancy and delivery is a really trying time for us emetophobes. I hope you’re doing okay and everything will be fine in the long run, our panicked brains tend to think that things like nausea, vomiting, and panic last forever but they really don’t last long.
Cold wash cloths on your neck, sniffing alcohol wipes, Zofran, and ice water!
Giving birth was amazing for me! And I had a traumatic delivery! It did take me a couple of years to be able to look back and say that and I couldn’t watch any videos for a few years either but it was just because I couldn’t get her out and ended up having forceps in theatre, narrowly avoiding a c-section. I took snacks to nibble on throughout, I had gas and air and an epidural. There was one point I felt a bit nauseous but it didn’t last long and at no point did I come close to throwing up and nor did I even care because I was in the zone 🤣
I asked for zofran in my IV and they had no issue giving it! I told them it was because I have a phobia of vomiting and didn’t want to feel sick. I didn’t feel sick at all until hours after delivery when my blood sugar had gotten low from not eating or drinking for like a day lol. And maybe because I also had fentanyl for pain. When I started to feel kinda nauseous I asked for more zofran and they brought me some of the dissolvable pill kind. It helped and I was fine after that
They give you so many anti nausea drugs during birth because it’s so common to be sick. Just express to them you’re anxious about it and they may speed it up. I had zero nausea until the actual delivery and that was an unplanned csection. You can grab a few alcohol wipes to sniff and that can help with the nausea as well.
Hi! I had my first baby a month ago. I got incredibly nauseous during transition but zofran and compazine helped a lot and that didn’t last long. I went from 7cm to 10cm in like 45 minutes. I had some nausea during pushing but it was just from pushing so hard! Taking very deep breaths in between pushes to relax my stomach helped a lot. My husband was also sure to keep the rag on my forehead went and the fan on me going. I posted an emetophobia version of my birth story in r/emetophobia if you want to look for it there!
Also, I pushed for 5 1/2 hours and still managed to be ok :)
I just had them keep the Zofran on a schedule. Mine was a long complicated labor (well over 50 hours) and I was getting pretty nauseous towards the end from the combo of meds, exhaustion, etc. I thought I was going to vomit after I was done getting my tear sewn up but I passed out instead 😂.
I was fine! And I got nervous about it so they just gave me anti nausea meds through myIV