Lisa McLoughlin
A pregnant woman has received a flood of support online after her partner demanded she doesn't have pain relief when giving birth to their child.
The mum-to-be shared her plight on Mumsnet and said she has been left feeling 'stressed' by her other half’s reaction, even though pain relief should be a choice that she makes for herself.
Sharing her story on the forum, she explained that her partner’s views came to light during a recent midwife’s appointment to discuss her birth plan.
When they were told of her pain relief options, they were informed that there's a chance the pain relief could make the baby slightly sleepy or drowsy.
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The news didn’t have the desired effect on her partner, in fact he 'freaked out' and immediately told her to refuse any pain relief, even though it should be up to her.
She admitted she now 'feels terrible' for wanting to accept the relief.
In her post, she said: "I'm currently 34 weeks pregnant and I did my birth plan yesterday with the midwife. My partner was also in attendance at the appointment.
"All was going well until it got to the part where the midwife was explaining the different pain relief options available.
“The midwife informed us that some of them (epidural and pethidine) cross the placenta and therefore can have an effect on the baby, making them a bit sleepy/drowsy,” she continued.
“I think this freaked my partner out a bit and he now wants me not to have any of these options.
"This is now making me feel stressed as I know my pain threshold is low and feel that if I want to have pain relief then I should be able to have it.
“Also, women have been giving birth with pain relief for decades so is it really that big of a deal? I'm being made to feel terrible for wanting to accept pain relief during labour."
People were quick to respond to the mum-to-be’s post and reassured her that it's her body and therefore, her choice.
Many of the Mumsnet commenters reiterated that her partner doesn't get a say in something that will directly affect her and her body.
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One person said: "Your body, your choice. The end."
"Millions of women have pain relief and their babies are thriving little bundles of joy,” another insisted. “The drowsiness doesn’t last and has no long term ill effects."
A third shared: "Have whatever pain relief you see fit. When he's pushing a human out of his genitals he can decide. He gets zero say in this."