Tens machines & labour?

[heretoreaditall2019]

Heya,

I've heard really mixed things about tens machines & labour, do you think it's worth getting one?

I've had a cheapo one before for period pains as a teenager (like £15 from Lloyds pharmacy) and found it to be useful, but I've heard that they're pointless.

Would be really interested/grateful to hear anyone's opinions and experiences please! xx

 

[Titntat]

I had one with my first. I found breathing to be better. I use it again with my second.

 

[heretoreaditall2019]

I had one with my first. I found breathing to be better. I use it again with my second.

Thank you! I'm doing a birthing class at the mo, and learning lots about breathing and motion and I've found it so lovely & calming & grounding, like one of the nicest things I've ever done for myself in my life I need to find something like it for when I'm not pregnant!

Funnily it's the fact our class' teacher *hasn't* mentioned tens machines that makes me wonder if they're really necessary? I'll ask her what she thinks. I worry they may be a bit evangelical about natural births though as I've found quite a lot of antenatal stuff can skew that way...

 

[Titntat]

Thank you! I'm doing a birthing class at the mo, and learning lots about breathing and motion and I've found it so lovely & calming & grounding, like one of the nicest things I've ever done for myself in my life I need to find something like it for when I'm not pregnant!

Funnily it's the fact our class' teacher *hasn't* mentioned tens machines that makes me wonder if they're really necessary? I'll ask her what she thinks. I worry they may be a bit evangelical about natural births though as I've found quite a lot of antenatal stuff can skew that way...

They follow advice. For example a health visitor would reccomened not to use a tommee tippee prep machine. I personally wouldnt be with out! Good luck xx

 

[Bec3007]

Wouldn’t recommend. I used one and it honestly made things worse. My labour was all in my back though. After birth I really felt the affects of it, my back killed for weeks.

 

[Poptart]

I hated it and only had it on about 10 minutes before having it removed pronto!!! I have heard some women say it helped them though.

 

[FakeSmile]

I used one in the early stages of labour for both my first and second - until I was far enough along to go in the pool. To be honest I didn’t mind it but I don’t think it was a massive help. More of a placebo if anything.

 

[Jlar]

Found it invaluable in two labours - I think they probably suit some people and not others.

For me it was something to hire (for about £25 I think? going back a few years though!) and keep as an option. As it turned out, it worked really well for me, but I don’t think you have much to lose in trying it; if you use it for a few contractions and it makes no difference then you can just take it off

 

[heretoreaditall2019]

Thank you so much guys this is really interesting to read - I might compromise then and buy a more mid-range one knowing it's not the be all and end all of pain relief? The one I've seen crop up time and time again is around £60 which I'd be happy to buy even if it only helped for a few hours, but I'm trying to be quite ~mindful and sustainable about buying baby things because I think there's so much crap that's just marketed at women for the sake of it. But I don't want to do that to my own detriment!

 

[Sazb]

No idea on tens machines but I personally spent half my labour in the bath at home before I could go to hospital and found this helped somewhat with the pain x

 

[heretoreaditall2019]

No idea on tens machines but I personally spent half my labour in the bath at home before I could go to hospital and found this helped somewhat with the pain x

Do you mind sharing which one you got please? x

 

[nightfeedz]

I used one for my first labour and not for my second. I think it did help in the early stages but after a while I got very frustrated with the wires and button pressing.

For my second I kept it handy in case I wanted to use it but like yourself I found concentrating on my breathing to be so useful and actually I think not having the machine to think about enabled me to focus inward more and zone out which helped me stay calm.

Every person and every labour is different though and I know some people love them. If you can afford to I would just go for it so you have the option. The more tools you have at the ready the better, if you don’t use them it isn’t a waste. Especially if it makes you feel calm and prepared. Good luck x

ETA I have the babycare Obi tens

 

[heretoreaditall2019]

I used one for my first labour and not for my second. I think it did help in the early stages but after a while I got very frustrated with the wires and button pressing.

For my second I kept it handy in case I wanted to use it but like yourself I found concentrating on my breathing to be so useful and actually I think not having the machine to think about enabled me to focus inward more and zone out which helped me stay calm.

Every person and every labour is different though and I know some people love them. If you can afford to I would just go for it so you have the option. The more tools you have at the ready the better, if you don’t use them it isn’t a waste. Especially if it makes you feel calm and prepared. Good luck x

Yeah this is what I've been thinking too, maybe I'll train my husband on managing holding it & a signal to press the button so I can keep going with the motions and breathing? I know these are highly optimistic plans haha, I'm not 100% delusional

Do you mind me asking which one you got, please?

 

[FakeSmile]

Thank you so much guys this is really interesting to read - I might compromise then and buy a more mid-range one knowing it's not the be all and end all of pain relief? The one I've seen crop up time and time again is around £60 which I'd be happy to buy even if it only helped for a few hours, but I'm trying to be quite ~mindful and sustainable about buying baby things because I think there's so much crap that's just marketed at women for the sake of it. But I don't want to do that to my own detriment!

If you don’t want to spend money on one as you don’t know if it will be worth it, have you thought about renting one instead? I rented one both times from Boots (a MamaTens I think) and it cost roughly £30. They send it to you 3 weeks before your due date and they give you a free 2 week extension if you go over. Whilst the machine itself has already been used you get brand new wires and pads. You know they’re new as you put them in the bin rather than returning them with the unit when you’re done.

 

[nightfeedz]

Yeah this is what I've been thinking too, maybe I'll train my husband on managing holding it & a signal to press the button so I can keep going with the motions and breathing? I know these are highly optimistic plans haha, I'm not 100% delusional

Do you mind me asking which one you got, please?

Baby care obi tens. I inherited mine from a family member so just had to buy new pads but I think they are about 40 quid.

 

[heretoreaditall2019]

If you don’t want to spend money on one as you don’t know if it will be worth it, have you thought about renting one instead? I rented one both times from Boots (a MamaTens I think) and it cost roughly £30. They send it to you 3 weeks before your due date and they give you a free 2 week extension if you go over. Whilst the machine itself has already been used you get brand new wires and pads. You know they’re new as you put them in the bin rather than returning them with the unit when you’re done.

Thank you, I'm taking a look and I've seen a private rental service so good to know they're legit - I think a lot of the NHS rentals are skew whiff cos of covid (I know they suspended home water births for a bit cos of this? Not that I was eligible anyway lol)

Tbh though I've found the expensive one I keep seeing for £49.99 on Boots so may just get it as it's only an extra £20, if I take off return postage it'll be less too... hmm!! Thank you so much though x

Baby care obi tens. I inherited mine from a family member so just had to buy new pads but I think they are about 40 quid.

I'm looking at the elle tens now on the boots site! I'll take a look at obi now, thank you so much! x

 

[rosieflowers]

I'm due in two weeks and am in an NCT group, three ladies have given birth already, two used TENS machines and highly highly recommended them which has tipped me over the edge to buy one.

One got to 10cm dilated at home with it, went to hospital for just two hours and gave birth with just mild grazing, the other got to 9cm at home but then had some trouble at hospital with contractions slowing down and ended up with a 2nd degree tear but was discharged same day, they both said the TENS machines were invaluable. The second lady is a doctor too.

So I've bought one I bought perfect mama TENS from amazon for aboit £44, however I was recommended the £60 you mentioned, I just didn't wanna spend that much lol.

I've left it too late to hire or I would have hired.

Good luck lady we can do this!

 

[Jxtina]

I used a TENS machine in the early stages of labour and found it really helped. I had an induction so my contractions came on quite fast and it really helped to get through them. I can't comment on how useful they are later on as I ended up having a c section.

I actually rented mine from a company via amazon. I can find the details if you're interested? My hospital also had them available for hire and I think the cost was the same.

 

[Doobots]

I loved my TENS machine. Used it all through early labour until I got to the hospital where I was ready to push in the pool as soon as I arrived. In between them filling the pool and me getting in, I experienced a contraction without the machine and it was significantly more painful. The pain relief equalled that of the warm water in the pool once I got in.

 

[heretoreaditall2019]

I'm due in two weeks and am in an NCT group, three ladies have given birth already, two used TENS machines and highly highly recommended them which has tipped me over the edge to buy one.

One got to 10cm dilated at home with it, went to hospital for just two hours and gave birth with just mild grazing, the other got to 9cm at home but then had some trouble at hospital with contractions slowing down and ended up with a 2nd degree tear but was discharged same day, they both said the TENS machines were invaluable. The second lady is a doctor too.

So I've bought one I bought perfect mama TENS from amazon for aboit £44, however I was recommended the £60 you mentioned, I just didn't wanna spend that much lol.

I've left it too late to hire or I would have hired.

Good luck lady we can do this!

thank you so much for this! And congrats too!! It’s nice to hear other birth stories so thank you, I’ve managed to find the expensive one for £50 on the Boots site if you were still considering it btw

I used a TENS machine in the early stages of labour and found it really helped. I had an induction so my contractions came on quite fast and it really helped to get through them. I can't comment on how useful they are later on as I ended up having a c section.

I actually rented mine from a company via amazon. I can find the details if you're interested? My hospital also had them available for hire and I think the cost was the same.

that would be lovely if it’s not too much of a faff please? x