Not for everyone (TENS Pain Relief Unit)

Member Name: Biffa

Product:	TENS Pain Relief Unit
Date:	08/10/00 (625 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Can offer pain relief without drugs

Disadvantages: Didn't work for me

When we were expecting our first baby, I wanted as natural a labour as possibly, without drugs, so I opted for the Boots TENS machine to help me along.

It costs £25.00 to hire it for a month, and if baby is late you can keep it for longer without having to pay any extra - you just ring them up to let them know. You need to book it in advance, probably about 3 months before your due date.

The tens machine is probably a bit smaller than a slim personal stereo, and comes with sticky pads that you attach to your back in the appropriate places shown in the diagram. You then use the unit to control the power - either using the button on the lead to provide pain relief in bursts as and when you need it or by turning the dial up so that you get pain relief all the time.

It apparently takes about half an hour for the pain relief to kick in, because it works by providing electronic stimulation to get your bodies natural pain relief defences working.

To be absolutely honest, it didn;t work for me - but then neither did gas and air or pethidine. I ended up screaming for an epidural and even that had to be topped up 6 times before it started to work. My tens machine ended up in a bag at the side of me throughout most of the labour as things went from bad to worse.

With our second, daughter because we were moving I never got round to booking one, and even if I had I don;t think it would have been used. Compared to a labour of 29 hours with the first, our second one arrived in under 6 hours from start to finish.

By all means give it a go, but don't expect miracles and don't be too upset if it doesn't work for you.

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