Nubain -- informal poll, please?

I saw Nubain in action this past week. From my classes and reading, I had learned that about half the women who use Nubain in labor will have rest between the contractions and be better able to cope with the contractions when the next one comes. The other half would find themselves loopy as all get out.

This link from Childbirth.org gives us what the PDR says about Nubain in labor:

The most frequent adverse reaction in 1066 patients treated with NUBAIN is sedation 381(36%).

Less frequent reactions are: sweaty/clammy 99(9%), nausea/vomiting 68(6%), dizziness/vertigo 58(5%), dry mouth 44(4%), and headache 27(3%). Other adverse reactions which may occur (reported incidence of 1% or less) are: CNS EFFECTS Nervousness, depression, restlessness, crying, euphoria, floating, hostility, unusual dreams, confusion, faintness, hallucinations, dysphoria, feeling of heaviness, numbness, tingling, unreality. The incidence of psychotomimetic effects, such as unreality, depersonalization, delusions, dysphoria and hallucinations has been shown to be less than that which occurs with pentazocine.


My client was loopy and it was not a good situation. The other women in the room (nurses, midwives, etc) who had Nubain in their labors ALL felt like that as well. Other doulas have concurred, they see the unpleasant out-of-control hallucinations, dreams, confusion, etc., more often than not.

Any input, kids? If you've had Nubain, what was your experience? If you're a childbirth professional, what have you observed?

7 comments:

bellygirl said...
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bellygirl said...

sorry, that was me, having a hard time typing today:)

oops,what i have seen was the sedation. they had also given her ambian not too long b4 her body (miraculously since she should have been comatose after all those meds) kicked into gear. she was saddened by it all b/c she doesn't remember much of her birth. i have been told by a midwife that nubain brings blue or sleepy babies who need to be resusitated. i have been told by a ld nurse who is also a doula that used at the right time, nubain is good for relaxing a mom who was so tenses that it slowed her labor down. that's all i know. intersting post:)

Unknown said...

I attended one birth with a mother who had nubain. The drug just made her sleep. I didn't see any other effects on her.

Molly said...

Well, my midwife gave me a very low dose of nubain after about 52 hours of labor (and several hours stuck in transition) in the hope that I could get a bit of rest before pushing. I totally understand the reasoning (and my midwife is a superhero, as far as I'm concerned), but I wish we hadn't done that; I did get tiny bouts of sleep, but I was waking up in searing pain every couple minutes, hallucinating the whole time, and feeling terrified and out of control. But I can't say whether that was the nubain, the long transition, or the sleep deprivation. Maybe not the nubain because I felt completely clear-headed during my baby's amazing birth a few hours later?

Karen said...

M, that sounds quite like my client's experience. We were told that the drug would peak one hour after the dose was administered and then by three hours later should be done. By 3 hours and 30 minutes later, she was still foggy but not having the negative feelings.

Anonymous said...

Chiming in as someone that had Nubain...

I remember feeling loopy, but not so much I didn't know what was going on. I was able to rest a little, and it took the edge off the contractions.

Kristi said...

My Nubain was a lifesaver. It really helped me, and I didn't feel loopy. I will say that I also had Nubain when my incision ruptured, and it helped a lot then too.