It might surprise you to find out just how large the epidural needle is. (If you’re squeamish, scroll on past!)

We were really surprised by this one.

When I was giving birth to my first child I received an epidural. If you haven't had one before the needle goes into your spine and because it's all behind your back you can't see what it looks like or what's happening. Which is probably all for the best. I'm someone who hates the idea of needles anyway but if I'd seen the size of the epidural needle I probably would have ran out of the hospital, because they're huge. As I said above so glad I wasn't able to see this needle when I needed an epidural myself. Shock of the size of the needle aside there is actually a good reason for it being much longer than a regular syringe. During an epidural the needle is used to guide a catheter into the lower back through which pain medication is administered. It also bears noting that a local anesthetic is applied to the area before the epidural needle is inserted so you generally can't really feel the needle going in. In my experience I remember it feeling really cold as the medication went through the needle but it wasn't painful at all. The epidural is one of the most common forms of pain relief during childbirth and in most cases has little to no side effects. Sometimes there can be soreness in the area for a couple of days afterwards but major side effects are uncommon. That being said I'm still glad I wasn't shown the needle that was going to be used during my epidural as 'heart attack' may have been one of my side effects. If you would like to find out more about epidurals you can read the answers to the most frequently asked questions about epidurals here.