Rachel Forde

So I was so, so afraid of the pain relief for a C-section.

I advised my concerns to the doctors from the minute I went in for my dating scan.

You know, I'm an addict.

I cannot take any, any addictive medication, especially opiates.

I didn't have the easiest of pregnancies with Nisha.

So I was kind of in and out of the hospital and I had really bad pelvic girdle pain.

And I don't know how many doctors I had arguments with in CUMH because they were trying to give me salpidine, a very weak opiate.

but an opiate nonetheless.

So in the end, I actually asked a midwife to put codeine allergy on my file because if you're allergic to it, they're not going to offer it to you.

I had the section and obviously I had a spinal tap and I think they give you some sort of morphine or whatever when you're on the table.

When the spinal block wore off, the nurses come into the room and they have, you know, those small little containers.

And I could see it.

And I know what it's like, what it looks like.

It was an oxynorm, morphine-based painkiller.

So here's your painkiller.

And I said, I can't have that.

And they're looking at me stupid.

They're like, what do you mean you can't have that?

And I said, I'm an addict.

You know, I can't.