Gilbey and Susie wrote:

my dr and also the nurse at my birthing class both said that it will not
numb me, i will still have my motor skills and i can walk around and will be
able to push. it only takes away the pain but it doesn't take away any pain
caused by the head crowning etc..

Hmmm...like "epidural," "intrathecal" is just a delivery
method for drugs. In both cases, it also matters *which* drug
(or combination of drugs) are administered via that method.
It sounds like maybe in your location, they are only administering
analgesics, rather than analgesics plus an anesthetic, via the
intrathecal. This is similar to what is called a "walking
epidural" in the US, where only analgesics (typically narcotics)
are administered via the epidural. However, it surprises me
that you'd be able to walk around. Even with walking epidurals
in the US, the "walking" part tends to be a bit optimistic.
They are falling out of favor in the US because the relief
they offer is not as complete and yet you don't really get
significant mobility either (at least in practice--generally
there's a requirement that a nurse be with you if you're
out of bed, and there aren't always nurses available to do
that).

Best wishes,
Ericka