Anyone ever go "back" to epidural birth after having natural birth?

[sparklemom]

Anyone ever go "back" to epidural birth after having natural birth?
And like it?

[OnTheFence]

Originally Posted by sparklemom

Anyone ever go "back" to epidural birth after having natural birth?
And like it?

I've never had a natural birth, but I know a lot of women who have, and I would say half of them had epidurals the 2nd or 3rd time. A friend of mine had 1st birth with epidural, 2nd birth all natural, and 3rd birth with an epidural, and she says she enjoyed her last birth the most, the first two were both rough.

[jplain]

Someone I know had 4 unmedicated births, and had an epidural for the fifth.

She thought it might help her avoid the fatigue that she'd experienced after other births. I think she was satisfied...but I also think she doesn't know that some of her L&D and postpartum complications may have been epidural-related. After the epidural was placed she developed a fever (surprise, surprise), so she had to be given antibiotics. She also had chronic headaches and backaches for a while after delivering.

[WriterMama]

I know a few women who have, but their first unmedicated births weren't planned so they didn't enjoy them. They liked their subsequent epidural births much better.

[2+twins]

A friend of mine opted for a homebirth (and obviously) unmedicated birth for her first child. She then chose to do hospital/epidural births for the rest of her kids. She said it was too painful for her to do w/o drugs. I'm pretty sure she didn't learn any labor/pain-coping techniques prior to her first birth (no childbirth classes, etc.). She seemed happy to do it that way.

[USAmma]

I am not qualified to answer your question b/c I've never had an unmedicated birth. I had an epidural with my first and it was such a good experience (no complications), that I decided to have another epidural for the second birth, also without complications. I figured why mess with success? I have very personal/abuse reasons for wanting an epidural in the first place and really I have no regrets, other than wondering what natural would be like sometimes.

I hope I'm not coming across saying that epidurals are wonderful and everyone should have one, because I think that most women can and should enjoy natural births.

Darshani

[BabyOsMommy]

Not exactly the answer to your question, but sort of... I had an epidural with my first and many complications. My second was unmedicated with no complications. I can see why women who had unmedicated births the first time choose an epidural the second time. I wouldn't have an epidural again due to everything I went through with my son, but if a woman had an epidural with no complications, I can definitely see why she'd choose one again.

[doulajen]

I have had 4 kids, the first three where with epidurals, the last one at home(unmedicated of course). I have to tell ya my epidurals were great, but my unmedicated was 100,000 times better! I felt so much better after the baby was born and my baby did not have any medication in his system when he was born. I am not having any more children, but if I did I would definitely do it drug free again. Jen

[darsmama]

Very interesting thread.

Nope, I never knew anyone. Most did epi's with first kids and natural last.

[huggerwocky]

Let's say I am considering it.The birth of my daughter was very traumatic for me and the only way I can see myself dealing with a 2nd is with an epidural.Homebirth is not an option for me (several reasons).

[richella]

I had a friend who had 2 natural births and the third was . . . what do you call it? an unnatural birth? and interventionist birth? I don't know why, I didn't talk about it with her much. I didn't hear her complain about any of them, but I recall she only breastfeed the last one about a month.

[loving-my-babies]

Interesting question. I think I would be much more relaxed in a birth AFTER I had a natural birth, because I think I would feel like I already achieved that goal once, I was strong enough to get through it and now I don't have to prove myself that I can do it, cuz I already did! LOL I know it sounds silly.. but I think that's how I would feel after I gave birth naturally.

[NoraJadesMama]

Hi sparklemom,

I can't say "yes" to your question but I'd like to respond anyway if that's okay. This question is a meaningful and emotionally loaded one for me. I have had one epidural birth followed by two home births.

If I ever have another birth, I feel I really will have to get an epidural.

I LOVE homebirth, the tender and strong care of a midwife, the incredible security of my own home, the privacy, the control, the lack of interventions, and ABOVE ALL the complete privacy with my newborn child from the time he emerges until I am ready to share him. These things are so near and dear to my heart, I can't tell you how strongly I feel about them.

Even though my epidural birth was successful and no other interventions were done (except annoyances like fetal monitor strapped on and episiotomy, etc), I really hated the lack of privacy etc of being in the hospital's system (arguing with them about how long I could nurse my newborn before they had to take her to weigh her etc UGH).

But I just find the pain of labor too much to set myself up for a drug-free labor again. It's only a few hours, I know, and the pay off is so big. But I just don't think I can do that to myself again. I'm not one of those women (as I'd wanted to be) who could find the pain meaningful, healthy, empowering, manageable or otherwise positive in some way. I felt like I was being axe murdered both times.

I hate it that I can't have some kind of opiate at home. I could if I were recovering from surgery, but not to have labor. I know that's controversial and a pipe dream, and I don't want to debate it here, but it would be my dream.

I just gave birth two weeks ago. Holding my new baby is euphoric. I wish I could contemplate another birth without having to choose between giving myself over to the hospital or screaming my lungs out at home. This is on my mind a lot lately and I'm feeling really sad about it, so I thought I'd just chime in on this thread.

[~Megan~]

My mom had a pain relief free birth with me. She was induced though. They kept turning the pit up on her and I was born in two hours. They moved things so quickly for her that she never got anything for her pain.

For both my siblings I believe she had an epidural and went into labor on her own. I think she was so horrified by the pit birth that the epi semmed natural. Of course my siblings were born 14 and 17 years ago so there wasn't as much info for her about natural birth, she probably wouldn't have chosen a medicated birth if she knew about the possible complications.

[feebeeglee]

NoraJadesMama, you sound like the perfect candidate for a freestanding birth center. Is there one anywhere by you?

And to answer the OP, I have had all of my children without pharmaceutical pain relief. I don't think I would ever plan an epidural but if I was in the hospital for some reason for a birth there are conditions under which I would get one. (I mean nonsurgical conditions, LOL! Obviously I'd want one for a c-section.)

[kirei]

I had a natural birth (at a hospital) a week and a half ago. It was SUPPOSED to be a water birth, but they made me walk around for so long and I progressed so quickly, that there was no time for the water birth. I was admitted to the hospital at 9cm -- no time for drugs either. It was very traumatic and I never want to do it again. The idea of having another baby is terrifying. I would want an epidural next time for sure. I just couldn't go through another natural birth.

[redsonya]

I plan on a epidural after unmedicated births. I know lots of coping techniques, had great doulas doing massage, birth tub, had prepared with herbs, great midwives... it was still hell. Recovery does take longer w/ an epidural but I simply cannot go through that agony again, and I wouldn't want my daughters too either. That's what finally convinced me it was "ok," thinking what I would want for my daughters. No woman should feel pressured not to have pain releif. It took me a few horribly painful births to lose my poo-poo attitude toward pain relief, but here I am LOL.

[redsonya]

Originally Posted by NoraJadesMama

I felt like I was being axe murdered both times.

I can think a few other ways to put it... being drawn and quartered... being slowly crushed to death... having your insides boiled... ahhhh!!!!!!

Originally Posted by NoraJadesMama

I hate it that I can't have some kind of opiate at home. I could if I were recovering from surgery, but not to have labor. I know that's controversial and a pipe dream, and I don't want to debate it here, but it would be my dream. (

I don't see why that has to be controversial. I think it's outrageous that a woman has to be in a hospital to have pain relief. ITA with you. A woman shouldn't be forced to birth in a hospital because she wants pain relief. It would be great to have that option at home.

[schatz]

wow, reading the experiences in this thread gives me a weird feeling about myself. I am either a glutton for punishment or have a really high pain tolerance. I can't respond directly to the original question because I know no one who has gone natural and then epidural. My experience was 14 hrs of labor from start to finish - started with water breaking. Pitocin started after 9 hours, ready to push 3.5 hr later, no pain meds. The LD nurse told me that they didn't use much pit, that my body pretty much took over. Not sure if that's true as I don't know the dosage they used and don't know the usual amount used. But everything went pretty quickly (including transition) and I just can't imagine ever using terms like "ax murdered" about how I felt. It makes me sad that birth can be so painful for some of us. I don't plan on having any meds with #2 due in May -- but.... if I end up with a 30 hr labor, I just might think differently.

(I hope I didn't offend anyone with my post - I'm not trying to trivialize things - I'm just in awe at some of the descriptions.)

[2+twins]

Originally Posted by redsonya

I don't see why that has to be controversial. I think it's outrageous that a woman has to be in a hospital to have pain relief. ITA with you. A woman shouldn't be forced to birth in a hospital because she wants pain relief. It would be great to have that option at home.

It's not an option (epidural anyway) at home because of the risks involved. A hospital can get away with taking such risks because they have the resources to save the woman and/or baby if need be. This would never be considered "safe" at home.