Talk to me about natural childbirth

[Squirt]

So I just found out I'm expecting, and I'm already thinking about the birth. With my daughter, my pregnacy was healthy, but totally not by the book. My labor was even more not-by-the-book, but still successful. Anyway, with her, I had an epidural. With this baby, I'm strongly considering an unmedicated hospital birth. For those of you who have had unmedicated births, will you share your experiences? I'm interested in why you chose to have a natural childbirth, how you prepared for it, and how the birth went.

[HopesMom]

I had an umedicated hospital birth with my son.
I spent a lot of time while pregnant reminding myself that the pain was good, helpful pain. And that I needed to go with it, not fight it...let it do its work.

The other thing that helped was staying home as long as we could bear. I was already 8 cm when we arrived at the hospital. Not enough time for them to get in my way... I was doing what I needed to and they saw that.

Oh and congratulations on your pregnancy.

[Squirt]

Thanks for the reply. I feel sort of silly asking this question on a MDC thread because many moms here talk about homebirths and even unassisted births, and I'm just trying to do an unmedicated birth. Makes me feel like a light-weight.

[bbrandonsmom]

I'm currently reading "Inya May's guide to childbirth" and it's really good. She;s the nation's leading midwife and she talks about how a womans body is designed to give birth and the differences between natural births and medicated births, along with the pros/cons etc. I also have Dr Sears pregnancy book wich is wonderful and so much better than the what to expect book, and they also have a birth book that I'm sure is just as good. But in both they talk about medicated, non medicated etc. I wish I had known about these books with ds.

With ds we were in the hospital and everything was not what we wanted. What really made me mad was I had a student nurse who did not check me when I asked for pain relief and I was already at +1 with ds wanting out. If I had know, I would not have gotten an epidural, wich did not go into effect until half way through pushing and really messed my focus up. Ds heartrate also droped considerably soon as it went into effect as well. So over the past 19m I've been researching natural births and meeting other mom's who've had them. So with this baby I'd like to do a homebirth, but since I don't think I'll get dh on board with that, it will porb be a water birth in a birth center.

[aywilkes]

I made up my mind to have a natural birth early on. My thoughts were: women in AFrica have been doing it for years, why can't I? So I drew on the strength of my ancestors. Secondly, I find it problematic that the majority of drugs are off-limits throughout your pregnancy and then all of a sudden the expensive hospital drugs for $500 and up a pop are okay for you and baby. Seems kinda shady to me.

[2much2luv]

I've never had a natural hospital birth so I can't offer any hospital specific advice, but I worked through the book Birthing From Within in preperation for my natural births and it was just full of great stuff. I totally recommend it.

[trmpetplaya]

Birthing From Within helped so much for me also. I had a home water birth with dd. Ina May's Guide to Childbirth helped a lot too It has so many positive birth stories that it really does help counteract the horror stories that everyone else feels compelled to over-share with pregnant women in our society. I liked Spiritual Midwifery also, though the language is a bit dated (hippy-speak ).

The thing to remember about a natural childbirth is that it's a different pain than you've ever felt before. The closest pain that I can equate with it is the pain of having a sore back and somebody rubbing it really hard. It's a productive pain. It's not a broken sort of pain. And once the baby's out, the pain is OVER and you can hardly remember it a few minutes later. All those wonderful hormones take over and it's beautiful. The mamas I know who have experienced both medicated and natural say that that's the big difference. With the medication the pain isn't necessarily over after the baby comes out because you've messed with the natural hormones and sometimes you can get headaches or backaches afterwards from the epi. So the pain has a definite END with natural childbirth and then it's all over and you can enjoy being with your brand new beautiful baby :

love and peace.

[maylea_moon]

I don't have experience but wanted to offer you support. I had my first baby in the hospital with an epidural and I'm having this one at home with a midwife.

[trmpetplaya]

I just wanted to add one more thing... natural childbirth was the hardest work I've ever done in my life, but it was also the most empowering thing that I've ever done in my life. It was well worth it and I'm so glad that I experienced it and that I will experience it again

love and peace.

[Isaac'sMa]

Originally Posted by trmpetplaya

I just wanted to add one more thing... natural childbirth was the hardest work I've ever done in my life, but it was also the most empowering thing that I've ever done in my life. It was well worth it and I'm so glad that I experienced it and that I will experience it again

:

I read a lot and also kept reminding myself that it would be over soon. Labor doesn't last forever. And you have a beautiful baby when it's over!

I moaned through a lot of my contractions. That seemed to help though DH still teases me about how I was "moo-ing". He also says,"you could have taken a lot worse" which I choose to interpret as his vote of confidence.

This time I'm thinking about trying hypnobirthing.

[Lavish_Grace]

Hi,
Before I even got pregnant w/my first I had thought I would want an epidural b/c I thought I wouldn't be able to handle the pain of childbirth but after I became pregnant and began researching birth, I found that natural childbirth appealed to me much more than getting an epidural. I weighed the risks versus benefits of the epidural and natural childbirth and the epidural seemed scarier to me. With natural childbirth, there is no risk of side effects, and like pp posters have mentioned, when it's over, it's over. But w/the epidural there are many little, and some big, side effects that can occur and there are also after-effects that can occur. It just seemed that natural childbirth was the most straightforward way to have the safest birth for both the mom and the baby. Natural childbirth is tough, it's hard work and it does get very painful but it can be done. Another thing that encouraged me toward natural childbirth was all the stuff I read about how it can be done. Society tells women from the time they are little girls that childbirth is way too painful for them to handle. We are totally sent the message that we can't possibly do it but our bodies are made to go through childbirth and provide hormones to help us cope.
I prepared by doing lots of reading on the internet and in books, mostly internet. For my first pregnancy I read The Birth Book by Dr. Sears and it was really helpful and good. With my second pregnancy I read Ina May's Guide to Childbirth and one of the Bradley books. So I would recommend lots of reading!

[maylea_moon]

Originally Posted by Lavish_Grace

Society tells women from the time they are little girls that childbirth is way too painful for them to handle. We are totally sent the message that we can't possibly do it but our bodies are made to go through childbirth and provide hormones to help us cope.

[imgr8ful]

ds1 was born at the hospital w/ an epidural. i said this in another post but i'll say it again - after he was born i thought the experience was wonderful. the nurses were making me laugh when i was pushing (not on purpose).

then i had ds2 at home, totally natural, in the water. the experience was 1000 times better than ds1's birth. it was incredible. we had planned on birthing at the birthing center - which would have been natural also - because it was cheaper than the hospital. that's why i decided to go natural, to save money! LOL but really, once we made the decision, i just got it in my head that i could do it. yeah, i was scared, but i constantly reminded myself that my tiny little mom birthed 3 babies in the 70s without any drugs.

it's really a shame that birth has become so medical in the last 30 years in the u.s.

BIRTH IS NATURAL! ok, rant over.

[Squirt]

Thanks for the feedback and the reading recommendations. I'll check them out. TrumpetPlayer- I've never thought about the differences in afterpains between a natural and medicated birth. With my first delivery, I had tearing, and I wonder if it would have been less if I hadn't been numb and could have had more control over pushing.

[Squirt]

Originally Posted by maylea_moon

I don't have experience but wanted to offer you support. I had my first baby in the hospital with an epidural and I'm having this one at home with a midwife.

Thanks for sending support. Stay in touch and let me know how you are preparing. I'll try to do the same.

[ChelseaG]

Sure, childbirth is painful, but it is not an unmanageable pain, it is more of a test of endurance, it is like running a marathon...

The more relaxed you are, the less pain you will feel, if you fight against the contractions, the pain will be harder to manage, if you just let go and let your body take over and do what it does naturally - it will be much easier. I mean, if you were in a coma (god forbid!) your body would still go into labor and birth your baby - without you doing anything.

I had my dd at home, with midwives, in my bathtub - so I can't say what an unmedicated hospital birth would be like... but I remember when my contractions first got really intense - I told DH "I can see why women get epidurals" - the pain is scary at first - but your body really does adjust as your labor goes along, and you make natural pain relievers that kick in and it really does get easier to manage. I also did a lot of moaning that helped to releive the tension and pain and helped to relax me...
Good luck! You can do it!

[sleet76]

I also had my first in a hospital with an epidural. I was 2 weeks late, induced with Cervadil and Pitocin, and hadn't had a serious natural childbirth thought in my life, except maybe "ouch!" or "why in the hell..?". At the time, I felt pretty good about the birth, however, I seriously disliked being induced and would have much rather gone into labor spontaneously. I did have a decent tear, and had a hard time healing it up. I got granulations tissue at the site of the tear, and it took about 5 months for it all to get resolved. It was pertty unpleasant.

That led me to look into ways to decrease the likelihood of tearing for the next time, and I did a lot of reading on natural childbirth. I chose to birth my second in a hopsital (a different one) with a CNM. My husband was not comfortable with the idea of homebirth, though I'd have been intereted, but I was able to have the birth I wanted at our hospital birth center. I prepared by taking a Birthing From Within class, had a lot of positive thoughts, and was scared about how much it would hurt. It was GREAT! I felt so empowered! I did a great job, and feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to experience what my body was made to do. I didn't have that experience the first time.

I labored at home a long time, and when I showed up at the hospital, I was 8 cm. I got a room, the midwife was there, and she was fabulous! She knew just what to do (or NOT do), and was a real comfort. I didn't have an IV or hep lock, I could move/walk/squat/get in the tub or shower at will, and had no continual fetal monitoring--just a little stethoscope every now and then. The birth hurt, but it was definitely NOT the writhing, screaming, torturous pain that popular culture would have us all believe it to be. It was manageable nearly all the time, and it only hurt during a contraction and crowning. And those pass. I could carry a conversation between contractions, and really it was great. I was so proud of myself. My recovery was much easier, and I barely tore at all. A little more than a skid mark, and the baby was over a pound bigger than my first. I can't recommend natural childbirth enough! I felt normal in a week.

[Squirt]

Yeah! More replies. Thanks to everyone for sharing. My mom had a spinal with my brother. When she was in labor with me, she made it close to the end of labor, got scared, and got a spinal. She always says, "I could have done it." This is another reason I'm considering natural-- because I don't want to always wish I had done it. I want to do it.

[bbrandonsmom]

Squirt-with ds I was only sore down there, and only when I went to sit or wipe, but no real pain at all. What got me was I got something like a double migraine from the epidiural, wich was not fun. I'm migraine prone anyhow, and expected one since headache is a side effect, but I did not expect that level of pain at all. I also had an episiotomy against my wishes and that didn't really cause any pain afterwards either. My mw says I have a greater chance of tearing since I've had one, but I hope with some perineal massage I won't.