Interesting discussion!
The "I'll try" regarding med-free birth in hospital, or breastfeeding, are definitely issues that I have experience with. I used to be a L&D RN and when I asked people their preferences for coping with pain in labour, there was a pretty big group that fell into the "We're going to try for a natural birth" category. Now, I didn't work there all that long (approx. 2 years and attended approx. 200 births in that time), but I could easily count on one hand the number of these women that actually had a med-free birth. It seemed that for most of them, the "I'll try" thing meant that well, as long as labour wasn't actually painful, or was super mild (ie. period cramps) they would go med-free, but if it was anything more than that... epidural here we come.
So, I don't know if this is just due to inadequate prenatal education, lots of people with unrealistic expectations, and/or????
Just thought I'd share my experience with that, b/c it was definitely noticeable. FWIW the hospital had a 95% epidural rate for first-time moms and no, the staff did not routinely "solicit" for epidurals.
As for homebirth - both times I said I was "planning a homebirth" and that felt appropriate to me (and yes, I did have both boys at home). I know people all have different preferences for how they word this, and everyone has their own reasons. Everyone I know though who has said they are "thinking of trying for a homebirth" or even "trying a homebirth" has ended up in the hospital.
The "I'll try" regarding med-free birth in hospital, or breastfeeding, are definitely issues that I have experience with. I used to be a L&D RN and when I asked people their preferences for coping with pain in labour, there was a pretty big group that fell into the "We're going to try for a natural birth" category. Now, I didn't work there all that long (approx. 2 years and attended approx. 200 births in that time), but I could easily count on one hand the number of these women that actually had a med-free birth. It seemed that for most of them, the "I'll try" thing meant that well, as long as labour wasn't actually painful, or was super mild (ie. period cramps) they would go med-free, but if it was anything more than that... epidural here we come.
So, I don't know if this is just due to inadequate prenatal education, lots of people with unrealistic expectations, and/or????
Just thought I'd share my experience with that, b/c it was definitely noticeable. FWIW the hospital had a 95% epidural rate for first-time moms and no, the staff did not routinely "solicit" for epidurals.
As for homebirth - both times I said I was "planning a homebirth" and that felt appropriate to me (and yes, I did have both boys at home). I know people all have different preferences for how they word this, and everyone has their own reasons. Everyone I know though who has said they are "thinking of trying for a homebirth" or even "trying a homebirth" has ended up in the hospital.
