Natural Child birth

[nuthinbutpink]

Well, I can only speak from my experience X 4 but for me, the epidural totally relaxed me, and made labor something I looked forward to. I didn't have any issues though so I guess that is why.

[Lilian78]

Choice was made for me--no time LOL. But I had the toughest recovery and hardest time breastfeeding with my medicated birth (IV meds, followed by too late epidural). I don't think I would consider an epidural even if I had the time now.

[grasshopper]

I wanted a natural birth with no interventions with my first pregnancy...my Mum and Sister both had nearly all natural births (both of them had a set of twins thrown in there) and I felt it was the best way to go.
I felt like the doctors took over (4 midwives, 2 different doctors)...they made me have the induction iv after my waters broke and my contractions were irregular. Then my baby started experiencing D-cells (huh?) so they spent ages talking me into an epidural which I absolutely did not want. Then of course I couldn't feel to push and tore horribly and lost a lot of blood. I honestly feel that without all of the intervention things would have been fine.

So with pregnancy #2 I decided to go to the Birth Centre (attached to the hospital) where it would be just a midwife and nothing else. My birth prgressed very quickly and the baby was already crowning before we got to the Birth Centre...I was already too progressed for drugs anyway and it was the easiest, most amazing birth I could have asked for. I was fully aware, baby was fully aware, we were able to do the baby-led attachment and it was in a very relaxed environment with just DH, myself and the midwife. I recovered very quickly, felt fantastic and was out of hospital the next day.
I would love to have a home birth with midwife next time but DH is just not quite confident enough. I will go back to the birth centre and do it all again without drugs provided I have no other complications of course. My vote is for a natural birth all the way.

[SpottyBear]

I had an epidural for DS. It was grand, never worked completely though so I still felt plenty! Especially as he was 10lb4! I had an episiotomy and recovery from that was hard.

No pain relief at all with DD as she arrived in a very big rush! Waters broke at home at 1.15am and she was born 1hour and 20mins later - 10 mins after I arrived in the delivery room. 3 pushes in 2 mins and she was out! All 9lbs 15oz of her! Will say those 2mins were VERY VERY painful! Sorry but ouch ouch ouch! Old E scar tore so a few stitches but SO much easier to recover from!
Next time will most likely go without the epidural but will take gas and air I'd say!! Its the actual delivery that scares me though! I found mind over matter and concentrating solely on breathing and staying very focused and calm works great for the contractions but its a different matter when it comes to crowning etc! OOH ouch again!!

[whiteicequeen]

Apart from not liking needles the though of a needle being put in my back really freaks me out. In my first pg with DS1 I was so scared of going through labour and had bad nightmares but when it came to the actual thing it wasn't as bad as i thought maybe I have just a high pain threshold. I always start taking Raspberry Leaf from about 30 weeks and I think that has helped. When I first start getting pains they start coming about every 5mins and by the time I get to the hospital I am always about 3 to 4cm dilated. My 1st pregnancy last 7hrs 15mins, 2nd lasted 5 hrs 10mins and 3rd lasted 3hrs 35mins from 1st pain till baby born. And I have always managed with just Gas and air.

I would advise anyone to try and give natural birth ago before opting for an epidural. It is a great experience and then if the pain is very severe and you find it unbearable then opt for epidural.

I am thinking of trying for a waterbirth this time.

[december]

Then my baby started experiencing D-cells (huh?) so they spent ages talking me into an epidural which I absolutely did not want. Then of course I couldn't feel to push and tore horribly and lost a lot of blood. I honestly feel that without all of the intervention things would have been fine.

Decels. As is heart decelerations. It's actually normal for a baby's heart rate to dip during a contraction. It's usually only a big concern if the heart rate stays down. I'm not sure why they tried to pressure you into an epidural though. That makes no sense. I'm sorry your doctors were so intervention happy.

It sounds like your next birth went really well! Congrats.

[TnT]

I went natural with DD2 because my labor was so fast and I didn't have a choice. With DS, I chose to go all natural at a Birth Center. It was a much better experience than my 2 hospital births. I felt much more in control of my own body. I was able to shower, take a bath, walk around...all of which helped with the pain. In the hospital I would have prob wanted an epidural because laying in a bed the whole time seems to make things hurt even more. I also wanted a natural birth to reduce my risk of a c-section.

[Dreaming]

My biggest fear with DS1 was having to have an epidural - I was so scared of needles (amazing I did HT)!! I was open to the idea of having one if the childbirth pain ever became unmanagable or if I stopped progressing - but I kept progressing fine. With DS2, I knew I could cope with the pain, so why not do it totally naturally. I went to a birth center second time and had a wonderful water birth - so much better than when I was in hospital. I do however vividly remember the tearing sensation - which although it only lasted a couple of seconds was quite awful - the only downside of not having an epidural for me!

[Missyslair]

My first the anesthesiologist was in a c-section... so i had pitocin and thats it. Worst experience ever.

With #2, he came in 3 hours, by the time i got to the hospital, the nurses didnt even have time to put a heart monitor on me. But I was under the impression that when i felt the need to push, i wasnt suppose to, thanks to the dang jerk first doc. But when the nurse said "if you have to push, do it". That made a world of difference.

I know my body and trust what it is telling me to do. I like knowing Im birthing the way God intended FOR ME. All the hormones they give you artifically causes your body not to produce your own.

With #3, I knew she would come fast and I already had 2 with no epi and it was not bad at all, so I went with a midwife. Good thing because she came in 1.5 hours from first contraction to in my arms, LOL. The midwife barely made it to my house in time.

I look forward to labor, even with the pain and all. People who havent experienced it are afraid that it will be much worse than they can imagine. Its not. The crowning hurts like crazy... but 10 seconds later you meet you baby and thats all that matters!

[xnicolax]

I like the idea of a natural birth, and with my first, that is what I planned. I had no idea what was coming. My first labour was absolutely horrific! If id had him at home with no medical intervention I dont think i would have made it, I lost so much blood. The following 3 were fine.