Un-Medicated Births, Please share your experiences
Hi, Mom to be here. Looking for inspirational stories of moms who did not opt for epidural or other drugs while giving birth. This is not thread to pass judgement or debate, I am merely looking for some inspiration and validation that it is possible because my entire circle of friends/family who have had children say it is impossible and I will be begging for drugs. Please tell me it is possible. Thank you in advance for sharing.
I haven't done it *yet* but I am planning to do it. We have our first Bradley class tonight! Have you read any books on natural childbirth? If not, that's where I'd suggest you start. Husband Coached Childbirth is pretty good. It is by Dr. Bradley. Basically, his philosophy is this: animals give birth without needing all these drugs, so why can't humans? There's no reason for humans to need drugs for a normal birth if they can learn how to imitate the animals, and all women can be taught to imitate the animals.
Also, I'd really suggest taking natural childbirth classes to learn the techniques and also for the moral support from those who are also going through what you're going through with the same goal in mind.
Finally, stop talking to others about it. People who naysay you are probably unhappy with some aspect of their own birth experience. Maybe they wanted to go natural, but gave in to the allure of drugs. Who knows? Or, if people bring it up, just use their naysaying to make you more determined. It pissed me off so much when women at work would tell me, "Oh, you'll love being pregnant solely for the epidural. It feels great." I'd say, "I don't plan to have one." Then they'd tell me, "Yeah right. I said that for about two minutes. Trust me...you'll be screaming for an epidural on the way to the hospital." Trust me...I don't plan to.
I just had my baby last Wednesday and it was an unmedicated birth. I second the recommendation for the Bradley class - DH and I took the 12 week series and in hindsight it was invaluable!! Knowing what to expect at each point in the process was key for me staying motivated to do it naturally. I would also recommend making sure that your Dr. is fully supportive of natural childbirth and that you write a birth plan that you give to everyone you encounter at the hospital - it helps you keep your resolve if you know you have to ask for the drugs vs. having them offered to you every 5 min..
Yes, it was incredibly painful but I feel so empowered knowing I did it! I was fortunate and had a fast labor so that helped as well. Best of luck!
I'm also planning a more natural birth. To support us in that goal, we hired a doula. Also, like LML, we are taking a natural (not Bradley) childbirth class.
If you are looking for techniques, one of my friends who went 100% natural and my accupuncturist (used it for her son's birth) recommended hypnobirthing. I haven't read up on the technique yet but it comes highly recommended by those who have used it. I believe there are books on the method, then tapes you can listen to during labor.
I don't tell most people our birth plan because I don't want to hear their L&D stories, especially if they are going to tell me I cannot have this child without drugs. Good luck!
I don't think my birth story was "inspirational", but I did deliver my daughter without any pain medication. It wasn't a goal of mine to deliver pain-medication free, don't misunderstand though, it was also not a goal to use pain relief. I tried to keep an open mind: since I'd never had a baby before, and didn't know how my particular labor would unfold, my medication plan was to avoid agony.
I have to say, the last couple hours of labor and delivery were not a positive experience for me. Particularly the second stage, "pushing phase", which is "supposed" to not be as painful as transition and feel like a relief, but for me got only progressively more painful. I feel I prepared, educationally and emotionally, for as intervention-free a birth as possible, we took classes, read thoroughly, and hired a fabulous doula. But I simply did not progress on my own, and didn't even progress well on Pitocin even with walking, a birthing ball, and position changes. I had Pitocin for 17 hours, and was physically spent by the time DD arrived. The circumstances surrounding my labor were just less than ideal; I started the process already having had little sleep for two or three days, and then had a long labor and by the end of it, my body was tired - I wasn't expecting to deliver three weeks before my due date, but should've known better and been rested just in case. If we're blessed with a next time, I'll be more conscientious about the fact that labor can start anytime, and to always be rested and ready. Here's wishing anyway, as that can only be harder with DC #1, probably a toddler, running around.
So again, not inspirational, I did end up wanting pain meds but it was too late - however, I survived, so it's definitely not impossible. Best of luck.
"If you bungle raising your children, I don't think whatever else you do well matters very much." ~ Jackie O. Livejournal
Do you have the book Ina May's Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin? My friends who did natural child birth liked it b/c the whole first half is birth stories. You may want to check it out to get some inspiration .
If it helps at all, i know many women who gave birth without meds. I'd say about 30% of the women i know did so.
I did want drugs but my L&D was so ridiculously fast I couldn't get them.
BUT...that being said, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I never took a birthing class or read any book on a particular method, just really read up on L&D. So during labor I just focused on breathing through the contractions (labor was 2 1/2 hours for me) and during the pushing phase I just pushed exactly as my labor nurse advised me to (pushed for 15 minutes).
I was mostly scared that it would hurt like hell when he was pushed through my vagina, but I pushed when the nurse said to and there was no pain when he came out.
In the end, I kept myself in control, focused on breathing and listened to the labor nurse's guidance. It made my L&D a success.
I will try not to make this sound negative. I had a midwife, and the care was wonderful. I had a drug free delivery. It was 12 hours, and pushed for 2.5 hours of that. It was awful (I can't think of a better word). It was so much worse than I ever imagined. I couldn't even speak or think of asking for help. I think the only thing I said once was oh my god. Although the MW didn't like episiotomies I ended up having to get one because DD kept getting stuck, it hurt like heck, the stitches (many many stitches) hurt worse. Afterwards I felt like an idiot for thinking I could do it without drugs, I moaned alot during labor and don't remember much. When DD actually came out I was out of it, numb, I didn't cry with joy I just felt like I was in shock. I know believe if I would have had some pain relief I could have "enjoyed" my birth experience instead of crying when I think of it (I am actually rethinking ttc again because of my pregnancy and birth experience). I felt like people lied to me, telling me it hurt but it was manageable.....in my case that was not true. So I don't want to scare you but I told my story to say please keep our mind open to the idea of pain relief. Just keep yourself open to it, I regret not doing that.
I ended up with a c-section (baby turned breach the last week in the womb and i didnt know til we got to the hospital) ... but I got to 5+ cent pretty easily using hypnobabies (hypnobabies.com - it's a home study course if there's no classes by you) I highly recommend it, even though i didn't fully get to use it...
we took a natural cb class (not bradley) and one thing our teacher said that i never knew is that during transition you will beg for drugs and that it's completely normal to do so. just make sure your partner and your healthcare provider know that you don't want them and to talk you through it. i was absolutely screaming for an epidural, but changed my mind right before they brought it in.
Un-Medicated Births, Please share your experiences
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