For moms who did natural labor!?

Question

hello. i beleive women are made to have babies and very well and able to handle the pain. we all have our own ways of pain managment. what was your experience like personaly, how did you handle your pain, and how long was your labor, how do you feel about natural labor now after? blessings

Answer 1

I wanted to do everything naturally as well - although where I was living at the time made it impossible to have a midwife!  I had a doctor who (like some doctors) treated me like I was insane to want no drugs, etc.  Still, I liked the doctor enough that I didn't want to switch. (Not much of a selection otherwise anyway)

I was fine in labor - except for a couple things.  First, the doctor didn't think my labor was going fast enough and put me on a pitocin (induction drug).  I had a really long beginning to labor, although my active labor and end were average length.  Pitocin makes the contractions harder and closer together.  I was able to be "on top" of them until the very end, where I felt like it didn't give me a break to breath in between - pitocin make my contractions just a little too close together and that made it difficult at the end.  Second, my hip seized up under all the stress - but we think that was the pitocin too, which causes muscle tension.

Third, the doctor used forceps (because of the hip), which are just awful when you don't have drugs in the system!  Still, they are short and quick.

The pain, as you said, is manageable because we are made to manage it.  I don't deal well with pain normally, but I did just fine with my labor despite.  See, the contractions are separate.  You deal with one at a time and have a break in between where you can gear up for the next one.

I know especially that without pitocin I may have come through with less pain.  I only found labor truly painful when I lost concentration, which only happened once or twice right at the end.  Labor is work.  What is painful is the overuse of the muscles, and you feel that for days and weeks afterwards - it's like running a marathon without training.

Now that I'm pregnant with my second, I found an excellent pro-life doctor (I don't want a doctor who has performed abortions - that's just horrifying to me).

My insurance won't cover a midwife, and I like the hospital where we are now - it has the newest big up-to-date rooms with beds for husbands, sitz spa, and they bathe/measure etc. all in the room, so the baby never has to leave your side.

I have said no drugs again, and no induction drug, etc.  But the best thing I can do (and will) is wait until the last possible moment to go to the hospital.

Answer 2

I believe the same thing, but I am glad for doctors and hospitals.  I wanted to have a natural childbirth without drugs, but it wasn't possible.  Had I been insistent my little one would have died and I would have bled out.  I ended up with a scheduled c-section and I am happy that I did.  Not all women can have a natural childbirth, no matter how much they would like to have one.

Answer 3

I agree with you. Women are made magnificently for childbirth. I had a drug-free childbirth and am still feeling empowered by the birth many years later. Although I had one of the most difficult births, inducing a premature baby - which could have easily caused a c-section, I was lucky enough to have hired trained attendants and was able to use many methods of natural pain relief methods for labor. I was able to give birth on my own in an upright squatting position. My new book details how to create a safe and gentle birth for mom's and their baby's whether they are having their baby at home, at a birth center or a quiet birth at home. Some women are reporting pain-free births using the new pain technology of hypnobirthing, accelerating the hormonal dance between mother and baby, using water birth and hired childbirth professionals. You can see the thrill of victory in these women's faces and it is a feeling of accomplishment that lasts forever. I highly recommend women to experience automatic labor and a drug free birth as it helps to increase breastfeeding, bonding and attaching when the mother and baby experience the least amount of trauma during birth. All pain drugs cross the placenta into the baby, just like alcohol, causing the baby to be heavily drugged for the first few days of life. Women who use natural remedies for pain during labor are creating a safe and gentle birth for themselves and their baby. Congrats and best wishes, G

Answer 4

I have done natural child birth twice. The first time was pure bliss and slept through contractions and it was wonderful. Only 4 hours long. The second was 13 long hours where I wanted to give up every minute and take the medicine. When a bright crying screaming baby came out, I knew I made the right decision to have no drugs. Both of my kids are health and I would recommend the choice to anyone!

Answer 5

I believe the exact things you do; however, when pregnant I realized that I knew NOTHING about labor and all that stuff.  So, I found out about the Bradley Method, found an instructor in our area and signed up.  It was the best thing ever!  It's a twelve week class and you bring your husband.  You learn everything from what's going on with your baby in labor, how labor progress, your rights as a patient (yes, you have rights!!) complications and how to make everything easier.  Every last fifteen minutes of class was spent with your husband practicing ways to relieve your contraction pains.

By the time my labor came I was very calm.  I got my first contractions at 11 PM, my water broke (on the tile floor, thankfully!) at midnight and I just stayed up, timing the contractions, folding laundry, surfing the internet, emptying the dishwasher and picked up the house so it would be nice to get home to.  Around two PM I woke my husband since my contractions were getting stronger and I needed him to help me through them and he did an awesome job.  At five thirty in the morning my contractions had been app. 1 minute long, 4 minutes apart for one hour and I could tell that I was in transition (the stage before pushing) so we packed up the car and went to the hospital.  I was admitted around 6:15, the doctor checked me and I was 9 cm dilated and the baby was at a +1 station so they went running and my daughter was born at 6:33 AM after five pushes (I was on my left side, the back is a baaad place to be when you have contractions).  I did get a little tear, but could not feel it.  After the head crowned I was completely numb and couldn't feel any pain at all, nature is a wonderful thing!  I never got an IV, no pain meds and I walked from L&D to my recovery room afterwards.  When I have my next child I will most definitely go natural again, no doubt about it!

Answer 6

I used natural childbirth with a midwife for my first child because I believed exactly the same way you did.  The labor was pretty long though (14 hours), so with my second child, I used a doctor and asked for a spinal.  I'm so glad I did, but only because I had complications and needed a c-section at the last minute.  

So - I believe natural labor can be a wonderful thing, but I thank God for doctors, medicine and pain relief.