Natural childbirth stories?

Question

I'm looking for women who have given birth without an epidural and had a positive experience. I am due in a week, and plan to receive no meds. I am group b strep positive so i have to get to the hospital for antibiotics at least 4 hours before the birth. But I plan to labor at home as long as possible. Everyone says the epidural is your best friend. I want to hear stories from people who think natural is best!

Answer 1

It's funny, i gave birth naturally and was a bit traumatized for a couple of weeks after, thinking that next time, I'd get an epidural. Now that I look back at it, I see my mistakes. My mother always told me that for her, labor was no big deal, so I expected that my labor will be as easy and fast. Well, it lasted 16.5 hours with 4.5 hours pushing. Of course I was dissapointed. It's been a few months and I feel that I'll give birth naturally again.

The midwives told me that you have to take one minute at the time, not look in the future wondering how long it will take, because when you do that, you lose focus and become impatient and scared if it doesn't work the way you imagined.

If you're planning to go without epidural, get a doula or a midwive or prepare the person who will be supporting you (there's plenty of info on the internet) and/or research what can ease your pain (massage, hot compress, walking, changing positions, bath tub, etc.). Not every technique will work, so you should try different ones.

Relax during contractions, it really helps ! When you crisp your muscles, it actually hurts more.

Everybody's experience is different, so take it with a grain of salt !

Answer 2

I delivered natural twice.  Believe me, had I the choice I would have taken whatever drugs, epidural, whatever they would have offered me.  

Answer 3

If I had had strep B and they needed the 4 hour time frame, I would have gotten there as soon as I went into labor. You have no idea if your labor will be 3 hours or 24. I would want to get the antibiotics in me asap - talk to the doctor about that.

I had all 4 of mine naturally (2 were born at home) and everything was fine. I never wanted epidural because of the risks. Now, if I had gone longer than 24 hours, I would have opted to go and have one perhaps, just because of the exhaustion factor. My first was a 24 hour labor and I couldn't have done it much longer. I had back labor all 4 times too - which is as bad as it gets. With good support people, taking it one contraction at a time and being focused (rather than scared) it's not that bad. Transition is the worst phase and it's also the shortest. When labor is over, it's over. I never regretted choosing natural. Every unnecessary medical intervention can lead to another and another. I've seen it!

Talk to them about perineal massage with oil to prevent episiotomy too - So glad I did. I never tore, I was never cut and not one stitch! I had 4 big babies too!

Wanted to add - you can plan all you want and labor is always uncertain. Sometimes you could have other factors that would cause you to need an epidural or whatever - it's not wrong. Make a birth plan and do your best. There are always uncertainties and you have to have plan B in place too. Most important is your's and baby's safety.

Answer 4

Well, I would like to start out by saying that while I did not have an epidural when I delivered my son, you should not plan around others experiences for your labor.  More power to you if you do it, but it may not be that simple.  I did have medictation in my IV when I was about 8cm dialated, that did nothing.  Was it painful, absolutely, but the pain I felt may not be the same as what you will feel.  You have to consider other factors and not just getting it or not getting it.  For example, my friend has 2 children.  She did not get pain medication for either one of them.  Her labors were three hours long (each of them three hours) and she pushed twice and the baby was out.  She told me that she did not even feel her contractions until she was about 8cm dialated, and my mother was the same way (4 children).  Me and my sisters on the other hand, were feeling our contractions at 1-2 cm and my labor lasted almost 15 hours!  ( I was absolutely exhausted)  It isnt that my friend is tougher than me (as she didnt even feel the pain), everyone just feels pain differently.  I encourage you to stick to your birth plan and labor without medication, but I hope that you do not beat yourself up too bad if in the situation you want some pain management.  I am currently 5 months pregnant and am not ruling out an epidural this time. Due to the fact that I was in so much pain and had been so exhausted, I did not get to enjoy the birth process as I would have hoped.  I wasnt concentrating on the fact that my son was being brought into this world...I was just praying that they would hurry up and let it be over with.

Good luck with your labor and delivery, but remember, keep an open mind and do what works best for you!

Answer 5

hi i had a natural birth all i remember was waking up one morning and i was fine then i sat on lounge nd had lower back pain i rang hospital they told me to run a warm bath but by time bath was run at 745am i couldnt even sit down i just kept breathe an blowing in out  then they got more intense and rang ambulance they turned up and i had oxygen  thats all i had and withing 3 hours my one & only bundle was born  weighing 7lb 15 ozs and his apgar was awesome they said  but all i had was oxygen and a damp wet flannel but i feel everyone is diff im not one for  pain i usually cant handle pain but this thou was different just felt like a little lower back niggling pain thats all  IT REALLY DEPENDS ON YOURSELF HUN  THOUGH I MYSELF PREFERED THE NATURAL  

Answer 6

With my first son I was young (16) and was in labor for almost 48 hours. I didn't want an epidural bc I was scared of having a needle that close to my spine. They gave me some meds through my IV to help me sleep bc I hadn't in a whole day. Then while I was pushing They gave me something to help take the "edge" off. That didn't work very well, it just made me loopy and tired afterwards and all I did was sleep and couldn't enjoy my baby. With my second son I had completely natural child bith. It went very quickly. Afterwards I felt great. I was awake and alert and feeling good. After experiencing that, I chose to have a natural child birth with my third son. It too went great. i pushed for 7 minutes!  There is no recovery time as far as getting feeling back. I won't lie, the pain can get intense, but you have to remember that you will get through it :) And when it is over it is over.   I am now pregnant with my 4th child and will opt for natural again. I have never had an epidural so I can't give you an experience story, but I know from my sisters having them that their labor took longer andthey had to wait to get feeling back in their legs to move around. They both said the one thing they regret is that they didn't feel themselves pushing their baby out. It does you give you a sense of pride and accomplishment doing it on your own. I am NOT saying that women are weak or don't feel just as accomplished when they have an epidural. you have to do what makes you comfortable.  I can only tell you how I felt. :) Good luck!!!

Answer 7

My first 2 were both natural.  I was in labor 9 hours with my first, and 6 with my seconds which was not that bad.  During the contractions I would breath my way through them (it is very important to relax during contractions and breath because if you tighten up and hold your breath, you are not getting good oxygen to the baby, which happened to me the first time).  Good luck, and I hope that everything goes well.

Answer 8

WIth my second child I had an epidural that did not work, so essentially I did it all on my own. Thankfully labor was relatively short - about 3 hours. I was panicked and didn't cope very well.

For the third child I made the decision that I wanted to do a natural birth since I had survived the second one and had a change of heart about the experience. I had a very supportive midwife. I found moving around to be helpful - rocking, bouncing on a birthing ball, etc. Counterpressure (hard) on the lower back, right down at the top of your butt crack also really helped me. I also used noise - humming, making a low constant "ooooooohhhh" sound through the contractions, etc.

A lot of the tricks my midwife used with me I now use in my profession as a labor and delivery nurse.

I think women going for an unmedicated delivery are wise to at least check into hiring a doula, someone who has all those tools in their labor toolbox and can really be useful in keeping you focused, trying new things to get comfortable, etc. It takes a huge amount of pressure off of your hubby/partner, too, because they certainly aren't trained to provide that level of support to a laboring woman, and they surely are dealing with their own anxieties as well. What's ideal is to have a doula who will instruct your partner to help guide you through some of the techniques so that it's a team effort, but that doesn't always work.

Good luck in your efforts, but always have a "plan b" just in case things change. Pain relief is often a good idea if labor just gets too long, if you're very ill (vomiting, dehydrated, getting exhausted), or if your labor stalls. So be open to the possibility that your plans could change.

**edited to add: I also wanted to say that so much of enduring labor is your frame of mind. You can't view labor as negative pain. It is a positive pain, the pain of hard work instead of illness or injury. It's like feeling the burn in your legs when running a marathon. Visualize your cervix opening, your baby moving low. And it's helpful to view labor in terms of each single contraction.  Don't have a clock nearby and don't keep track of how many hours. Just keep reminding yourself that each contraction is only 60-90 seconds long, and you can endure the discomfort for that many seconds. One at a time. Good luck.

Answer 9

I wanted to go natural with both mine and had the breathing going and everything but got to about 6-7 cm with both and wanted the epidural. With my son, I was on the labor ball, walking around, everything, and nothing seemed to be working. I wish I could've gone natural, but the epidural was nice because I was able to relax and 'enjoy' my labor. With my son, the dr. and nurses and me and my husband were all laughing and cutting up between contractions (after I had the epidural) we got it on video, it was so funny! an hour before I was in so much pain I was on the floor on my hands and knees doing the 'pelvic rock' and I kept yelling, "My face is going numb!" because of the pain on my lower back I guess. lol  So do whatever works for you. Plan to go med-free but you are not a lesser person if you do get meds. Healthy mommy, healthy baby, that is the ultimate goal. I am preg again and want to try natural again, we'll see how it goes...