Have you given birth naturally?

Question

Is the pain very intense? and when is it the most painful? How did you get through it?

Answer 1

The most painful thing is the contractions. They get pretty intense. You just have to remember to breathe. It helps if you have somebody there with you.

Natural is better than having an epidureal. I know several people that have back problems now because of them, which is why I went naturally. They do give you pain killers, but it just knocks you out a bit so you really don't care what's going on.

Actually having the baby doesn't hurt. The contractions are what gets you. They get more intense the closer you get. It's the only pain you forget quickly though.

Answer 2

I tried my best to give birth naturally. For some reason it was very important to me. However i was in labor for more than 24 hours and i had been admitted for observation a day before so i hadnt had anything to eat or drink in nearly more than 48 hours (they wont let you eat anything in case they need to rush you to do a C-section). Also i had been induced and they had upped the pitocin too much before i was fully dialated and i was having very painful horrible contractions for nearly 4 hours. It felt like my body was on fire and i kept refusing the epidural. Even though i was doing all the breathing and relaxation techniques it wasnt helping. As i was a high risk case i wasnt allowed to walk around, maybe if i could have walked it would have been a little better.

Then the doctor came and told me it was best i had the epidural to go cos i could go on for another 12 hours and without having eaten for so long i wouldnt have the energy to push and would increase the chances of a C-section. i asked for some other pain drugs but they said the epidural was the safest for the baby. I was sooooo upset that i had to take an epidural but i wanted to really avoid a C-section.

In retrospect, I think i was really silly. Everyone talks about how bad labor pain is, but no one tells you how exhausted you feel in the weeks following the delivery when you nurse every 2 hours. I wish i had taken the epidural earlier and saved up some of the energy for later when it really mattered as i had to stay up for my baby. So next time i plan to take the epidural earlier.

Even with the epidural you feel pain when you are pushing and crowning. Though the pain didnt bother me so much at that time, i was so out of energy i just wanted to get it over with.

I probably could have done it unmedicated (i survived most of it without the epidural except the last 4 hours anyway) if they had let me eat, drink and walk around. But since it was a high risk pregnancy and i had already miscarried once, the baby was the priority. This birth really taught me that no matter how prepared you are, the labor and delivery will not go as planned. But it was all worth it though, now i have the most amazing daughter.

Answer 3

Yeah, I gave birth to a 10lb 6 oz girl naturally! For me the pain was really intense about the time i was dilated to a 7. I was laying there with my whole body tensed up, and none of the nurses or my husband would come near me, because they could see the "I WILL KILL YOU" look in my eye lol! one of the nurses who was hooking up my IV for fluids glanced at me as she put on the bag, and then shifted her eyes away and then suddenly back again. She said very quietly next to my ear "believe it or not, if you will just relax your shoulders, it will hurt less!" At that point I was willing to try anything, so i did. It worked! I know with the next one I will try all the breathing techniques they tell you about in Lamaze, because I just thought it was something they did to keep you too busy to scream, now I know better! The second worst part is when I could feel the baby coming out, and the medical student told me not to push until the doctor arrived! AS IF! all my doc did was catch the baby, and sew me up, which absolutely sucks, because with no pain meds after pushing the blue whale through there, you sure don't feel like having them stick you with needles,and telling you to sit still, but if you don't need stitches, everything is copacetic!

Answer 4

I don't too much remember alot of the pain b/c it was 6 years ago. I remember being in pain saturday evening my son was born Monday morning 2:41 am. Very long did'nt go to the hospital until i saw my mucus plug which was Sunday about 6:30 pm when I got to the hospital i was already dilated 5cm. The contractions would have you saying thinks you don't really want to say. They hurt that bad. I did not want any pain medication, but the doctors insisted on giving dimerol it just made me go tosleep. When it came down to pushing it did not hurt, and besides when the dr. came in he cut me, which did'nt hurt. Pushing the baby did not hurt and it did not hurt when the shoulders came out either, just a warm gushing water feeling. But what did hurt was the aftermath (stitches) couple hours later I could not walk to go to the bathroom, out the bed, into the bed and when i had a bowel movement it really hurted. That was my first round with labor. Second round I am really scared (17 weeks pregnant) I have a midwife but she is not going to delivery my baby because I refuse to give birth at home or in a birthing center( they send you home after 4-6 hour) I don't want to be bothered by family and friend after I have my baby just to much attention and not enough of rest. Don't worry your self too much about it. But I would not want a C-section over vaginal delivery. Good Luck!!

Answer 5

i had an epideral with my first child... i had HORRIBLE side effects, migrains for DAYS. i could barely function because of the headaches~ the doctor said it was a side effect that didn't happen in a great deal of people... but that i should never have another.

because of my bad experience i delivered my next 3 children without ANY pain meds (other than a local with the epesiodemy(sp?) before they stitched me.

the thing i LOVED about natural delivery was that as soon as the labor was done, i felt INSTANTLY better (with the exception of soreness vaginally... but even that was not terrible). i loved that i could fully function and enjoy my babies immediately after birth. i remember when the pain became "unbareable" the baby was already crowning... i would estimate the length of "intense" pain to be about 3-4 minutes! oh, and getting the head out wasn't QUITE as big of a deal as the shoulders...

Answer 6

I have had three amazing unmedicated births. Unless there was a medical reason, I wouldn't do it any other way.

I strongly believe that if you are educated about birth, prepared with coping techniques and have a good support system then you can cope much better with labor.

If you really want a natural birth, consider hiring a midwife instead of a doctor. They are much less likely to intervene. They also spend a lot more time with you and really get to know you. You might also consider hiring a doula. They are WONDERFUL and will stay with you and support you through the whole birth and suggest coping techniques, etc.

The labor wasn't all that bad for me. Stay active and change positions and move around. Squat, walk, use a birth ball, get in the shower or birthing tub, rock on your hands and knees, dance with your partner, etc.

Eat if your hungry and keep yourself hydrated by drinking water, sports drinks or juice. (You wouldn't run a marathon without eating something for energy and keeping yourself hydrated!)

Consider waterbirthing. It is SOooooo much easier than a "land birth" in my opinion!

With my first, the most difficult part was crowing, also known as "the ring of fire." That's the point where baby's head is stretching your cervix to it's largest point. I had a doc for that birth instead of a MW. He was doing perineal massage on me and between that and the crowing I felt like I was writhing around trying to get away from the burning. I should have been working WITH the sensation instead of against it.

With my second, going through transition in the car wasn't very fun but I handled it. When I was pushing her out, I could feel myself bruising. I had to get on hands and knees because her shoulders wouldn't come out in the position I was in. She popped out just fine after that.

With my third, honestly, the hardest part was about the last minute of pushing. Her birth was heavenly. The midwives said you couldn't even tell I was in labor until maybe the last 15 minutes. Coincidentally, this was my home waterbirth where my hubby caught the baby.

Forgot to say.....
Pushing actually feels GOOD to most women who are working WITH their bodies. It's good to feel you're actively doing something and working with the contractions to accomplish something!

And any pain goes away with the birth....boom...baby out pain gone. Hormones are WONDERFUL!

Answer 7

Yes, I have (and plan to again in about 7 months). The pain was not horrible, it's better if you plan for it, I suggest reading up on the Bradley Method. It was the most painful in what is called "transition", it's right when you are getting through the final contractions getting you dilated before the pushing phase.
I used relaxation techniques recommend in the Bradley books, and had my husband massaging my back.
Unlike what some women will tell you, it is not the worst pain ever... in my opinion dental work is worse.

This is coming from someone who was in labor for 3 days.

Answer 8

Yes I have given birth naturally. Compared to my first 3 births (1st 2 were C's and 3rd was medicated in hospital) my last 2 unmedicated homebirths were AWESOME!!!!!!

The pain? I honestly cant say there was much pain..but it varies from woman to woman. From what I have learned through my pregnancies..is that the pain comes from a fear..or inability to relax.

Best wishes

Answer 9

It is different for every woman. Yeah, the pain is off the scales, but hopefully it only lasts a few minutes to a couple hours. The worst time for me was the "transitional" phase - the time period where you've stopped dilating but haven't yet gotten the urge to push. Everything irritated me! I didn't want ANYthing touching me - if I could have floated above the bed I would have. That thankfully only lasted about 45 minutes - but for me that was the worst of it!

Answer 10

Yes, twice....both experiences very different. You just have to get through the contractions. Try to breathe with them and let go instead of holding your breath and fighting it. Once you get through the contractions, everything else is easy. The delivery is the easiest part, so epidural is not necessary. I recommend two books, "Mind over Labor" and "Birthing from Within". Good luck!