I want to give birth naturally without an epidural..?

Question

Can any one let me know what to expect? Thanks!

I have a pretty high tolerance for pain and I want to experience natural childbirth

Answer 1

Everyone is different! Everyone perceives pain/contractions/labor differently.

For me it is more like hard work, like a workout. It is not the "worst pain in the world" by a long shot. It is hard, but it is worth every second.

Reading suggestions:
Birthing From Within by Pam England
Ina May's guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin
Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth by Henci Goer

Take a natural childbirth class, and practice deep breathing while relaxing. If you panic and tense up, it hurts more. If you relax and take deep breaths it is easier. Try it the next time you stub your toe or something. It works!

Labor is mostly mental! If your mental state is fear and panic, your body will go into "fight or flight mode" but if you concentrate on working together with your body, and each contraction is one step closer to your baby... your labor will go smoother.

Don't lie down in bed during labor. Walking makes use of gravity to bring the baby down. Walk as much as you can during labor. If they want to hook you up to a monitor for 20 minutes, you can do that standing up. If they say you can't, they're lying, just so you know.

Get a doula. She will have tips and tricks to help you during labor, and as a woman she can empathize with you. She will have a clear head to remind you what you learned when you are feeling confused during labor.

Best Wishes to you. Don't let people scare you with their horror stories. Birth can be an amazing powerful experience, and you are strong, you don't have to have drugs to have a baby!

Answer 2

Good for you! You don't say why you want to do this, but the less you mess with labor (drugs, etc.) the safer it is for you and your baby.

Labor is widely different from person to person. The textbook labor would go something like this: six or more hours of contractions that feel like moderate to intense menstrual cramps, and relaxing and walking helps you get through them. Then, several more hours of contractions that come every two to three minutes apart and last about a minute each, and are harder to deal with. Then about an hour of contractions that last about a minute and a half and only have about 30 seconds rest between them, and make you feel like you can't do it. Then pushing--the contractions hurt less, and many women say they feel more empowered because they are doing something. Then out comes the baby. Within a half hour, you deliver the placenta, then they stitch you up if you tore (this is where you may wish you had the epidural!) And you may have some afterpains while your uterus returns to its normal size. These SUCK on subsequent pregnancies, but aren't usually bad the first time.

It has been a while since I've been studying this stuff, so my numbers may be off.

There are a LOT of ways to help you cope with labor. Massage, breathing, mental focus and more. My favorite sources about labor include books titled Easing Labor Pain and something like Back Labor No More. The Bradley Method materials were also terrific. However, the best thing you can do to prepare yourself to get through labor without drugs is find a Doula. A doula is a trained childbirth support person who will help you understand what is happening, act as a liason with staff, rub your feet, remind you to pee and otherwise be a tremendous bonus. Even if your partner is very supportive and THERE, there isn't anything like a fellow woman who knows what she's doing!

Answer 3

There is ways to lesson the pain that do not include drugs. A natural birth does not mean "just put up with the pain" There is thing you can do.

First of all...get your hands on books about natural childbirth. "Active Birth" is a great one, so is "Natural Childbirth, the Bradley Way" Read all you can. The more you read and the more you learn about normal birth the more you will trust yourself and the process of birth. If you go in to have a baby and trust your body totally then you will not fight against the contractions (which will make the contractions hurt more) I read hundreds of natural birth stories to prepare for the birth of my 2nd daughter (my first natural birth)

The biggest thing about leasening the pain of childbirth is to find the best position for you. No one can tell you what will work best for you, you have to find out for yourself while in labor. If one position isn't working then try another one. With my first natural birth I spent some time on my hands and knees in the shower with the water hitting my lower back. It worked for me. I tried other positions and the one that worked the least, meaning made the contraction feel terrible, was in bed lying down. The "Active Birth book will help teach you different positions to try.

You HAVE to find a midwife or doctor that will not fight you about position changes. Find one that will even allow you to deliver in a different position that the 'flat on the back' position. Some hospitals have a squat bar above the bed which is nice. Some have women deliver on all fours (my 3rd birth, 2nd natural one was delivered on all fours in a birth pool) Some have women deliver in a side lying position. Try looking at a birth center too. You will have a better chance of having a natural birth if you are surrounded by others who trust in birth and trust in YOU. If you are surrounded by people that look at birth as something un-natural and that women need to be fixed. Then you could feed off of their energy.

Look into water birth. The water really does help!!

Two more books to look into are "A Good Birth, A Safe Birth" and "The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth" both of these books will talk about the different choices a woman has in regards to a care provider and place to birth.

Let me break it down for you

1) read all you can about natural birth

2)read stories of natural birth (been there done that stuff)

3) find a care giver that will fully support you

4) look into birth centers (or even home birth)

Good luck to you. There is a lot of opposition towards natural birth. But believe me...I have seen both sides of the coin. I had way more pain and trauma with my epidural birth than my two natural ones.

Answer 4

I can only tell you of my experience of giving birth after being induced, but I did do it without an epideral 2 out of 3 times. In the beginning when the contractions come on they will be pretty far apart and not lasting very long, it will seem like it will be a piece of cake. Then as you get closer to delivering they will be very close and very strong, not giving you much time to rest. The only thing you can really do to make it not hurt as bad is concentrate on relaxing your uterus as much as you possibly can...also relax the rest of your body. I found it helped me to close my eyes and picture something that would make me relax even more, so I would think of sweet babies and what I thought mine would look like. I would also think of a beautiful and relaxing waterfall scene. But for some reason the nurse thought it would help more to keep my eyes opened during contractions, so she keep yelling at me to open my eyes. So that actually made it worse during the last part of my labor. I've also heard that if you can get up and walk at the very end it will help things progress, but I couldn't even move when one would hit. I tried to get up once and the baby moved into position and I delivered a couple of minutes later, so maybe it did help? But from my experience I would say it's all mental...because whenever they would check me and would say I hadn't progressed I would always be ready to give up and the contractions would seem to hurt so much more and I felt like I couldn't handle it any longer. Then when I got back to relaxing it wouldn't be very long until I was delivering. But do know that if you need some pain relief and don't want to go through with the epideral, that the narcotics they can give you help take the edge off just enough to get through the last part. Good luck!

Answer 5

I had one completely natural birth. It was long and hard and very very painful. I can only describe it as a constant burning sensation topped with more pain. Its like hitting your head on the corner of a cabinet multiple times, but down there. I would do it again, because the baby came out and was not half out of it and I could get up and take a shower after his birth and walk around to take care of him. Plus I didn't shake or throw up because the pain medication. Good luck, not many women make it through without the drugs.

Answer 6

I had four children with no pain medication. Please read the book, Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way. Over 90% of those that use the Bradley method do not need pain medication. Completely relaxing will help prevent cramps. My labor felt nothing like cramps. It was just a dull ache that came and went. I have had hunger pains before that were worse. The crowning hurts, but I don't see the need of a bunch of pain medication to prevent two minutes of pain.

Answer 7

Well, everyone has different experiences. It depends on how well you cope with the pain, and if you let your body surrender to the contractions instead of trying to control them. I had to admit, I didn't do a very good job at that with my 1st birth.

Check out the Bradley Method of Natural Childbirth -- possibly taking a class.

Answer 8

Really bad cramps....thats all its like. Pain comes in waves but its manageable with Lamaze. When the head is through the cervix you have this tremendous pressure in your rectum,,,,you think you gotta go....thats the babies head in the birth canal.

Its easy......you won't have a problem but don't think you can get away without taking some childbirth classes, they are wonderful!!! Get olive oil, put it in a cute little sugar bowl type dish with a lid by your bed and make your husband do perennial massage every night with it. The olive oil is absorbed into the tissues so they are more elastic and you might avoid getting snipped....either way, its a great way to relax, he he he

Answer 9

Hire a good birth Doula. They are worth their weight in gold, knowing techniques of breathing, focusing, counterpressure, and movement to help birth go more smoothly. Some hospitals provide free ones. Lots of birth doula will reduce fees for those with low income.

Try to find a hospital to birth at that is very mother friendly and supportive of natural birth (with a low c-section rate as that can reflect on how often they push for medical interventions). If they have a "birthing center" or a midwife center take advantage of this. Some hospitals have hot tubs to labor in!

Take a good effective birthing class (not neccisarily one put on by the hospital). Write a birth plan, and find a good doctor who will do h
is/her best to stick to it.

Have a supportive partner.

Avoid as many medical interventions as possible unless *truly* neccisary (pitocin makes contractions SO much worse, and other medicine has other effects, and just being tethered to a bed doesn't help coping with birth pains)

Get up and MOVE as much as you can. This helps labor go quicker, gets the baby in a good position, and faster labor = less time to just get worn down by pain/exhaustion.

Don't go to the hospital early. Stay home as long as possible (your doctor will tell you how far apart contractions should be before you come in). Taking showers/baths can help a lot.

Don't beat yourself up if you end up needing one though. I had planned a homebirth, ended up in the hospital, and with all the different medications I couldn't cope after they broke my water.

Answer 10

Not being funny - but you have never experienced pain like your away to. I would advise that you go into it with an open mind, stating in your birthing plan what you wish and don't wish to happen. Once you get there take each step at a time, if you manage without pain relief then good on you, but if you get to a stage when you need something then don't beat yourself up about having to take some sort of relief - just be open minded about it all.

You might be lucky enough to sail through it, some do, but some don't. Have an open mind about pain relief and see how you feel when you get there. Good luck.