Natural birth?

Question

I'm not pregnant, but when I am I would really like to have it naturally, I understand that it's easier to get an epidural but I want to make sure I can enjoy the very first moments w/ my baby and I've heard that and epidural can cause long lasting migranes and life long side affects, and if I have the child naturally I feel that it will be worth it. Family members advise me otherwise since I have a small body frame, but everyone of them have had a C-section or epidural. Can anybody give me some advice or tips from their own experience? Any advice will be wonderful.

Answer 1

I've had several children and the last one was an unmedicated, 100% natural childbirth at home w/ two midwives. I'm also an OB Nurse.
First let me say, in all my time being an OB nurse, I've never witness any major problem w/ an epidural for mom or baby. For the most part, they are safe & you & the child will be monitored. I've had several dozen patients with horrible headaches after an epidural (some last for days and require a technique called a "blood patch" but it's not that big of a deal), I've had a few faint when the epidural was inserted, and I've had one who had temporary leg paralysis for a few days after but then recovered. If you take into consideration how many pregnant women I've helped care for, the complication ratio isn't that high. And almost all of the babies are fine too and I've never had one die due to epidural or other pain meds. They will monitor your babies heartbeat the whole time you're receiving drugs.

I had epidurals with my hospital births only because doctors want to augment all births with Pitocin, which gives you abnormally strong contractions. Once the Pitocin was in my system, I could not cope with the pain, or the lack of a break or rest between contractions. Long story short, I just didn't like the way the hospital births went, even though the babies and I were fine after delivery.

My last birth was a planned homebirth. Midwives, at home anyway, do not administer any kind of pain medication. I labored the whole time in a tub of hot water. I kid you not, the contractions were never bad, never worse than a menstral cramp, when I was in the water. When I stood up to go pee or have the doppler applied, I'd feel the contraction. But the water worked just as well as an epidural and I highly recommend it. If I ever had more kids, I'd have them at home & labor in water!

I'm not sure if this is all in my head, or because it was an un-medicated birth, or just because the birth was more perfect than I always hoped a home birth would be, but I *bonded* so much better with the natural baby. The endorphins were so much higher and I felt totally euphoric after the birth. Again, I don't know if it was because there were no drugs in my system, or just because it was a dream come true. But I did bond instantly with that baby, and with the hospital births, it took a while to do. And I can tell you that this baby was more calmer at birth (he wasn't born crying like the others), and he immediately took to nursing. With the others, it took a few days to succesfully nurse.

So...my advice is...if you birth in a hospital, skip the Pitocin if possible to make a natural birth more likely. Also, see if they will let you labor in water. It really helps the pain. But if you do get Pitocin or even if the pain is just too much, don't be too upset if you need to take an epidural or IV meds. Everything they do in a hospital is to protect the Dr and hospital from a law suit (sad but true). I promise they wouldn't give you medication if there was an real risk of major complications. So use it if you need to and don't feel guilty.
But my real advice is, if you want to go natural, seek out a midwife. They deliver at home, birthing centers, and at some hospitals and they are greater supporters of natural births than doctors are.
This is a good site on birth info, especially natural births - http://notjustskin.org/en/birthoptions.html - it talks about positioning, water births, relaxation, etc.

Good luck to you!

Answer 2

I intended to have my daughter naturally but after about nearly two days of contractions 5 minutes apart I hit the hardest part of labor and I asked for an epidural. It was around 1:00 am and apparently the anesthesioligist was napping because he was no where to be found. About the time they found him, my daughters heart rate started dropping with every contraction, so the doctor decided it was best for me not to have anything (it might slow the labor down). So she was born naturally after 45 hours of labor. Now I'm glad it happened that way. It hurts like hell while your going through it, but you forget the pain almost immediately. I've heard that if you don't have any medication your body produces natural painfighting chemicals. I also think recovery is faster after a natural birth. I was up walking around immediately after the birth. My sister had an epidural with her first, and it took her much longer to recover. She preferred the C-section she had with the second over the labor with her first. No pain with the scheduled C-section. They deaden everything and a couple minutes later you have a baby. What she didn't like about the C-section was that they kept her in recovery for a while and she couldn't see the baby while she was in there. Whatever you plan, be flexible because childbirth never goes quite like expected.

Answer 3

I had an Epidural just because it was my first child and when it came time to push the damn doctor SHUT IT OFF. He wasn't even the doctor i was suppose to deliver with he was the ON CALL doctor (he likes to do things his way) well anyways by the time the baby came out i could feel everything the epi wore off. I never had a migrane or any side affects to it. If the pain gets to bad with contractions you can always ask the doctor to give you an Epi. They can always shut it off when you deliver like they did me. You'll be able to feel the birth of you baby even with the Epi the Epi just takes away the contraction pain so you don't feel them.

Answer 4

Dont even rack your brains about all this. You have a long way before u even get pregnant. ha ha! and by the time it is 9 months and time to deliver you'll just want it out, either ways, as long as you n your baby r safe. everyone wants to have a natural delivery, the pushing way (ofcourse there are a crazy few who plan their delivery according to national day and valentines day)but in the labour room things may or may not always go your way. i wanted a natural delivery too and was fully mentally prepared for it with all the books and courses to back. but in the 9th mnth my baby suddenly stopped growing becoz of something called IUGR and Doc had to perform a immediate C-Section. And im glad he did what he thought was right. the method hardly matters once you see the result! cheer up!

Answer 5

I didn't have an epidural, I had stadol. It didn't work though. My labor wasn't that bad though. I walked in to the hospital a 5cm and progressed to 10cm very fast. I hope to go natural again. I am proud of not having an epidural. Everyone else I knew had one. Good Luck in the future though!

Answer 6

I tried to go natural but the pitocin did me in, I got an epidural. Next time I plan a home birth, obviously without drugs.

Answer 7

I am also interested in hearing about others experiences with natural child birth, when I have a baby I want to do the same. It's not about getting "points" for me, I don't want the drugs in my system or my baby's.

Answer 8

If I was to have a baby which I'm not because I don't want kids of my own, I want to adopt I would have it naturally and if that didn't work then I would get a C-section.

Answer 9

I had spinal blocks with all four of mine due to c-sections, but I have had no bad effects from any of them. I don't see any reason to feel the pain when you don't have to. You don't get extra points for doing it all natural.

Answer 10

I agree w/ u! I had my natural birth on the floor of our saudi arabian home next to my going-thru-puberty son!