Thoughts or comments on natural labor and delivery vs. medicine assisted labor and delivery?

Question

I just wanted opinions or thoughts from anyone who has been through either one or both of these situations. How does the recovery time differ between a non-medicated vaginal delivery or one where an epidural was used. And for those who have been successful with a natural labor, was there a feeling of accomplishement or empowerment afterwards? Also what was the experience with the nurses and doctors, were they supportive of the choice to labor naturally or did they try to encourage an epidural? Thanks for all your help.

Answer 1

i have had two natural..i had to have pitocin to induce both my body wouldnt go into labor on its own,..so my labors were fast and hard...i felt as though i could run a marathon right after i had them..the next day i could barely move...but after the muscle soreness about two days ..i was good....i would not allow them to give me an episiotomy either so my nurse massaged the area till i gave birth...so they were great about what i wanted

Answer 2

I have 2 kids....17 & 15. I had an epidural with both of them and wouldn't have had it any other way. With my first I went the first 17 hours of labor with no drugs. Finally I decided to go with the epidural. 10 hours later she was finally born. With my son I went into the hospital telling them I wanted an epidural. Can't remember how long I waited, but I had 15 hours labor with him. I know a lot of people go without drugs. It really is a personal choice and nobody can tell you what is right for you or even how you'll feel afterwards. It doesn't make me feel bad at all for having the epidural. I always figure as long as the baby gets into this world happy and healthy does it really matter if there were drugs involved? And if you don't take any drugs.....why would you feel any better about yourself and more empowered than you would if you had taken the epidural? Giving birth is amazing and a true gift no matter how the baby gets there....with or without the epidural or any other pain reliever.

As for the docturs & nurses...I had my kids at 2 different hospitals. When my daughter was born epidurals were still fairly new (they gave spinals before that) but both were very supportive to my what I wanted and didn't try to sway my decision either way.

Good luck and remember...this is YOU having this baby...nobody else...and only you can decide the right thing for you.

Answer 3

I have had 3 babies, and three completely different experiences, 2 with no epidural. It is a long read, but hopefully they can be of some help to you.

For my first, I planned to go natural from the day I knew I was pregnant. My labor started 48 hours before my son arrived, it was very intense at night, then it would quit during the day. By the time I was actually "in labor" I was already exhausted. When I got to the hospital the doctor gave me pitocin to "speed things up." All it really did was make the contractions hurt more and make me more tense. I ended up getting an epidural. I was numb from the waist down and I didn't feel a bit of the birth process.

With number 2, I arrived at the hospital dilated to 6, without any significant contractions prior to that. Shortly after I arrived, my midwife broke my water. The labor intensified, but it was still tolerable. Within an hour and a half, my son was born, completely drug free. It was a little scary to push him out unmedicated because I didn't know what to expect. It definitely hurt, but it was an amazing experience that I will never forget. Without a doubt, this was my best labor and delivery. I would have 10 babies if they could all be like that.

#3 was a nightmare. It was a week before Christmas and I had the flu. I had been dilated to 4 for a week and I was not progressing. I tried to convince my doctor that my body knew what it was doing and that I should just get well before I had the baby. But I was already 12 days over and they were getting impatient with me. So despite all my arguing, they sent me to the hospital. They broke my water and started me on pitocin. This was my most difficult labor of all. After agonizing through it for a couple hours, I told my doctor I wanted an epidural. She said the anesthesiologist was tied up and he wouldn't be there for another 45 minutes. Well, my son was born before they got there with the drugs, in only 2 pushes. The pushing part was much easier with him, but the labor was awful.

After all that, here is my advice. Pain and all, I feel that natural is the better way to go. I enjoyed my labor and delivery with the one child that I was able to go completely natural. But, if you want to go natural, labor at home for as long as possible, and do NOT let them put you on Pitocin. I can say with 100% certainty that the contractions are much worse with Pitocin. They use a1-10 pain scale to determine the level of pain you're in. With a normal, natural labor, your pain gradually increases, with the majority of the labor spent around a 5-7 level pain, and only a few contractions in the end at the 10 level. On pitocin, the contractions immediately spike up to level 10+. The body just cannot tolerate extended periods of that much pain. And in my experience, it did not make the labor any faster.

It also helps to have a midwife rather than a doctor. They tend to be more supportive of natural birth. The doctors were definitely not in favor of going natural.

Oh, and my recovery time was about the same with all three.

Good luck!

Answer 4

Well lets see. Statistically, you and the baby will recover faster from an uncomplicated, non-medicated delivery. I can give you an example of both. My first delivery i was given Demerol against my wishes. It took the edge off a little but i think i may have reacted badly to it in the sense that i became disoriented. I couldnt push right. It took 3 hrs to push my baby out. I just want to remind you that not everyone reacts this way to Demerol.
My second delivery was a dream! I was able to walk and do pretty much everything except eat. When it came down to delivery, I pushed him out in 16 mins! The nurses and doctor were supportive in my choice not to have anything that time around. They didnt push an epidural or laughing gas. The nurses actually administered accupressure to help aleviate some of the pressure i was feeling in my loins.

It was very very empowering to have my son without any medical intervention. We both were ready to leave the next morning (had him at 6am the previous day). He was breastfeeding really well, passed his first stool in the hospital and i was walking around within 30 mins of complete delivery.

Now i am not trying to glorify it. I was really lucky. I am 25 weeks with my third and planning on a home water birth. I have a Registered Midwife this time and she has been just WONDERFUL!!! It honestly depends where you deliver. You should probably write up a birth plan if you without a doubt want to go without medication. Have a support team there to help you maintain your decision. The hospital has to respect your wishes to a point unless you need a c-section in which case you'll prolly want the medication lol!! Hope this helped!

Answer 5

Natural labor is not that difficult if you go into it prepared. You have to know that it is going to hurt and it could last a long while. You need to be ready to work hard and be willing to try different methods to deal with the pain.

If you are inclined to curl up in a ball at the first sign of menstrual cramps than you probably aren't a good candidate for a natural birth :)

If you are clear with your caregiver about the type of birth experience you want to have they are usually supportive. That is unless the health of you or the baby indicates your choices are dangerous.

Of course there is a feeling of accomplishment and empowerment after a natural birth. It is like running a marathon! Your baby also doesn't suffer from the effects of the drugs at birth either.
Also keep in mind that if things don't go as planned you are not a failure. Do your best and things will work out just fine.

Answer 6

I have had both experiences. My first 2 children were born without any medicines at all. The only feelings I had right afterwards was, thank God that is done. But after a while, I did have feelings of accomplishment. My 3rd child, I decided to have the epidural. The nurses were supportive of both of my decisions. And boy was I glad that I got the epi. The doctor had to tell me when to push. I couldn't feel a thing. The only thing was that I couldn't get up right away afterwards. I still couldn't feel my legs enough to stand. I would totally recommend the epidural.

Answer 7

If you want to try a natural delivery, then by all means, forgoing a medical reason, you should have one. However, if you do have ANY complications during delivery, opt for a c-section IMMEDIATELY! Why your previous physician allowed you to go for 44 weeks before delivering is beyond me. Furthermore, the fact that they let your labor continue for so long was ridiculous. I had a sister that had a similar experience to yours. Thank God her daughter didn't have brain damage, she did have to be delivered by c-section after about 18 hours of hard labor. Because of what my sister went through, the doctor (we had the same physician) insisted that I be x-rayed to see if I would be able to deliver naturally. I am so glad that I did that. The x-ray showed that there was NO possible way that I would be able to deliver normally. With both of my children I had scheduled c-sections. It was worth it.

Answer 8

Yes, there is a great feeling of accomplishment and empowerment afterwards. I had all four of mine natural using the Bradley method. I only had an episiotomy with the first one because of fetal distress. However, the postpartum with the first two was very hard. Either childbirth or nursing or lack of sleep made my immune system very low. I was sick 10 days of every month for six months. We had to really hunt for a doctor who would agree to a natural birth. We did not want an electronic fetal monitor either, because of the risks involved.

Answer 9

women have been giving birth for millions of years without doctors or epidurals.
even today, women in poorer countries give birth while working the fields, place the child in a carrier and go back to work. no complications.
here in America, we have the attitude that science and medicine are better than nature. this was most prevailanet in the 50's, epitomized with the developent of formula. why should you feed the baby breast milk, when there is this scientificaly designed stuff. it must be better.
now, we know this is not the best approach.
same for child birth. the concept that a baby MUST be delivered in a hospital by a doctor has lost its popularity. natural childbirth, hypnobirthing and water births have increased in popularity greatly in the last few years.
that said, when my children were born, my wife tried natural and hypnobirthing, but i wanted her in a hospital just in case something went wrong. western civilization has the greatest medicine in the world, take advantage of it.

Answer 10

I don't have kids, but lot of my friends have had the epidural done and all say they are glad they did. One friend wanted to have a natural water birth(which is supposed to be easier on mother and baby), but because she had gestational diabetes it was not possible, and had to have a Cesarean. A co-worker told me his wife elected to have one, but the woman in the next area didn't. He said the woman next to them sounded like she was being tortured because she was screaming so loud.

I hope you find good responses to both procedures. If you are interested in natural birth, check out the water birth. It sounds interesting!