I’m 34 weeks, and I’m really interested in delivering without pain medication. Can anyone share their stories and advice on the topic?
Thanks!
goretex parka
I had a natural delivery with my first and I plan on one with my second.
This was my experience:
I took Castor Oil about 8 hours prior to labor (I am not necessarily endorsing the use of Castor oil but it worked for me), I went from just contractions to active labor (10cm) in about 5 hours, and pushed all of about a half hour, ya he came quick!
Things I didn’t expect:
1.The pain.. no really, ouch.
It helped to focus on the clock in the delivery room, my husband was there but I just couldn’t look at him for his reaction to my screaming, you need to focus on something that is unaffected by you, it sort of grounds the pain, if that makes any sense.
2. I had no option for pain medicine if I wanted to change my mind (though I didn’t)
This is because, if your baby comes quick like mine, there is no time to administer anything.. and no time for it to take effect.
3. Everyone’s input in the delivery room
You just can’t process multiple ideas as to what to do or even make simple descisions when you are in that much pain. In the end I ignored everyone and pushed when I had the urge to. You know your body better than anyone in that delivery room.
4. breastfeeding in the hospital
I don’t know if your planning on it but if you are, pack breast pads, a breastfeeding bra and lanolin oil, you will be so glad you did.
I hope all of this didn’t scare you off.. I am glad that I had him naturally, we bonded very well because he was awake (undrugged) for like 2 hours after delivery, and I didn’t get the “delivery hangover” that happens with c-section and/or epidurals. Now I am ready for round 2 with my daughter just 3 more weeks to go!
Good Luck to you in your delivery!
neekers
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Breathing techniques are useless. Your body knows how to breathe just fine. Techniques are just artificial constructs used to try and distract your mind from the pain. And they don’t work very well, even the Lamaze organization has pretty much completely caved in on any opposition to the use of pain medication.
I have had three completely unmedicated vaginal births. They were also VBACs, but that’s not really relevant to your question.
The key is to surrender to the process. Don’t try to avoid the pain. Just give in and let it all happen. Try not to tense your body, or fight what is happening. Don’t allow yourself to think about how many contractions you’ve been through, or how many you still have to do. Just stay in the moment and cope one second at a time. Each one only lasts about a minute. You can do anything for a minute, right?
Stay mobile. Walk, rock, moan, yell, breathe (naturally)…. do what helps. If something doesn’t help, do something different. Laying in bed, immobile, gives you nothing to do but focus on the pain and your fear. It also makes the pain worse.
I promise, if you find the grit within yourself to do this, you will never regret it. It is SO WORTH IT! I have such wonderful memories of my births. Tapping into something so powerful, fully and completely aware…. there is just nothing else like it. Plus, your confidence in yourself as a mother will be sky high. I mean, if you just did that, you can do whatever else it takes, right?
You might consider hiring a doula (professional labor assistant). They are trained to help women have the best birth possible, and they know lots of natural coping and pain relief techniques.
Good luck!
ETA book recommendations: Birthing From Within by Pam England and Rob Horowitz (very new-agey, but lots of great and useful information) and The Thinking Woman’s Guide to a Better Birth by Henci Goer
I think the best thing you can do is keep an open mind.
Make sure you express to your doctors and nurses that you want to go natural without pain medication. They will probably still go over pain medication options, just in case you change your mind. This isn’t to pressure you into a medicated birth, it’s just to let you know what options are available if during labor the pain is becoming too much.
Keep an open mind, though. Personally, I had epidurals with all 4 of my babies and I wouldn’t have done it any differently. I was able to have 100% of my focus on the baby rather than splitting my focus between the baby and the pain. My births were all very relaxed and enjoyable.
Congrats!
Remain calm, breathe and keep an open mind. The truth of the matter is, its gonna hurt. Exactly how much it hurts depends on many factors. The main two being your natural pain tolerance and how relaxed you can stay. Staying relaxed and calm is the most important part. The more you stress, panic and try to fight what your body is naturally trying to do, the more it will hurt. Pain can be managed mentally just as well as medicinally. You just have to figure out what techniques work for you. And you also have to keep an open mind in reference to if those techniques don’t work. If you just can’t handle the pain and you find yourself fighting the labor, then getting at least a mild pain reliever may be enough to help you successfully get through labor.
I’ve done it both ways. With medication and without. My first time delivering, I just couldn’t concentrate and I was scared. I had never experienced anything like it before, so I panicked. I was curling into a ball and tensing up to the point that my body couldn’t do what it needed to do, so pain medication is what helped me. With my second, I was able to stay focused because I knew what to expect that time around. I knew how to breathe through the pain and relax so that the contractions could just come and go.
Delivering with pain medication was nice because you don’t feel the intensity of the contractions. You can just lay back and relax completely oblivious to the pain. Doing it without is nice too though because you’re able to feel what you’re doing when it comes time to push. As odd as it sounds, pushing is actually a relief to the pain of the contractions. That natural urge just takes over and it all clicks. With an epidural for instance, your not as able to feel those natural urges, so it makes labor a little trickier to get through.
My advice would be to labor as long as you can at home. Do not give in to a reccomended induction. Unless you have a severe medical condition that warrants it. ( severely low fluid, or super high blood pressure) Once you arrive at the hospital the timer starts ticking and they pretty much expect you to progress in a certain way, in a certain time frame. I do not know actual percentages, but my guess is 95% are hooked to pitocin, to supposedly make your contractions “better” and to move things along more “quickly”. Once you accept the pitocin, you might as well sign on for the epidural because the contractions will no longer be bearable. Seriously, no matter what they say to you, whatever scare tactics they may use,( “your baby is too big” ” its like the oxytocin your body produces”) do not accept the pitocin. The longer you stay home the more likely they will “let” you continue without it, once you arrive. Make a birth plan and have someone ready to advocate for you, as it will be hard to think clearly when in the middle of a contraction. Good luck!
Definitely have a doula, go to childbirth classes along with breathing classes. I am interested in having a water birth which is a very natural and calm way to give birth maybe you should look it up there are some amazing birthing videos on babycenter.com. Just make sure you have a birth plan and know all your options and what would work best for you. Good luck and congratulations!!!
Find a hospital that will let you move around. I got an epidural because i was in so much pain but when i moved around i felt better but they kept telling me know you need to lay this way or that way. I think if i could have moved, walked, taken a shower, or what ever made me most comfortable i could have done it but i couldn’t i had to do and lay the way they told me to. I was also inducded thou.
I have done it four times. No pain medication. I guess the biggest thing I think that helped me is that I never gave my self the option of the pain medication. I did my research and knew that I didn’t want to take any risks (even if they are small) with any of that junk. Breathing did not help me other than give me somethign else to focus on besides the pain. I will not lie, the pain is intense, but you just have to keep telling yourself that you will make it through the labor (no one ever died from the pain of childbirth). It helps to let your partner, nurses and Dr/midwife know ahead of time that you do not want the pain medicine. That way they can help talk you out of it. Because how you feel now, isn’t necessarily how you feel at 6 cm dilated and contracting..lol. You can do it..don’t let people tell you can’t
My sister did have the epidural. She wishes she hadn’t. She now has back pain she never had before. It slowed her labor way down, she couldn’t feel her contractions so pushing took forever and she tore and needed stitching (epidural raises the chances of that happening), she had to wait to get the feeling back in her legs to get out of bed and when she did she stood up and hit the floor like a ton of bricks. She says she wishes she would have been able to feel herself give birth to her baby.
pros and cons of epiduralhttp://www.childbirthsolutions.com/artic…
i have 4 children and one due anyday now, the only birth i had no pain releif with was my last as i never had the time as the labour was so fast , i would say that the more children u have the easier the pain gets . my pain threshold is quite strong id say due to this , but each birth is different . i will more than likely hav ths child with just gas and air if i get the chance as i felt so much better when i didnt have anything .
try without and if u are not coping then depending on how far baby is ask ur midwife for some pain releif .
If feasible for you, consider a home birth.
If not — be sure you take a childbirth class, and hire a doula for labor support. And have a birth plan on which you make it clear that you are NOT to be offered pain meds. (If you want them, you’ll ask.) It can be hard to stay committed if the nurses are coming in every 5 minutes asking if you’re SURE you don’t want your epidural now.
what helped me is having sex lol..it helped me dilate faster and got my labor contractions going..i was 39weeks pregnant when it happen..when i got to the hospital i was already 9cm dilated i would have had my son in the car if i didnt make it on time..lucky me..
walking is another way to help also..
Practice breathing techniques and have a good support system in the delivery room.
I went in to get induced on the 22nd of November. They started me off with Cervadil to ripen my cervix but it ended up causing me to contract. I was barely 2 cms and these contractions hurt like crazy.. Really tight squeezing feeling. I ended up having a c section because his heart rate was dropping with the contractions. The spinal block didnt hurt what so ever.. I would recommend the pain medicine but if you have a high pain tolerance KUDOS if you can handle it!!