MemberI would just like to know because it seems so many people are in favor of epidural because they are scared of the pain. How many bees chose to go the natural route?
MemberI had a natural birth, but that was only because there was no time for anything else. I was in the hospital maybe 10 minutes before I was pushing. With my first one, I had an epideral and was thankful. I had back labor and would not have been able to handle it without it. It was like someone hitting my tailbone with a sledgehammer with every contraction. Every birth is different, they will ask you when the time comes if you want one or not.
MemberMy goal was natural but I was open to changing my mind when I was in the moment. I think my labor would have probably gone faster had I not had the epidural but I don’t regret it. I just didn’t have a break between contractions and couldn’t take it anymore.
MemberMy best friend had her beautiful baby girl on Monday, and I spent most of the evening at the hospital with her. She went in with the intention of having a natural birth, but was in a lot of pain from the contractions and opted for the epidural.
MemberI didn’t vote because I’ve had both. It was definitely a more pleasant experience with the epidural though. I wan’t going to take it and really wasn’t all that miserable, but was told I had to take it when it was offered or wait and hope the anesthesiologist was back when I did want it…so I took it. I”m glad I did. Labor was pretty much pain free, and the epidural had pretty much worn off by the time it was time to push.
The time I went without an epidural, I had a lot of complications and things got pretty unpleasant. I really should have had the epidural for that birth and would have been fine without it for the other one, but hindsight is twenty-twenty. You don’t know when labor starts what is going to happen.
MemberI had 2 natural births. The first one they gave me a little something to ease the pain-but it wasn’t an epidural. The 2nd birth was totally natural. With that said, I had very fast deliveries.
MemberMy original goal was a non-medicated birth. I had wanted that based on my mom’s experience with me a my sister. For my older sister he had an epidural and since you still get all the pressure she decided to go natural with me 2 years later. For her experience she said she would have done natural again if she’d had a third child. For my experience, I changed my mind and asked for an epidural during labor but it was too late by that time so I ended up having the birth experience I originally wanted. If I’d known I would go that fast I think I could have held out and not asked but since you never know . . .
MemberEpidural. 30+ hours of labor, half of it back labor and I felt like I was being sawed in half. I had nothing to prove to anyone or myself at that point.
Memberi guess it depends also on what you consider “natural”. sometimes a vaginal birth no matter unmedicated or severely medicalized (whether epidural, PIT, inductions, etc) is considered natural birth.
MemberI used no pain meds for either of my deliveries, and with my son I was in labour for 29 hours, and he was born face up! With my daughter, I went into labour at 2:20 in afternoon and she was born at 5:05, she was pretty quick! I truly wanted to experience an all natural birth, and while I was pregnant with my son I was really curious as to what labour felt like, I had every intention of feeling the pain. I am truly glad that I felt every contraction and every little twinge, it was worth every agonizing second! When it was over, I felt so empowered and this sounds weird, but I felt like I really accomplished something. And it was nice being able to walk around and not have an IV or anything like that. I was really worried about how the pain drugs would affect my baby, I spent 9 months watching everything I put in my mouth so it seemed silly to get any sort of drug.
Membercopied nd pasted from abother thread:
I was given an epidural sooner than I should have been, and it actually protracted the delivery process.
Also, the nurses didn’t read my chart and failed to see that I am allergic to opiates/barbiturates (like morphine and synthetic drugs that mimic morphine etc). So yeah, feeling like my veins were on fire/itchy during delivery was not cool.
If I could go back and change one thing about my delivery the epidural would be it.
If I have another baby I am definitely going to go natural.
eta: At the end of delivery I was so exhausted (I was up for more than 27 hours straight + pain + allergic reaction) that I was blacking out & the doctor opted to use a kiwi-cup to help.
MemberBoth natural.
Member@Bostonsmom: Great story! My mom had a natural birth with me, standing up even, and she sounds the same when she talks about it. She always says it was a “powerful” experience.
MemberReally there’s nothing *un* natural about the way any woman chooses to give birth. It’s all difficult and a major accomplishment.
Member@KatyElle: I never said that if you got pain meds it wasn’t an accomplishment but I’m sorry if you took it that way. But I’m positive that it’s more difficult if you can feel the contractions, rather than not feel them. Thats why epidurals were invented, to make labour easier on the woman. I never stated there was something wrong with that.
to quote the OP: How many bees chose to go the natural route?
She didn’t ask for epidural stories, she asked about natural birth and I responded accordingly.
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