Natural child birth/water birth

You can really do this.  Women have been doing it for tens of thousands of years.

Like you I always thought I'd be asking for an epidural at the first sign of labour but once I got pregnant I decided I'd rather do things naturally so my first step was to get a midwife who was big on natural birth too (many are although some like prefer to interfere).  During my pregnancy I read as much as I could, got a pink kit (which I highly recommend) and talked to women who'd been through it too.  This time I also have a book called Birth Skills by Juju Sundin which is really good.

Good luck for a happy and healthy pregnancy and an amazing labour.

Edited by MrsMojo

It is so do-able. It's worth researching it and giving it a go, but also telling yourself that it's totally ok if you end up needing drugs.

I had a natural labour and birth with no drugs or gas.

Something that I found was really really helpful was using acupressure. There's a thread about it here

The thing with the pain is that you tell yourself it's not going to last, and that there's a reason for the pain... it's totally normal and the pain is good cos it means things are happening. As mrsmojo says, women have been doing it for thousands of years... it's what we were made to do.

If you're relaxed, it releases endorphins (hormones) which means you feel way less pain. When you get all stressed out, it releases adrenaline, which can have the opposite affect.

I read as much as I could during pregnancy, and talked to lots of women about their experiences. I knew that I couldn't really know what to expect, but I kinda did - I wasn't scared at all throughout the labour cos I knew what stage of labour I was in. I remember when I was in the pool at the birthing centre (didn't birth in there, just for pain relief) that I felt like I had 'crazy woman' eyes... so I thought to myself "oh this must be transition, feeling outta control, it's normal, I'll be able to push soon". Kinda hard to explain but it really helped being able to relate it to what I knew about the labour process. Antenatal classes helped too.

Wow that was a bit of a ramble sorry and it's late and I'm super tired so don't even know if that makes sense....

You can do it!!
The ladies above have made great points, labour and birth is what we were made to do.

I made the decision to have a natural birth, and I think it definitely helped to have a supportive MW and DH. Also at the birth centre, there was no epidural/pethidine available to me, and I was totally confident in my MW and in my own body that I could do it.

I read a lot about active birth during my pregnancy, and had seen my mum give birth at home twice, so I had an idea of what to expect. There are videos of births on Youtube as well.
I stretched during the last semester to help prepare my muscles for the birth. Highly recommend stretching your pelvic floor and all muscles in general really, as birth is a whole body experience and pushing can take its toll. Make sure the stretches are specifically for pregnancy though! I would squat for at least 20mins a day, usually while reading. Many books recommend at least 5mins. I recovered very quickly, and when baby was 2 days old I was out visiting my nana and shopping for more BF singlets etc.

Feeling positive about my birth experience has really helped me bond with my daughter. She has slipped into our lives seamlessly, and we feel so complete.
No matter what choice you make, your birth is a huge accomplishment and what really matters is the health of your baby and yourself. All the best for your pregnancy and birth, good luck xo

I absolutely agree with what lilfatty said.  It's good to have a birth plan and be prepared for a natural birth and the majority of the time if that's what you want then that's what you'll get but always keep an open mind because at the end of the day the most important thing is to deliver a healthy baby and if a natural birth is not on the cards for me this time then I will thank God that I live in a time where medical professionals are available to help deliver baby safely. 

Yep totally agree with lilfatty too. As I said first off, it's worth researching it and giving it a go, but also telling yourself that it's totally ok if it doesn't end up happening how you imagined. The most important thing is that you have your wee bubba

Although my labour and the birth was natural with no drugs, afterwards was a different story. I tore pretty bad and had to be transferred to the hospital to have surgery. I would have tore regardless of whether I had drugs or not, because my boy was big (9lb 3oz), with a huge head (39.5cm), plus he came out with his hand on his face, so his elbow ripped me on the way out . The only thing that would have stopped me tearing would have been if I'd had a c-section, and even if I was in the hospital they wouldn't have done that.

As a result, it's recommended that next time I have an elective c-section for medical reasons. There's a 1 in 4 risk that I could tear again (or worse) and be left incontinent (of the yuckest sort ) and I really don't wanna take that risk. So next bubba will be a totally different birth to my first, and I was a bit guttered when I first was told, but now I'm comfortable with it and it's all good.

After all that rambling, my point is....... it wasn't in my 'plan' (not that you can plan how it's going to happen, but you can dream) that I would have tore bad and needed surgery and heaps of drugs afterwards, but it happened and it was ok. Cos I had my baby.

Thank you so much ladies for honest advice. My first thoughts going towards my decision is I believed there was a direct link to lack of knowledge and fear which increased pain and anxiety making the labour a worse experience. Plus I agree that having an open mind will be a great aid as since I've never done this before and I can't tell my baby and my body what to it's a complete mystery ride!
Please keep the experiences and advice coming, I feel so much more encouraged already!

yep agree with lilfatty aswell just try to go with the flow we can not control labour

I didn't have a natural birth, I had the gas and an epi that didn't work and I was also induced. But I am sooooo happy with how everything went. And I know I could do it naturally if I wanted, but the gas is really fun

I too highly recommend the pink kit. It completly took away any fears I had about the labour/birth and I was really looking forward to it.
I feel that if you are looking forward to having your baby and you know what your body is doing then it can be much easier to relax.
My mw was expecting me to have a cs, I decided I would like to give labour a go anyway. Mw said my baby would be about 8lb which may be too big for me and we were both prepared for an emergency cs. But then my darling girl decided she didn't much like her waters being drained so she came out, all 9lb 4 oz of her!
I know I had her vaginally and quickly just because I was prepared and relaxed, also open-minded about what could happen.

So YAY for the Pink Kit

Although I didn't do the perenial massage nearly enough as I figured there was no point, I'm having a cs. Joke was on me
Next time I will be massaging that perenium like no one's business lol

ETA I didn't have the gas until 6cm when I had meconium on my waters so they needed to give me the drip to sort my contractions out. Up until then I had showers and baths for pain relief.

Edited by Chickoin

lilfatty wrote: peachy wrote: The thought of number 2 scares the pants off me, but I will deal with the hurdle when I come to it Yeah thats my problem only Im going to have to deal with sooner than may be ready for

Julia are you going to try for VBAC or elective? I am not even pregnant with number 2 but am already thinking about what I would choose.

TBH I am petrified of either

Edited cause I can't spell!

Edited by peachy

Oh great, that sounds very reassuring, she sounds like a fantastic MW!

I my MW I had with Lauren so I will use her again when the time comes. She assures me my next birth experience will be a whole lot better. I hope she's right