# Going without pain relief completely



## LegoHouse

Would that be stark raving bonkers? :lol:

I had gas and air with my daughter but really the only thing it was good for was biting, and I can bite something else right? Like my OH :rofl: (Kidding)


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## Dorian

I didn't have any pain killers with my three births. If you set it in your mind you can do it, learn about deep breathing and focusing, relaxing, etc. Then you'll be most likely be just fine :)


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## Blah11

You can def do it. I managed a lot better than I'd of thought. Mind over matter!


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## Linzi

Yer I did it last time too, I never planned it, it just kind of happened and I managed better than I did first time when I had pethedine and g&a x


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## Mum2b_Claire

didn't have any pain relief with either of mine, it's all about deep breathing, staying calm / not tensing up, being in control of the pain.


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## Sam Pearson

I don't think you're bonkers. I had gas and pethadine with my first birth in hospital. I intentionally didn't have anything with my subsequent 3 births. I learned techniques to help me with the pain - I really liked the exercises in the back of the book Face to Face with Childbirth by Julia Sundin. It was great not to be out of it when birthing so I could fully experience the birth.

To deal with the pain at home I used various strategies. 

- Hypnobirthing - highly recommend it.

- I used water - both the bath in early labour and a birth pool in second stage. 

- I had an active labour at home so the baby would be in the optimal position. 

- The first time the midwives broke my waters which brought the contractions on faster and harder making it hard to deal with the pain - my body just couln't keep up. With my other births nobody interferred with me so the birth was more gentle and proceeded naturally and as the contractions increased in pain my body, uninhindered by drugs, was able to produce the natural pain relieving drugs as nature intended. 

- I also worked on being unafraid (I was shit scared the first time) as this also helps with pain. If you are afraid your adrenaline production goes up - this means that the body's natural pain relievers (endorphines) go down and you experience more pain.

- I used calry sage as an abdomianl compress. It's a uterine tonic and I only needed to use it the once at transition and it worked a treat.

- I had only very trusted loving support people around me - my hubby, my children, my sister and my pets - no strangers and no hired professionals.

I can honestly say I enjoyed my drug free births. There was pain, no doubt. Big pain. But I dealt with it. Each contraction I reminded my self that it was only for a minute and in between I would be pain free and could relax - and I did - I actually slept between each on by the end as I was quite tired after a 3 day labour.

Good luck. I'm sure you can do it.


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## AveryATL

Most places in the US don't have the option of Gas or Air, so we pretty much have to either get an epidural or nothing.


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## amjon

I pretty much did it with nothing. I only got the IV meds about 10 minutes before birth. They made me think I was going to be in pain all day and didn't check me before they gave them. I think I was already ready to deliver at that point.


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## Lizzie K

I delivered my youngest (now two years old) with no meds, except a local for stitching a small tear. My first, I got iv meds and then an epidural. I wanted the epidural as soon as I got the hospital, but there was only one anesthesiologist there that night (New Year's Eve) and he was busy with a woman getting a c-section. With my second, I got just the iv meds. I said "not yet" for the epidural, then it was too late. With my youngest, I didn't plan on going natural, but I got the hospital only an hour before he was born. This time around, I plan on going all-natural. I really want a home birth, but assisted home-births are illegal in my state, so I am hoping my insurance covers a hospital just across the state line that is very supportive and encouraging of natural births.


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## tmr1234

I had G&A for a bit but about hr befor my Lo was bron i gave it away and said i didn't want it 9i was pushing for 3 hrs as they wouldn't check to make sure every thing was gone and i had a lip) I don't want any thing at all next time as bitting on the G&A made my mouth really sore the next day and i could hardly talk lol


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## Ju_bubbs

I've had 2 labours with G&A and 2 with no pain meds at all.. I can honestly say that the 2 with NO meds were a lot easier to get through and much more relaxed all round! I'm about to do the med free labour a 3rd time too and really looking forward to it!


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## ljo1984

i had gas and air with freya and that was only during the transfer to hospital, once i got there i started pushing and mw took it off me lol. if i hadnt of transfered im sure it will of happened just as quick and the g&a wouldnt have arrived here in time and i know i would have been fine with that. think im gonna try without with next one and quite excited about that, but i do like G&A so wont rule it out if i feel i need something.

so anyway no your not mad, totally give it a go, youve been through it before with just g&a so im sure you'll be fine. xx


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## DaretoDream

I had all natural too- no meds at all. You certainly can do it. :) just believe in yourself!


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## Photojessy

I had no pain meds and it was fab! Wouldn't have been the same experience with them. It was painful but not unbareable!


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## PrincessKay

Im planning a homebirth and the only pain relief im planning is water. Can you girls help me out with ways to manage with the pain? This is my first baby so i dont know what the pain feels like?

I did want to give hypnobirthing a go but the classes are sooo expensive!

Thanks girls x


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## lynnikins

i had no pain relief for AJ's birth i did use a hotwater bottle briefly but didnt have it for the actual birth


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## DaretoDream

I didn't have any pain relief at all either x


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## RoxyRoo

I had a pain relief free home birth, it was amazing!

I shocked myself at how powerful my mind is. I just focused and went into myself, telling myself over and over to breathe deeply and to relax my body with each contraction. I honestly think it helped my body to do what it needed to, I also stayed on my feet for the whole labour, rocking my hips side to side. I felt very calm throughout, and had a very straightforward labour.


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## NaturalMomma

I was completely pain med free with ds2 and it really wasn't that bad. There were some intense moments, but it wasn't for the majority of the birth. What really helped me was staying on my feet and not laying on my back. I did have a homebirth so it was easy for me to be on my feet.


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## violetsky

Hiya! I managed to get through it with no pain relief at all - or should I say no pain medication because I had a hot water bottle on my back for the first 3 hours or so.

I didn't go to hospital till I was 7cms dilated and I found staying at home so long really comforting, and I honestly believe being relaxed really helped.

I just point blank told myself I could do it, that it was important for me to do it for my baby, and I made sure OH knew to encourage me/prevent me from giving up.

I'm not a very brave person, I just did it "in the moment" and just kept telling myself 'just one more contraction'.

Don't get me wrong it was tough; I had back-to-back labour and ended up with a horrible tear and lots of stitches but doing it naturally was a phenomenal experience, really empowering. I wouldn't change it for the world. If you believe in it (and yourself) enough, you can totally do it too!


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## bedazzle3

ooooh best of luck!


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## Mervs Mum

PrincessKay said:


> Im planning a homebirth and the only pain relief im planning is water. Can you girls help me out with ways to manage with the pain? This is my first baby so i dont know what the pain feels like?
> 
> I did want to give hypnobirthing a go but the classes are sooo expensive!
> 
> Thanks girls x

Have you seen this home study course for Hyonobirthing? It's a fraction of the cost of a course so a fab alternative from a qualified hypnobirthing Teacher! 

https://www.babyandbump.com/home-natural-birthing/509198-home-study-hypno-birth.html


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## ljo1984

PrincessKay said:


> Im planning a homebirth and the only pain relief im planning is water. Can you girls help me out with ways to manage with the pain? This is my first baby so i dont know what the pain feels like?
> 
> I did want to give hypnobirthing a go but the classes are sooo expensive!
> 
> Thanks girls x

I didnt go to classes but used books and cd's to practice hypnobirthing and that worked fine for me so you can still use it as a method of relief. Also I used a tens machine which I found really helped and used it right up until I was pushing as I was concentrating on that rather than pushing a boost button lol.


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## Linzi

PrincessKay said:


> Im planning a homebirth and the only pain relief im planning is water. Can you girls help me out with ways to manage with the pain? This is my first baby so i dont know what the pain feels like?
> 
> I did want to give hypnobirthing a go but the classes are sooo expensive!
> 
> Thanks girls x

In early labour I used hypnobirthing and a couple of hot water bottles on my back. 

Later on I got in the bath and used hypnobirthing also.

To be honest, water never did a lot for me, but it must do for most women!! I read somewhere that it is the second most effective form of pain relief to an epidural. 

With regards to the hypnobirthing classes, I just bought a CCD off amazon, it was only a tenner I think, and I did it fairly religiously from about 15 weeks and that did it for me :) If you can afford classes its obviously best but honestly, I managed with just the CD :)

Good luck xxxx


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## DaretoDream

Water didn't do anything for me either, they had me in a shower with the warm water on my back- i could hardly sit. I had bad back labor- it was horrible. I didn't get a break in between contractions either- mine were messed up. They would peak and stay up there for like 5 minutes, come down for a minute if i was lucky and right back up. This was like that from the beginning. BUT i would never do it any other way!


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## zabka78

had medication with my first ( had epidural and ended up ) they had to use vacuum for my son , bad birth experience my 2nd. boy I had him natural it was painful but I will do the same with my 3rd. boy . No epidural or anything else . I loved having natural birth . You can do it !!!


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## PrincessKay

Thanks ladies i think im gonna buy a cd and some books - eek i literally cant wait! xx


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## Avalanche

LegoHouse said:


> Would that be stark raving bonkers? :lol:

No, not at all. :) You need to start believing in yourself and that you can do it, surrounded yourself with positivity and positive birth stories, look into things like hypnobirthing, etc. 

I was induced and had a back to back labour (after breaking my back 5 months before I was in labour) and I only used a TENS machine. I'm not abnormal, it can be done. Just have faith in yourself.


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## mamawannabee

I was induced, with contractions one on top of the other my whole labor, and was able to get to 5 cm before asking for any pain relief. My plan was to go all natural but I got to the point where I thought I couldn't do it anymore, and had been up for about 28 hours so I gave in. It did nothing so I requested an epidural, then it didn't work so they gave me another and it took the edge off, but didn't take the pain away at all and definitely wasn't the dream medicine people make it out to be. Then 2 hours later I was pushing, if I had known it would have only been 2 hours more I would have held off. Especially if you are not induced, it is definitely possible and you are not crazy! Just try different methods to see what works for you (walking, water, birth ball, massage, breathing, hypnobirthing, essential oils). I never believed in the breathing methods, and then in labor they were the ONLY thing that helped me. You don't know what will work for you until you are experiencing it. Good luck!


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## ljo1984

mamawannabee said:


> I was induced, with contractions one on top of the other my whole labor, and was able to get to 5 cm before asking for any pain relief. My plan was to go all natural but I got to the point where I thought I couldn't do it anymore, and had been up for about 28 hours so I gave in. It did nothing so I requested an epidural, then it didn't work so they gave me another and it took the edge off, but didn't take the pain away at all and definitely wasn't the dream medicine people make it out to be. Then 2 hours later I was pushing, if I had known it would have only been 2 hours more I would have held off. Especially if you are not induced, it is definitely possible and you are not crazy! Just try different methods to see what works for you (walking, water, birth ball, massage, breathing, hypnobirthing, essential oils). I never believed in the breathing methods, and then in labor they were the ONLY thing that helped me. You don't know what will work for you until you are experiencing it. Good luck!

i was the same after my epidural during induction with my first. i felt pressure after about half hour and was pushing an hour later, then forceps after two pushes cause of her not recovering fully from decelerations. but i was 3-4 cm not long before i gave up and if i knew it would be that quick i'd of carried on as i was and i would have been able to change position etc as lying flat on my back wont of helped with her not recovering then maybe would have avoided forceps. hindsight is so anoying ha ha.


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