Advice for a drug free birth please

[Diamondgirl13]

Hi Ladies,

So with my first I was induced as overdue but the labour and birth was 10 hours and I did it on gas and air.

I feel this time I a) really really want to go into labour naturally and b) have a drug free birth. Any advice to achieve both would be amazing please, currently 35 weeks and have started on the raspberry leaf tea!!

 

[Reiko_ctu]

Hi diamond girl! Starting at 37 weeks I took a herbal
Supplement called Mederi EZ birth and I went into labour at 38 weeks after a sweep and sex. If you can find that supplement I honestly think it helped me to not go over (induced at 41 with my first).

As far as drug free... I know a lot of mom's say in their birth plan for labour attendants like nurses, husbands etc NOT to offer pain relief. And if you ask for it then you know you really need it. I know for me, by the time I was in so much pain I asked for it, it was transition so too late and not needed anyways. Try to take it one contraction at a time, know when it's getting very unbearable it's likely you're close to the end, and keep an open mind in case you really feel like you do need pain relief. GL mama!! Wishing you a happy labour xx

 

[ReadynWaiting]

One of the reasons I decided to have a home birth with dd was to avoid the desire to ask for an epidural. With ds I was asking for an epidural but like Reiko it was during transition so it wasn’t possible.
I think just believing in your ability to do it drug free is half the battle. The pain and pressure is horrible but it will end when baby comes out. For me that works.

 

[jessmke]

Agree that you should ask people not to offer you the meds. It's a lot easier to give in and agree to something that is offered to you than to ask for it yourself. I had an epidural after 30 hrs of labour with my first baby so that I could get some rest, but had a medication free labour and birth with my second. I think almost all moms who have done it both ways prefer the med free birth, so keep that in mind as well. Also for me the pain of the contractions went away when I was pushing. I still had the pain of a baby coming out of my vagina, but I couldn't feel the pain of the contractions anymore. So just keep telling yourself that once you get to the pushing phase the contraction pain will be gone! Pushing pain is a lot more bearable in my opinion. I explained it to my husband like this: contractions feel like someone is stabbing you to death, it is horrible physical pain. Pushing is like running a marathon or doing a really extreme/intense workout, it's painful because it's really hard work and you are pushing yourself to the limits of your physical ability, but you don't feel like someone is murdering you. That's how it was for me anyways!

Just re-read your post and see that you just had gas and air for your first labour, you should totally be able to so the second one drug free then! I found the gas and air I had with my first labour did pretty much nothing for the pain so I didn't bother with it for my second.

 

[MrsButterfly]

I had a Homebirth this time. Gas and air didn’t arrive on time so I had a natural birth. The midwives didn’t mention it though and honestly I totally forgot I hadn’t had gas and air. So I agree - put it in your plan that you don’t want anything offered. If you can have a water birth I’d recommend that too. When I was starting to struggle with the pain I got into the pool and the relief was overwhelming. Made an enormous difference. Good luck - my home birth was an incredible experience.

 

[Missbb2591]

If you do a birth plan then have it in there for you not to be offered drugs or medication but that if you require it you will request it.