Anyone have a Natural Child Birth?

[Guppy051708]

Hi girls. I am over here from the 2nd Trimesters.
I am almost finished with my Bradley method classes and eagerly awaiting my natural birth (as long as no medical issues arise). I was wondering, for those of you whom have had a natural child birth, what was your experience like? And how was "handling" the pain. Im not trying to be naive here, as i know birth will be hard work, but i also have a lot of confident in my body, knowing that i CAN and i WILL birth my baby. Please tell me what your natural childbirth experience was like. How was the pain? What positions did you use? Did you walk, use birthing ball, etc. Im just an anxious mama wanting to hear different stories. Thanks!

 

[Mervs Mum]

when you say 'natural' do you mean drug free?

 

[Guppy051708]

when you say 'natural' do you mean drug free?

Yes mam

 

[Mervs Mum]

Gotcha! Well I didnt go au naturale for the whole labour but I did the first 5 hours with nothing of which I'd say 2 hours were easy and required no 'concentration' or techniques and then the next 3 I used hypnobirthing which is essentially deep relaxation techniques. Then I moved on to gas and air (laughing gas I think you'd call it) for 2hrs as I knew it was in my sitting room with the Mw and couldnt resist it as I know how well it works for me! I sat very still in relaxation with my iPod on to start with then went in the birth pool as things got more intense. In the pool I stayed in one position for most of the time which was sitting and holding the handles on the pool and swishing my hips.

Hope that helps - not fully natural but that's how I dealt with the part I did drug free

 

[Mervs Mum]

Oh and I did the final 30 mins with nothing as I got to a point (as I did with my last baby) where the G&A no longer made much difference so I would stand on tip toes when I was upright during a contraction and then when I got on the birth stool where I had my babies, I held the G&A mouth piece and just tapped it through the contractions while breathing long slow breaths.

 

[Pyrrhic]

I did hun, here's my birth story

https://www.babyandbump.com/birth-a...h-elizabeth-rose-23-12-08-pictures-added.html

 

[Guppy051708]

Thanks ladies! I really appreciate it!
There are so VERY many women- especially in the States- that act like birthing without drugs (especially EPID) are impossible, so its nice to know that it IS ...which i know woman have been going natural since the dawn of time, but i just want to here of "modern" woman going without all the crap

I am REALLY hoping for a water birth. I will be disappointed if i cant get that and, and if at the time, i think thats what i need.

 

[Mervs Mum]

Why dont you have a home birth then? That's how I knew I could definitey labour in a pool and have the water birth if I wanted to

 

[Guppy051708]

I am highly thinking of having a home birth
However, i currently live in Pennsylvania (USA) and midwives are illegal here Its so dumb, and as long as nothing goes wrong then who would know, the problem is, if something does go wrong, or if someone wants to turn in the midwife to the law, i could get into serious trouble, as can the midwife It angers me to no end!

BUT lucky for us, we are moving to New Hampshire in about a month (not due until the end of august) and they are pro midwives! I am def. going to get a midwife. We are visiting new hampshire in a week actually and will be meeting with one then, but i dont know if they do home births or not. Am praying that the other MWs will get back into contact with me, as i know they do home births...do you think they will take me that late in my pregnancy? (Will be 28-29 weeks preggo by the time they see me).

 

[Mervs Mum]

I didnt book my home birth till after 30 weeks. I dont know how much organising it takes under your system but here it's pretty easy and they like to leave it till later to see how the pregnancy goes to start with.

Good luck with that when the time comes. Feel free to join our HB group on here - the link is at the bottom of my signature as is my homebirth story. Having my baby at home was one of the highlights of my life.

 

[Guppy051708]

I will probably be joining that group either way! because even if i can't have a home birth, i have every intention on staying at home as long as possible (within safe proximity though if that makes sense).

 

[Mervs Mum]

sounds good! I think you'll find lots of like minded women in the group too. HB seems to be so much more than location....its a mind set and ultimately it doesn't matter where you birth

 

[mamato2more]

https://www.babyandbump.com/birth-a...ries/303453-amazing-arrival-peter-kallen.html

Here's my story, and the midwives should take you especially if you have your medical records! Good luck! Bradley works btw!

 

[sun]

i gave birth in a hospital with no medication at all - only thing that went into my body was crushed ice LOL. Now that I have done it once, I have an idea of what the different stages of labour are and will know next time when it's almost over! I was trying not to push at the end since everyone thought I was still 4cm LOL - everyone thought I had 10h left and so I wanted pain relief - but the midwife finally checked and told me I was having a baby now (HUGE relief!!) - I pushed for 25min and he was out.

I definitely hope the next one goes as well - despite the fact that I was totally unprepared, bubs was a month early and I went into labour in another city, it went so well. I would say that not reading tons of books or going to a million classes helped me out in the end. I had gone on mat leave and had all this birth prep planned, but it wasn't to be since the next day I went into labour. So I decided on the way to the hospital to go with the flow and take things as they came - and not to be disappointed if it didn't go perfectly. I made my #1 goal to hold a healthy baby in my arms no matter how it happened.

Here are a few things that helped me:

My water broke suddenly and since I was a month early, I had to stay in the hospital. I walked the halls for 3-4h to get contractions and labour going - this worked really well.
I mentally tried to picture bubs moving down and I tried to relax completely between contractions (even though they were only a min or 2 apart)
Once the pushing started, it was soooo much better - you really feel like you have more control at this point. I kept picturing opening up and relaxing between pushes.
This is the hardest thing - but once the contractions are unbelievably intense, don't think of "later" - take every contraction as it comes and don't think of the "what ifs" or "I can't keep this up anymore" because you can and you will!

Good luck! Having my son was the most amazing, difficult and empowering thing I have ever done. It's pretty traumatic mentally and on the body too - especially the first time when you have no idea what to expect, but as my midwife said women are at their strongest and most powerful during childbirth. I didn't know what she meant then, but I do now!!!

xx

 

[redpoppy]

Just wanted to ask a question:

What are your pain relief option in the USA?

Thanks!

 

[Laughing Girl]

yes, me! 100% natural. Here's the link

https://www.babyandbump.com/birth-a.../314108-birth-isla-may-16th-april-2010-a.html

 

[Bournefree]

I think that having that total believe in your body to do what is needs to do, for what is birth, but another physiological process? You body has prepared for the moment you give birth for 40 weeks or so. I know that every women is different - and I'm not going to say that for some women labour and birth isn't painful. However I hold the opinion that pain can be mostly brought on by tension in the body caused by fear. If you truly know you CAN do it, breath, and remain calm, then there should be little pain.

Also, you might think - what right has she to say this, when I didn't have an entirely natural birth..? and by that I mean that I had some Nitrosoxide (Gas and Air) Well I used it pretty sparingly, and more as a distraction than anything else.

So my advise for control of pain naturally would be:
1 - listen to your body.. let it get on with what it needs to do.
Lots of women experience the "zoning out" or "I was in other place" feeling. This happens entirely naturally without drugs. Also lots of ladies have found the Hypno really helped - I feel this helps to get you in the "zone" faster and in the right mindset.
2 - I did find that being in the birthing pool for labour a great comfort. The water supported me and gave me freedom to move. So, I would include it as a form of pain control.
3 - positions will deff help.. I found holding on to the door handles sticking my bum out and stretching out my back, a relief to the pressure in my back in early labour. Also I really couldn't imagine giving birth on my back or sitting on my bottom - when I did once move into this position, it was so un-natural and uncomfortable!

I really hope that you get to have a Homebirth if you go to NHam, as MervsMum said it would be ideal for what you are wanting from your birth. It rocks!

I found that the ONLY way of totally assuring I would get a water birth was to go for home. Plus to feel in control, do it my way, move about as I pleased, eat drink what I liked, I got to have my OH play a central role and I know he feels very bonded to our little girl as a result, also there are the reduced risks of giving birth at home; you are far less likely to have PPH etc... sorry there are loads of reasons - but I'll give it a break, before I start to sound like the home-birth-maffa!! hahaha!

Congratulations of having such a positive outlook on your birth!

xxx

P.S My birth story is in my signature.. if you fancy a long read of what was the best experience of my life! No kidding

 

[Bournefree]

Once the pushing started, it was soooo much better - you really feel like you have more control at this point.
xx

I totally agree with this!! For me the hardest part was before the onset of second stage labour and before your body starts to push, once that started it had a huge effect, and things felt great!

 

[meemee]

My birth was all natural (apart from gas and air, but thats barely a drug and it was AWESOME) and id definitely do it all again with it being natural, straight after she was born it was totally worth it to be completely aware of everything which i imagine could be a bit different if you had serious dugs.
i agree with bournefree, it felt like i was in another place during the contractions, my body just did that naturally so you really just have to trust your instincts.
as far as positions go, i was determined that i would have an active birth with lots of moving around. i planned to have my baby in any position except on my back because i thought it was and old fashioned stupid way to have a baby but low and behold i had her on my back! it was the most comfortable position at the time amazingly!
giving birth to Sienna was the single most incredible and empowering experience of my life so id highly recommend it

Best of luck for your birth x

 

[TattiesMum]

I have had 3 natural births, one in hospital, one at home and one almost at home (last minute transfer due to meconium).

For me the key was visualisation and - although this sounds odd - welcoming the pain as a means to an end.

I kept upright, busy and moving around for as long as possible - stopping and rocking for contractions and then carrying on with what I was doing (icing cakes with my home birth LOL).

With each contraction I visualised the muscles pulling my cervix open and pushing my baby down .... I agree totally with Bournefree - if you know what is happening to your body then you are not afraid which in turn makes you less tense and lessens the impact of the pains.

I also used focusing on a small object in the room to help me to zone out and conciously dropping my shoulders during contractions (it is impossible to tense up when your shoulders are dropped).

I was my daughter's birthing partner last month and she used all of the same techniques and managed beautifully