Anyone have a Natural Child Birth?

[Guppy051708]

Just wanted to ask a question:

What are your pain relief option in the USA?

Thanks!

Hmm, besides natural measures (like walking, yoga ball, etc), "walking" epidural, epidural, and other narcotics (like stadol and nubane). I have heard non US ladies talk about a TENS machine and although they may be offered here, im not thinking so much i have never heard of anyone being asked/allowed to use em (but could be wrong). This is not an exhaustive list, but seem to be the most popular. Im not sure about G & A, maybe its an option, but again since most ppl get the epi straight away, no one usually ends up using G & A, if its available Most EVERYONE uses the epidural...thats why i want the inspiration of you ladies without it. I know birthing a baby without drugs isn't impossible and nice to have the uplift.

you girls are wonderful! Thank you so much for sharing with me. Sometimes i get discouraged when i read about how many ppl say you "have" to use drugs- you'll never get through it, etc, etc. or "you think you dont want drugs now...but you will!". Sure if a medical thing came up then obviously, yes, but outside of that, im looking at this as if its (drugs) not an option- because to me- its NOT. I am hoping to see about a homebirth in New Hampshire because then it really wont be available LOL. But i dont feel like im one to give in. Once i think something, im usually stuck on it until i get it. And i know the MCs are probably not nearly as painful as a full term labor, but i was able to get through it with the help of God and my DH and that has really empowered me to think that i CAN and I WILL do this.

...side note...my ticker moved up!

 

[Love Bunny]

I did but it wasn't pretty!!!


Heres my LONG birth story !

https://www.babyandbump.com/birth-a...irth-4-01-2010-traumatic-long-pics-video.html


xxx

 

[redpoppy]

You probably don't want to hear form me, but I wanted a totally natural birth but ended up taking pethidine because I didn't know how to use the gas and air and I obviously thought I couldn't make it.

I get the feeling that I was probably nearing that emotional point where you're like "oh no! I can't do it!" and gave in, but due to me ending up having a REEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLYYYYY long second stage I'm kind of glad I got the rest I needed in between contractions in the first stage due to the drugs.

I would recommend you go in thinking all natural and I have two cousin in laws in the USA who did it totally natural too so it's definitely doable, but don't forget to look into the non epi options before you go in just in case.

I don't mean this to add doubt in your mind at all. Next baby I'm definitely attempting all natural again and women have done it for years. With the right mind set and instinct I think it's totally possible and can be hugely rewarding!

 

[lamplighter]

I'm in the US and I gave birth completely naturally, like I wanted to. It was so much harder than I ever thought it would be, but I'm so glad I endured it and my baby is here.

My contractions started at 8 p.m. so unfortunately I hadn't gotten any sleep since the morning. I was out with my man watching some performances that he was videotaping for work and the contractions were automatically pretty painful and coming about 3 minutes apart. I called my midwife as we were driving home and since they were only about 30 seconds long, she said to go home, take a shower, and try to call back when they were lasting at least a minute. I went home, my fiance made me some food while I took a hot shower, and by the time I got out of the shower only about an hour or so later, the contractions were almost a minute long. I called the midwife back but couldn't get in touch with her, tried to wait, but the contractions were already so painful that I was worried the baby might come before I could get to the hospital. Little did I know at that point that it was only the beginning of the pain and these contractions were heaven compared to the ones I would later experience. We got in the car and drove to the hospital, got there by around 10 p.m., and I was checked and seen to be about 4 and a half cm dilated. It was excruciatingly painful when she checked me which was very strange as I'd just been checked with minimal cramping the day before at my check-up. She told me to try to get up and walk around the hospital for about an hour and she'd check me again.
We paced the halls but the contractions hurt so much that I had to grip the hand rails and rock for about a minute before I could walk again for maybe another minute. My body was very tired already as it was about the time I'd normally be going to sleep and i had to come back within the half hour to lay down in triage and wait for the midwife to check me. She finally came back and I was over 5 cm dilated, so they admitted me to a birthing suite around 11:15 p.m.

I crawled into the bed and at that point I was breathing through the contractions but just barely. The urge to wail was very strong. My fiance had brought my iPod and some speakers to hook up to it and we listened to some beautiful relaxing music - Iron & Wine, Nina Simone, CatPower. My nurse strung up some white Christmas lights around my bed. I took a short bath which seemed to help a bit, but I was very restless and couldn't get comfortable and really wanted to be in the bed. Shelby (my fiance) fed me water constantly and the midwife drifted in and out of the room, just quietly sitting on the couch near my bed and listening to me breathe through the contractions. She and the nurse were very calm and quiet and serene, and mentioned how much they loved my music and could sit with me in the room all night.

My contractions intensified in pain at a slow, steady pace and continued to come every 2 minutes. I switched often from standing in Shelby's arms to rocking in the chair or on the birthing ball, to on all fours on the bed. Changing positions was extremely hard for me to motivate myself to do as it hurt so much to move and my body wanted to just collapse. My body started to get too tired to handle the contractions and by 3 a.m., I started getting shakes. My whole body convulsed and shook as a contraction subsided and wouldn't stop until it was almost time for another. I was simply suffering from full-body exhaustion after so many contractions. I was checked again and was around 7 and a half cm dilated by 4:30, so my midwife decided to manually break my water, as she realized my body was giving out and hoped to speed things along. She warned me that it might get more intense. Breaking my water didn't hurt - I felt warm liquid simply seeping slowly between my legs - but it also didn't bring on stronger contractions. In fact, for a few minutes the contractions stalled. This was great relief to me as I could rest a bit longer but my midwife was frustrated as fewer contractions is not helpful in progressing labor. By almost 6, I was moaning like a dying animal during contractions and gripping the rails of the bed so hard that the midwife and nurse (Shelby later told me) were afraid I was going to break them off.
I got to about 8 and a half/9 cm by 7 a.m. and Denise my midwife told me to try to push and see what happened. I did this a few times and it was unbearably painful. I was having a hard time holding my breath for the pushing and feeling like I couldn't breathe at all during the contractions. During each wave I felt I might pass out from not breathing enough. My midwife needed to leave by 8 a.m. and was very concerned about my stamina so she decided she wanted to give me some pitocin and encouraged me to take something for the pain so I could relax and handle the stronger contractions. By that point , I had been thinking to myself that I would do anything for a c-section or for an epidural and I was leaning toward giving in and taking it as it was just TOO MUCH. She left to get the pitocin and start me on the monitor but the new midwife came in, she checked me and I was a little over 9 dilated; she said I didn't need the pitocin and mentioned that she heard I wanted to go totally natural and never mentioned the pain meds again. I was in agony and frustrated with this but I somehow SOMEHOW managed to not beg for anything. She had me get on my side and huff through the ensuing contractions which were THE most painful of the contractions by FAR. Resisting pushing was destroying me. Each contraction felt like it was going to kill me. But somehow I did this for another hour and was finally dilated enough to push.
It was 9:30 when he began crowning. I tried a variety of positions and was on the toilet for about a half hour pushing. Finally ended up in bed and was given a rail to stick my feet on with a cloth wrapped around it to pull on as I pushed. His head would NOT come out and pretty much every contraction I was told "This is probably it!" but it wouldn't be. In between contractions I could reach down and feel the hair on his head. It was crazy. Most of the top of his head would come out but the contraction would subside and his head would just stay there, feeling like it was splitting me in half before it would ease back in. Oh, it was some pain. But I knew the end was in sight and I managed another hour and fifteen minutes of this before his head came out and of course I had to wait another two minutes for another contraction to finally, finally push out his shoulders and one more push for his body. Sebastian was finally born at 10:44 a.m. which ended up totalling an almost 15 hour labor and 28 hours of no sleep for me by the time it was done. No medical interventions, no pain meds, it was the most pain I've ever experienced and harder than I ever could have imagined but our bodies are made to do this!

 

[JellyBeann]

I DID! And Ollie was 9lb 8oz, so not a little lad haha! I just did G&A and a water birth, I laboured and birthed in the water...well worth it and so glad I did!

 

[Bournefree]

Just wanted to ask a question:

What are your pain relief option in the USA?

Thanks!

Hmm, besides natural measures (like walking, yoga ball, etc), "walking" epidural, epidural, and other narcotics (like stadol and nubane). I have heard non US ladies talk about a TENS machine and although they may be offered here, im not thinking so much i have never heard of anyone being asked/allowed to use em (but could be wrong). This is not an exhaustive list, but seem to be the most popular. Im not sure about G & A, maybe its an option, but again since most ppl get the epi straight away, no one usually ends up using G & A, if its available Most EVERYONE uses the epidural...thats why i want the inspiration of you ladies without it. I know birthing a baby without drugs isn't impossible and nice to have the uplift.

you girls are wonderful! Thank you so much for sharing with me. Sometimes i get discouraged when i read about how many ppl say you "have" to use drugs- you'll never get through it, etc, etc. or "you think you dont want drugs now...but you will!". Sure if a medical thing came up then obviously, yes, but outside of that, im looking at this as if its (drugs) not an option- because to me- its NOT. I am hoping to see about a homebirth in New Hampshire because then it really wont be available LOL. But i dont feel like im one to give in. Once i think something, im usually stuck on it until i get it. And i know the MCs are probably not nearly as painful as a full term labor, but i was able to get through it with the help of God and my DH and that has really empowered me to think that i CAN and I WILL do this.

...side note...my ticker moved up!

You sound so strong - I already know you are.
This attitude will stand you in good stead no matter where you give birth! I have to say I'm no hippy - (honestly) I'm a lawyer for g~*d sake.. I'm meant to be the total opposite of hippy! But wow, you have really captured what birth should be about - and it can be.

I appreciate that it is actually very hard to have to have a natural birth in the US - sorry but the stats are shockingly against you, and also here in the UK I might add. We are heading towards it (major use of epidurals, c-sections ect), even though we have a wonderful midwife service. US section rate is near 40%, UK 35% average. (My cavat is, that some areas in both the US and UK are vastly different from these figures)

This is what I find strange now, and most of us don't even think to quesiton it - but, If you were to ask 16 year olds, "where do women give bith?" almost a 100% would say a hospital with a doctor. It is undeniable most women opt and are under hospital care - but, hospital care is leading to many interventions that are only nessecary because of the hosital environment. Leading to our shocking c-section rate (this is unique to the UK and the US, compaired to the rest of the world- with levels reaching 40 to 50 % in some areas) I would only wish that women stop and think about this convension; going in to doctor care has only been occuring, in the majority (over 50% of the population), for 40 years or so - not every birth needs medicallising and those that do have problems are a very small proportion - as medical advances has given us the empowerment of advance screening.
There is a huge aside (before I get linched) and that is the improvements in obstric medicine have been saving women's and baby's lives - but the influance of medical negligence has meant procedures put in place by clincitons to "control" women's birth.

Sorry I found myself on the little box of soap there, darn! - once you get going and all that!

You are right - you will and can do this... and more importantly, if you feel that you can't or if there is something not quite right, you can take advice, and YOU can decide what you would like to do.

I REALLY do think you have a right mindset to encounter anything

xxxxx
P.S If you would like a TENS, I could post you mine - just PM me an address, I'll dig it out and send it on

 

[TattiesMum]

[ the influance of medical negligence has meant procedures put in place by clincitons to "control" women's birth.

I totally agree with you Bournefree It's one of my 'soap box' issues too

The birth of Kaylum (my gorgeous Grandson) perfectly illustrates this .... Tattie was labouring perfectly happily, using the birthing ball, walking around, leaning, rocking and breathing and in control.

The midwives had done an internal and found her to be at 5 cms at about 3.30am. They left her to carry on labouring ... at about 4.45am she became very restless, sweaty and shivering and I warned them that I thought she was going into transition.

At this point they messed up with the monitor and went from picking up Kaylum's heartbeat to picking up Tattie's, which they interpreted as Kaylum's heatbeat dropping, hustled Tattie to the bed and kept her pinned there while they tried to find Kaylum's heartbeat again.

By this time Tattie was saying that she wanted to push - they told her that she had only been 5cm when they last examined her and told her that she mustn't push. I mentioned the transition again and told them that in all of my labours I had gone from 5cm to 10 VERY quickly and that the same was true of both my mother and my sister and perhaps they could check?

They pooh-poohed me and refused to check her, all the time keeping her pinned down while they pushed the monitor onto her. This went on for nearly an hour with the midwives totally concentrating on the monitor and not on any traditional midwifery

Kaylum was born at 5.50am - totally unexpected by the midwives who hadn't carried out a single exam since 3.30 and who were still insisting that she wasn't ready to push when his head was crowning

They are so terrified of being sued that they relied entirely on their technical equipment and failed to be guided by either Tattie or myself or to follow traditional midwifery practices - we DO intend to complain as it seems likely that, if they had examined Tattie and allowed her to push, Kaylum would have arrive quite some time earlier and with a LOT less distress and pain for Tattie.

Needless to say her next baby will be born at home!!

 

[silver_penny]

I gave birth to my LO naturally in the US, and he was breech. In the US, they do not have nor do they offer G&A. TENS machines are great from what I hear, though. We didnt dig ours out in time to find out personally. Oh, and if you do opt for a homebirth (or even if you don't), here is a great phrase to memorize "I refuse to give my consent to..." If you don't want something, if they are trying to push something on you against your will, say this magical phrase and they will be legally bound to listen to you. Phrases like "No" or "I don't want..." have no legal standing, unfortunately. Hth!

 

[mamato2more]

I gave birth to my LO naturally in the US, and he was breech. In the US, they do not have nor do they offer G&A. TENS machines are great from what I hear, though. We didnt dig ours out in time to find out personally. Oh, and if you do opt for a homebirth (or even if you don't), here is a great phrase to memorize "I refuse to give my consent to..." If you don't want something, if they are trying to push something on you against your will, say this magical phrase and they will be legally bound to listen to you. Phrases like "No" or "I don't want..." have no legal standing, unfortunately. Hth!

This is true..We had so many papers to sign on the things we refused! We had to have our twins in the hospital, no midwives will deliver at home...They would be risking their license...But, it was great! I have had two previous hb's, and they were awesome too!

 

[DottyLottie]

I was induced with my first but with no pain relief, had an epidural with my second, and my third was au naturel.
I guess third time round is easier, my labours have always been short and have got progressively shorter each time, 3.5 hrs, 2.5hrs, 1.5hrs! Needless to say, with my 4th, I am expecting it to fly out and am serously considering a home birth so there is no rush to get to hospital.

As my births are so quick, I don't know if it is fair for me to comment about no pain relief, I may have felt very different if I had been in labour for hours.

That said, I am not concerned about pain relief anymore, I think with first babie's it hurts more because it is the first time, the pain comes as such a massive shock - no amount of people telling you can really prepare you for how it actually hurts. I was young when I had my first and completely freaked out, I'm sure the panic and fear made it more painful.