Anyone have their first baby without pain medication???

[sarah1980]

So I had my mw appointment yesterday and we went over my birth plan briefly. She was all happy and supportive of it all and said it seemed a very sensible plan. Then she said "however I think you should think about having pain relief, especially with this being your first baby I don't think you'll manage without it"!!!

Thanks for the vote of confidence love!

It has just made me feel a little deflated

Has anyone had their first baby without using pain relief??? Would love to hear from anyone who has.

Sarah

 

[Rmar]

That's horrible. There is no reason that someone should judge another person's need for pain relief.

I had a pain relief free birth. Unless you count water. That was a great pain reliever. But no medication. Natural pain relief from water, aromatherapy, massage, etc. is one of the most satisfying methods of relieving pain and being in labour, I could ask for any one of those things and DH had no problem with it. During labour if I said "back rub" he would do it. Now I say "May I please have a back rub" with the sweetest smile I can muster and he groans. Lol. Take advantage.

 

[Kess]

My Mom only had a few puffs of G&A with me, then stopped it as she didn't like it, and I'm her first. I was 8lb exactly, and she was in labour for around 24 hours IIRC, pretty much all in the hospital lay on her back with no advantages that we'll have like birth pool, TENS, massage, etc. She's my inspiration; she's been telling me what an amazing experience birth is, and although it hurts she wouldn't want me to miss it for the world.

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

Yes, I had my first baby with no pain relief, not even G&A. I didn't even think about it, deep breathing and being active were what helped me.

 

[we can't wait]

You can definitely have your first with no pain relief! I had my LO naturally, and they don't even offer gas & air in the states. I don't even handle pain very well and I did just fine. Stick to your guns! If you decide you want it, that's one thing... but there's no need to change your birth plan. I think you'll do just fine! It's a magical experience!

 

[sarah1980]

Thanks ladies! I plan on using my TENS and the water pool for pain relief also my hypnobirthing relaxation techniques but nothing else. I'm not against things such as G&A but tbh from what I've heard from peoples experiences I dont think I'll like it so I'm just not interested. They dont offer epidurals in the birth centre I'm booked into but I dont want one anyway unless I need a c section.

I just dont want to go into labour thinking "I'll never manage this" cos if I think that then that will be how it goes and up until now I've been pretty confident and positive so thanks for bolstering me again ladies, it's just what I needed!!!

Sarah.xxx

 

[lozzy21]

I had just G&A but used it mostly to bite on and help slow my breathing.

I would say though dont base your choices on what other people liked. I loved being touched in labour and loved having my back rubbed and found physical contact reasuring but some people hate being touched.

 

[diz]

I just had my birthing pool and TENS ... no other pain relief with my first... i plan on doing the same thing second time round too. I did make sure that the MW brought G&A to my home but didn't need it. xxx

 

[vanessayogini]

I labored in a nice birth pool but other than that, no pain relief. it was amazing, the best day of my life.

 

[eviestar]

i gave birth to my first using nothing but gas and air
x

 

[irish_cob]

I'm hoping to give birth to my first at home, with water for pain relief and possibly some gas and air. I'm hoping to manage with positive talk (I'm good at procrastinating and I can tell myself that this pain will be over in 2 mins, think how I'll feel in 12 hours time etc, I've done it before when I've been ill - obviously I've never applied it to giving birth but I feel confident I will be able to), keeping active and relaxing.

I think the most important thing is to be positive, believe in yourself and your body's ability to birth your baby. If you are scared and worried, all those fear hormones are working against nature. I've got a hypnobirthing workbook (even though I'm not in the least bit hypnotis-able) and it makes it really clear how important it is to shield yourself from negativity, not listen to other people's horror stories or well meaning advice. That's not to say be naive, I believe you should research every scenario as much as possible, but don't let thoughts of having to transfer to hospital or being in pain override your positive thoughts, plan for the natural birth you want, and keep the research on everything else shoved far far to the back of your brain as very much a plan z, after plans a-y have been eliminated.

 

[loulougirly]

I did the first 37 hours of back to back labour with nothing, last 7 in the pool with g&a and had a 10lb4oz baby and no tear - so yup it's possible

 

[Tacey]

I used a TENs and birth pool, which were both great. Oh, I had a paracetamol in the early stages of my contractions too. Not sure what I expected it to do! As everyone has said, of course it's possible to give birth to your first without pain relief. Silly MW!

 

[violetsky]

I did, back to back labour using only a hot water bottle and determination! I did get a 2nd degree tear and honestly them checking that it didn't go ahem, right through and then stitching it up afterwards was the worst part!

I didn't read or watch or listen to a single thing about labour leading up to it, I went in believing that I could do it, and I refused to give up, and that was all there was to it for me, if that makes sense.

 

[Rachiebaby24]

My sister had nO pain relief with her first, u had a few puffs if gas and air with my first and nothing with my second x

 

[Avalanche]

You need to surround yourself with positive birth stories. If people keep telling you that you can't do it, then eventually you will start to doubt yourself.

I did it naturally with my first LO and she was back to back, I was induced and I was in a serious accident while I was pregnant that meant I broke my back, so I had a huge amount of back pain an a 23 hour labour. Totally worth it!

 

[Caezzybe]

I had my first baby without pain relief medication. I got through the whole thing with a TENS machine and 2 doses of paracetemol (Tylenol if anyone from the USA is reading) over an 8 hour labour. I managed to not give birth in the car by using the breathing techniques I had learned from the hospital in their classes and arrived at hospital fully dilated. 27 minutes later, my son was born. I did have a couple of puffs of gas and air for the 2 stitches I had, but not during the birth or labour.

It was going to have gas & air (in my birth plan) but found I could cope OK without it.

 

[sarah1980]

Thanks all! Incidentally I saw another mw today and she is completely different to the one I usually see, much more positive and confident! She had a student with her who is very young and even the student mw seemed more knowledgeable and confident than my usual mw!!!

Sarah.xxx

 

[Twinkle81]

Hi Hun, im glad you have seen a new MW, my first i walked in without too much pain but asked for drugs straight away just because of what other people had been telling me.

However my second i did at home with tens machine, birthing pool and my hypno birthing. Dont get me wrong had the gas and air been there i may have used it but it wasnt and i was fine so yes youcan do it and if you do need something else then thats okay too just listen to yourself and not other people.

Good luck xxx

 

[pea-in-pod]

Yes me! At home, with my first baby only 3 months ago. Don't let anyone tell you that you can't do it, that is ridiculous! You absolutely can do it, and women have been doing it for millennia without pain relief.
I used affirmations, and I would highly recommend them. Some of mine were "my baby will arrive quickly and easily", and "there is a wide open space for my baby to descend, there is nothing in the way". I said my affirmations over and over every day, just whenever I remembered.
The biggest thing I think to having no pain relief, is to remain relaxed and calm as possible. I used hypno birthing relaxation exercises and I also found Ina May Gaskins Guide to Childbirth a wonderful help!

Good luck, you can do it. Your body knows how to birth your baby, just as your body knew how to grow your baby!

And ps no gas and air for me as we don't have that available for home births in Canada, so I just had my relaxation and m birth pool, but I didn't even get in the birth pool till 10 cm dilated!