considering natural birth

[pulliamg]

im 23 yrs old this is my first child im only 8 weeks right now but for years ive always said i would do a natural birth everyone says im crazy and i wont be able to handle it. i really just want that connection and feel of achievment and to remember everything of the birth i believe if i stay calm during the contractions and just focus i can get through it!! plus im scared of a c section bc my aunt died during one and im scared of an epidural bc what if they miss or something goes wrong while putting it in!! natural just seems to be the safest to me!!! any other moms do this with their first child?? whats your advice??

 

[Kittycat155]

I am 30 and 100 percent WILL do this. My mom is tiny and she did it with use kids. My feeling is anything that inhibits our natural state can interfere with the natural process. And considered safe meds now may be responsible for health issues/bad things. Look how long it takes them to realize some things and pull it from the market. Surround yourself with positive people not ones who will fill you with horror stories!

 

[solitaire89]

I did this with my first - I had a pain free and drug free labour and home birth, and I loved it! My birth story is in my siggy if you're interested. I would recommend Natal Hypnotherapy - Maggie Howells' 4 cd and book programme. They also do 2 "day courses" if you are in the UK. They may seem pricey, but I think they're well worth it if you can eek the money from somewhere. I would also agree with what the PP said - surround yourself with positive stories, not the negative ones.
At the end of the day, your body is designed to do this. Your body knows how to birth your baby, just the same as your body knows how to conceive, grow and nurture your baby in your womb. Trust it!

 

[Kiwi_Jen]

I did with my first, and hopefully will have a natural birth with my second as well. None of my friends or family had a drug-free birth when I decided to, so it was really important to me to find a group for whom it was 'normal'. I took birthing classes with a group of women who were all commited to drug-free births, and this time around I've found a local homebirth association that meets regularly. This made me feel that it was more normal than not, and if all these other women could do it, so could I

 

[BubsMom17]

I HATE when people make you feel like you will fail because they opted to have pain management. I say good for them, every woman's choice is her own. But I would never deter a woman or make her feel insecure for saying she will be opting for an epidural.

I got this A LOT. I would express that I wanted a natural labor with DS1, and I would get MOCKED sometimes! A lot of, "Yeah, we'll see..." or "Why??? You don't get a medal or prize for natural labor." You know what??? These comments made me MORE determined for a natural labor! And guess what? I DID IT!
It hurt like nothing I have ever experienced, but it was SOOOO worth it and I am 100% planning on doing it again! YOU CAN DO IT!

I would recommend you having someone with you who has gone through it before, like your mom (I had my mom there), or a doula. Having someone who knows what you are going through is a huge support factor. Not all women need this, but it helped me tremendously. I had my husband there as my advocate, and my mom as my labor support. It was an awesome experience.

 

[Kittycat155]

I have gotten one person talk about her epi as the best thing in the world. She also had a c section. I told her that epi may lead to me now feeling things which leads to more "intervention" I did not even MENTION a word of I do not plan to be in hospital unless there is something major that shows itself.

I have already looked into the lowest c section hopitals(I am lucky I am not far from a decent rate hospital) I am also doing prenatal care nearby that one so if they say you must go now due to something horrible I will be at my hospital of choice.

I still find it odd how some people will offer their advice when you say I am pregnant. If I said I have cancer you would get oh go to this hospital or dr as they are great. not you must get this dose and this time and 2 weeks go back and get this that and the other thing.

 

[Kiss08]

Most people I tell I want to go drug-free just laugh and say, "just wait..." It's annoying. I've stopped talking to those people about it and only talk to my other friends who are open to natural childbirth. The other thing I find frustrating is that I am not dead set against getting an epidural but if I do, I feel like I'll get the "I told you so." Even though it seems like everyone is either completely for epidurals (and laugh at people who don't want one) or are completely against drugs, I'm in the middle and have found that there are many others who are similar to me. I want to go into things planning on going drug-free but I'm not going to avoid pain meds if I'm not handling things well (and I refuse to feel guilty about either choice!). It's my own damn body! I feel like especially in the US (I don't know where you're from, but I'm American) natural childbirth is thought of as something only crazy hippies do which is so not true!! Okay, getting off soap box now.

ps - It's my first pregnancy and I'm learning hypnobirthing from the Mongan Method book!