How bad is labour and birth...???

[Mummy Bean]

It had good points and bad points but ultimatly it was 12 hrs after 9 months of baking a baby.

Do ur research, read plently of stories, watch every obem and go in with an open mind. You have no idea how ur body will react, how quickly things will progress and if u will need assitance.

I managed to get to 8cm on just g&a and every thing was managable...contractions are so weird as for 60 sec u are in the worst pain, then it goes away...u have a cuppa or relax and go through it again.

At 8cm my son turned sunny side up and got a bit stuck so i had a low dose epidural just to give him a chance to decend.

One thing i have noticed is alot of those ladies who have the drug free relaxed home birth are clued up, they prepare them selves and there body, and i hope to take some of that away with me for this birth, which i think i went into a bit naive...hardly having looked into anything.

 

[Misscalais]

I've given birth twice and I've only ever had 3 internals all at my request. My midwives knew I was ready to push by the change in my behaviour and sounds I was making. So I was never checked to see if I was 10cm ( obviously I was ) 1st bub pushed for 25mins he was 8lb 4oz 2nd bub was 9lb and only pushed for 8mins would have been quicker but I shut my legs at one point and said I wasn't doing it my body pretty much pushed for me though I had no choice
I won't lie it hurt, and yes it was the worst pain I've ever been in but it's manageable I just had gas and air. Try to go as intervention free as possible, keep mobile and walking as much as you can and if it all gets to much the option of pain relief is always there. Water helps a lot.

 

[goddess25]

Its a hard question to answer as everyone will have their own story and coping strategies.

Yes its very very painful, it will not kill you and you will get through it.

I wanted natural labours with both kids, ended up with a spinal with DS in the OR and it was great not to feel contractions anymore, but I liked feeling them even though they were painful. I liked to be experiencing it all. With DD did natural labour and I felt everything which i wanted.

You dont have a choice, your body does what it needs to for the most part..if you need pain control when your in labour take it, do what you have to for you.

It was not as bad as I thought it would be.