Natural birth vs. epidural

[athena87]

I am considering a natural birth, but wanted to see what people's responses were to each. I've always thought I'd get an epidural but now I'm not sure. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[wamommy]

I have had 3 unmedicated births, but no experience with an epidural. I CAN say that I am very happy with the experiences I've had and wouldn't change a thing about it. There is absolutely nothing wrong with choosing pain relief, I totally don't judge, but for me a natural (unmedicated) birth brought me a ton of pride and sense of accomplishment. I suppose I didn't want to feel like I'd missed something, if that makes sense.

 

[Seity]

I had the intrathecal shot (vs epidural) with my first and natural with my second (Not by choice, he was born too quickly)
Given the choice I would opt for the drugs over natural. With the shot I was 100% pain free and able to rest and relax until it was time to push. I remember it clearly because I wasn't distracted with the agonizing pain that completely takes over. With both I only pushed twice and they were born, so the drugs didn't affect the time it took to push and both were apgar 10. I subscribe to the 'why be in unnecessary agony when there is a great option to be pain free' school of thought.
I also went in with an open mind with my first and quickly realized that drug free labor was not for me.

 

[Feronia]

I loved my unmedicated birth! Being able to experience everything helped me know when to move and what position to try, and no pain meds means that there is no interruption to the natural hormones your body releases to cope with any discomfort. These hormones also help with bonding and breastfeeding, and I can definitely attest to that. The feeling I had just after giving birth was euphoric. I felt on top of the world! Actually, a woman's oxytocin levels are the highest they will EVER be in her entire life right after giving birth -- but only if you don't interrupt the natural process with drugs.

It honestly wasn't very bad either. After a 56 hour labour with no drugs and minimal sleep, I actually felt like I could do it again the next day. Hypnobirthing and hot water helped for sure and not once did I feel like I needed drugs. That was just me, though, and every woman and every labour is different, and just because you may think that you need drugs in the moment doesn't mean that you are a failure or that you are doing anything "wrong."

Overall, my advice would be to go into it planning for a natural birth since you're considering it. Women who plan NOT to have an epidural actually handle the pain better than women who go into it planning for an epidural at the earliest chance. Your mindset helps, and if you think you're going to be dulling out the pain at your first chance, than you're not going to handle it well.

Also, a study recently came out showing that women who have an epidural push for on average 3 times longer than women who don't -- especially first time moms. Epidurals slow down your labour, and the lack of options you have in positioning contribute to this slowness. Try things like hot water, gas and air, hypnobirthing, and TENS before going straight to the epidural.

 

[MrsElsie]

I gave birth naturally and have a very positive memory, despite the pain - giving birth (however you do it!) is the most amazing thing in the world. I had a water birth and wouldn't have been able to with an epidural - I would opt for this again if I have a second as it just felt right to me.

However a lot of my friends also said they wanted natural births, but when the time came they opted for pain relief. Everyone is so different, it just depends on the individual and different things work for different people. Keep your mind open - if you do go for a natural birth don't be afraid to change your mind during labour if you feel it is right for you.

 

[Feronia]

I have heard bad things from most people I know who have birthed with narcotics injections (usually Pethidine). They feel dizzy, forgetful, nauseous, and overall horrible. It is also NOT good for your baby!

"Pethidine is known to cross the placenta and is present in breastmilk. The major problem for the baby is that pethidine can cause breathing difficulties after birth due to its depressive effect on the baby’s respiratory centre. These effects are at the worse if the baby is born one to three hours after an injection of pethidine has been given."

Babies are more likely to experience jaundice, too. I think personally I'd have an epidural over a narcotics injection over the breathing problems alone, but I'd hate to have an epidural, too, over the possible side effects with that... Just my personal perspective there!

 

[dairymomma]

It all comes down to how you handle labor and you won't know until you get to that point. I am a wimp to say the least but I've managed to get through natural labor twice now and plan to/hope to have another natural labor with this baby. My sis has done both and says she likes the epidurals because it's pain relief and allows her to relax thru instead of fight contractions but she feels like her recoveries are better/faster with the naturals. I found sitting on a birthing ball, walking while I was able, and counter-pressure helped immensely with pain control for me and my labor only got super intense once I hit transition. And once I got to that point, I was pushing in less than an hour so even that wasn't bad. Pushing was the best part because it's like a natural epidural. (You push against the contraction and it counteracts the pain.)

Really, you'll probably have to experience at least some natural labor before you'd get to the point of being offered pain meds anyway so I'd see how things go at the start and go from there. I went in with my first thinking just that way-I'd try natural and if it worked, then it worked but I wasn't going to take an epidural off the table if I felt I needed one (although my fear of getting one may be preventing me from actually getting one. ).

 

[Eline]

I'm not a mom myself, but from the things I've heard from my friends (for the last 5 years unfortunately all I hear is baby talk), I would say just keep your options open and see how it goes. It's great that you want to try things naturally, but don't start thinking in advance that a natural birth is something that you MUST accomplish or that accepting pain medication would be a bad thing. There is no way to predict how your labor will go and sometimes pain medication càn be helpful, i.e. when the pain makes you anxious and you stop dilating any further. I had a friend who was stuck for hours at 4 cm and after she'd been given an epidural, she relaxed and progressed to 10 cm within the hour. Also it's always possible that there are some complications or the doc needs to perform a procedure where pain relief might be very welcome.
I hope I might one day have a natural birth as well, but I also feel that sometimes moms who've given birth naturally are a bit smug when all that matters is you and your baby are safe and healthy.

 

[Kess]

I'm not a mom myself, but from the things I've heard from my friends (for the last 5 years unfortunately all I hear is baby talk), I would say just keep your options open and see how it goes. It's great that you want to try things naturally, but don't start thinking in advance that a natural birth is something that you MUST accomplish or that accepting pain medication would be a bad thing. There is no way to predict how your labor will go and sometimes pain medication càn be helpful, i.e. when the pain makes you anxious and you stop dilating any further. I had a friend who was stuck for hours at 4 cm and after she'd been given an epidural, she relaxed and progressed to 10 cm within the hour. Also it's always possible that there are some complications or the doc needs to perform a procedure where pain relief might be very welcome.
I hope I might one day have a natural birth as well, but I also feel that sometimes moms who've given birth naturally are a bit smug when all that matters is you and your baby are safe and healthy.

I disagree with the bolded. Obvious those are the most important things, but a good birth experience is important too, both for a woman's mental and emotional health and for facilitating the bond with her baby.

I think you might also be misreading 'proud' as 'smug'. I am proud I birthed the way I wanted - with no epidural or stronger artificial pain relief than gas and air. It was an achievement, one I planned for and put work into making happen. Luck obviously played a part too, but if I'd done no research or preparation it would've been very different, of that I have no doubt. I don't think I'm better than other people who have made other choices, I'm not smug.

 

[Amygdala]

I'm not a mom myself, but from the things I've heard from my friends (for the last 5 years unfortunately all I hear is baby talk), I would say just keep your options open and see how it goes. It's great that you want to try things naturally, but don't start thinking in advance that a natural birth is something that you MUST accomplish or that accepting pain medication would be a bad thing. There is no way to predict how your labor will go and sometimes pain medication càn be helpful, i.e. when the pain makes you anxious and you stop dilating any further. I had a friend who was stuck for hours at 4 cm and after she'd been given an epidural, she relaxed and progressed to 10 cm within the hour. Also it's always possible that there are some complications or the doc needs to perform a procedure where pain relief might be very welcome.
I hope I might one day have a natural birth as well, but I also feel that sometimes moms who've given birth naturally are a bit smug when all that matters is you and your baby are safe and healthy.

I disagree with the bolded. Obvious those are the most important things, but a good birth experience is important too, both for a woman's mental and emotional health and for facilitating the bond with her baby.

I think you might also be misreading 'proud' as 'smug'. I am proud I birthed the way I wanted - with no epidural or stronger artificial pain relief than gas and air. It was an achievement, one I planned for and put work into making happen. Luck obviously played a part too, but if I'd done no research or preparation it would've been very different, of that I have no doubt. I don't think I'm better than other people who have made other choices, I'm not smug.

Could not have put it better. I had a very difficult first labour and a very easy second one. Both were unmediated and I would change that, even if I could. I was sure beforehand that I didn't want meds or intervention, because there wasn't a single method that wasn't associated with side effects or risks I was willing to take. If you want to have a natural birth, there's no reason why you can't (bar the need for a section of course). I don't think there's anything wrong at all with going in with a clear idea of whet you want and don't want.
One thing I would tell you if you do decide against meds is PREPARE. You absolutely can do it, of course you can, but you'll have a much better experience if you learn some breathing and relaxation techniques. Hands down the best thing I ever did in preparation for (my second) birth, was buy and PRACTISE Natal Hypnotherapy. I can't stress enough the importance of actually practising these things so that they're second nature when it comes to actual labour.
Good luck deciding and all the best for your birth!

 

[ashlee2916]

I had an epidural with my son, I was going to go natural but after 3 days of intense back labour and no sleep, I decided to go for it. And my goodness what a lifesaver it was, I managed to sleep for about 6 hours.
It does work, and it is good, but I think it depends on how you cope with labour etc.
The only thing I didn't like about it was that I had to have a catheter and stay in hospital for an extra day.
You are doing nothing working if you do go for one.
This time I'm going to try for a natural home birth but if this little one is back to back I'm going straight for that Epi

 

[Misscalais]

Athena both my boys were natural births, this one hopefully will be too but i wont hesitate to get pain meds if its too painful. I just had some gas and air ( which doesn't do anything for pain ) but I know you guys don't have that over there.
Just go in with an open mind. If you want to try for a natural go for it, research methods to help you cope, keep mobile don't just sit in the bed etc i was in the shower 95% of the time and only came out to push pretty much. It's hard, it bloody hurts but it's doable. If you decide that it's just too much then go for the epi. Just keep your mind open to different possibilities

 

[Bambino123]

I planned a natural birth, after 32hrs of posterior labour , at 7cms, I opted for an epi. I was exhausted and getting panicky. I then felt absolutely nothing, which you would think was great, but I didn't know where or when to push. I got a horrendous prolapse and needed a huge episomity. The prolapse took 9 months of intensive Physio to repair. I blame the epi. I didn't know what muscles to relax and where to focus the pushing.

I'll try go natural again, and see how I cope this time. Hopefully if my labour is shorter I'll manage without an epi. Perhaps if I had a milder dose of epidural I would have felt a little bit and done less damage to myself.

Good luck!

 

[luna_19]

I wanted an epi but things went so fast that I had to do it without any pain control and honestly it wasn't that bad! If I have another I would probably just wait and see how it goes on whether I want anything

 

[BunnyN]

Labour was a fantastic experience for me even though it was 38hrs. I had an unmedicated home birth. I cant wait to do it again. I felt very in control being able to stay active and when it got to pushing I was surprised how I loved feeling everything as the head and shoulders were born. Also had a shower and was up and about very quickly after.

 

[luna_19]

Oh yeah being able to get up right away was great!

 

[Twinkl3]

Personally it's better that you go in there with a completely open mind to everything.

Ideally I wanted to stay away from any form of medically intervention however I was very open minded and knew that it was there if I did feel the need. In the end I had gas and air, pethadine (DD was born screaming!) and an epidural (although it did fail). I do not think that I failed in any way just because I had medical help. If I am being honest it was the best thing for me and you will know what is the right thing for you when you are in that moment.

 

[Shandelion]

I had a pretty unusual and awesome experience with my epidural. I went in wanting a natural birth, but I had back labor and my only pain was explosive burning nerve pain at the base of my spine. All my natural preparations couldn't prepare me for that. I froze at 4 centimeters for at least 12 hours, too, in that condition. My baby's cord was around his throat and his heart rate suffered during contractions where I was in the worst pain. I was abjectly terrified of epidurals, but opted for one to save both of us. It didn't work like it should lol...it took away all pain, I had total control of my hips and feet still, I felt every bit of pressure, felt all contractions, felt my baby's movements...I felt everything but the pain. I was totally lucid. I felt him leave my body, felt every inch of it...and I delivered in nine pushes without a pinprick of pain. I walked immediately afterward; it worked while they sewed up a minor tear, then my epi was gone and I got into my wheelchair on my own to go to the maternity suite. It was awesome. Wish everyone had the experience I did with them.

 

[MummyToAmberx]

I say research every option and go in open minded.
You never no how that pain is going to plan out.
My 2 labours were very different pain wise as my 2nd i had SPD and intense pressure on my pelvis was worse than contractions and if my labour had gone on much longer than it did i would have considered an epi even though thought alone scares the hell out of me.

I did get through both births natural as G&A has little effect on me and just makes me throw up.

I found breathing through contractions is *vital* is what got me through mine and being mobile. Avoiding bed completely!

 

[OurLilFlu]

Hey Athena! I had both experiences in Feb.. And I would take the 32 hrs of natural labour a million times over having an Epi just for the chance to have a natural birth. I totally agree with Kess, and I did go through grief about my birth and since they tore my uterus in the csection I may not even get a chance at a vbac, it is a crushing thought. I did not get that natural rush and I really had a hard time bonding, it still brings me to tears.

If you have a chance watch the 'business of being born' it sheds some important light on the intervention cascade and how empowering birth can be for women. Again for me, the epidural was necessary but knowing that it can stall labour among other things including increasing your chances of a csection just isn't worth it. If you can avoid it do!

If you do want to go for natural, I suggest preparing for it, hypnobirthing is a godsend. I would have never gotten through without practice and that included OH practicing.

That all being said the epidural worked 100% for the pain and I actually got a low enough dose to be quite mobile and also get some rest which was great until they had to up it for the section.

Good luck