Natural Childbirth VS Epidural/Medication/Interventions

[eppo]

I had natural labor for about 24 hours, painful , but then they had to do an emergency c section. i just dont think that we really have a concious choice about what we do. basically the way you body delivers a baby cannot be determined by anyone. there are some exceptions like those who have an easy labor but i feel those women did nothing different than the ones like me that had to have a c section. so i would say just decide to go with the flow and if you get to the point of needing meds, take them. let me know after contractions that were only seconds apart for 20 hours if anyone would have the willpower to turn them down.lol.

[cbms]

I was in labor (hard labor, but not dilating) for about that long. I had a total labor of about 30 hours with my third. No epi. I did let them give me a half dose of something (nubane or nubain... however you spell it) in my IV, but it only made me tired (which led to me being angry). And it made me throw up. I woke up every 90 seconds to 2 minutes with another contraction, and then get knocked back out. Stupid drugs. I then chose a birth center for my fourth (and now my fifth) because I didn't like that drug pushing nurse. I have a pretty high threshold for pain, though. If I didn't, I'd have given up after being there with those contractions for a few hours with nothing happening...

[Tracy_in_Missouri]

I've had 8 children. I had the first 4 in the hospital with lots of intervention, nothing natural about them. I had the second 4 at home with midwives ( 4 different midwives) and there is simply no comparison. Another poster already mentioned some of the midwife advantages. I will add that being at home with a skilled care provider makes it even better. I have to disagree with the poster who said that things are out of your control. In my experience ( Im sure there are exceptions) labor and delivery are very much in a womans control , when she is healthy, educated on normal birth and has the right/capable support people around her. Fear and intervention are the things that ruin it for us. Just an FYI - not all of my labors were *easy*. My home births/labors ranged from 90 minutes to 31+ hours. For most people, I believe that labor/delivery is what you make it.

[cbms]

I believe that like many other things, labor is a total mind over matter issue. I repeatedly told myself when I was in labor (and not clouded by the stupid meds that the drug pusher gave me with #3) that I am a woman and my body was made for giving birth and it was not more than I could handle, etc... I focused on relaxing through the pain and not tensing up and just letting nature take its course. I think it makes all the difference in the world to control your pain rather than letting your pain control you. :)

[momzoo7]

Originally Posted by regbyandjulie Okay, so DH and I are going back and forth with the dicussion of "natural childbirth" versus epidural/medications. My personal opinion is that DH does not get a firm say in this as he will never experience it, but his opinion matters to me, plus I've been reading how a natural childbirth is most conducive to breastfeeding, etc. So, a quick poll on who had a natural childbirth or who had medications and what would you all recommend? I am pretty much of the view that I might want to see if I can go natural, but I am reserving the right to demand an epidural at any time, lol.

I breastfed all seven of mine and had alot of milk more than they could drink. the first 4 i had before epiduals were given out so freely so i didn't have a choice but to do it natural. my last three i had epies with and i feel your able to rest and be more alert with an epidula and there's no harm to the baby. the 4 i had natural i was so exhausted by the time they were born i could barly keep my eyes open much less hold and nurse them.

[isaiahsmom21]

Originally Posted by carisal oh I REALLY wanted to do without the epidural. I was really worried about that needle. I tried my best to go without any pain meds. but, I was induced - and I hear that causes the pain to be way worse than going into labor naturally. - I've never done it naturally so I have no say on that, but I know my pain was WAY up there... my water broke and didnt go into labor, contractions at all... I never even had Braxton hicks. 12 hours after my water broke I wasnt dilated or effaced at all and so they put me on the pitocin drip (I dont know why they didnt give me the cervidel (sp?) gel) anyways I made it to 5 cm before the pain got too bad for me to take anymore, all I could think was OMG I'm only halfway there, I need something for the pain. so I asked for the shot which I can not remember the name of right now.... but it didnt do anything as far as the pain, it made me loopy though.(yeah I think its a narcotic) So I waited an hour - (maybe 45 minutes) - to make sure it wasnt going to help the pain, then gave up and asked for the epidural. this time. Unless I go into labor naturally - then I'll see how it goes. but if it gets bad definitely the epidural!! If I'm induced again I'm getting the epidural as soon as possible LOL ETA~~ remembered the name of that shot - Stadol. stay away from it. no good!!!

I had stadol with this labor and it helped with one contraction and then nothing. The pitocin does make the contractions way more intense. Tried to get my epidural and he couldnt get it to work. WHile he was trying to fix it, I had the urge to push and that was the end of that, baby was born 15 min later, lol. SO basically no drugs. I was up walking around an hour later and every, be was surprised. I liked that part, not having the after effects of the drugs, but it was very intense

[SLP99]

Induced x 3 - epidural x 3 - result 3 healthy kids and no regrets!

Do whatever feels right for you, everyone is different and what's best for you - may not be what's best for someone else! Best wishes to you!

[Mom2Natalya]

I wanted natural, drug-free childbirth each time, but for all three births I was induced (for one reason or another).
The first was pitocin-induced, drug-free and lasted 36 hours.
The second, was my stillbirth at 31 weeks, I had the epi, since it didn't affect my baby. HATED the EPI! I will never have another.
My third was pitocin-induced, and drug-free, but he was here lickety split! induced at 11pm and he was born after three pushes at 4:59am!

[jrashley]

Well... I couldnt vote because I had an epidural in 2 out of my three pregnancies... Neither one worked like it was supposed to. With my first son I was only numb on one side for about 15 minutes and then NOTHING... only to have a second one placed and still nothing! I had a relatively short labor with him having been induced at around 7 am and he was here just before 5 that same afternoon....but those were the LONGEST hours of my life because I did go numb on one side again about an hour before delivery (talk about a tease!) and then went completely numb just as I started pushing...luckily it only took a couple of tries there and he made it safe and sound and I felt much better once the epidural wore off...I always thought it was supposed to be the other way around! LOL

With our second...it was a natural birth and 4 months gestation...she didnt survive and I had enough going through my mind to totally take any pain that should have possibly been there to not even matter. It was the most peaceful of my three deliveries though....odd as that sounds

With my second son I went into premature labor at 35 weeks... after several earlier bouts. It couldnt be stopped but was slow go until I hit 5cm...at which point there was no turning back once my water broke. Doc decided to augment labor to speed things up so that he could be transferred to Childrens at a decent hour (made for safer travel was what we were thinking anyway)...THAT was H3LL! I labored over 24 hours with him and I immediately threw out all plans for forgoing the epi once the contractions started going off the chart. Again I had an epidural placed twice... and once again it didnt work..I didnt even get the tease this time! Meditating helped more than anything. Once again the epi kicked in literally as I started pushing. I was so numb that I couldnt hold my legs in the stirups! two pushes and he was out though. I felt much better once the epi wore off and I was able to walk out of there to go be with him!!!

If there is one thing Ive learned in all my pregnancies its that you can plan for anything you want... just remember that last minute changes are ok too! The only thing that TRULY matters is that you and baby are healthy at the conclusion of it all. If you are still unsure when you go in labor just let it be known that you want to see how it goes and would like to leave your options open. Most doctors are fine with that nowadays.

[CW&M Mom]

My first one...water broke at 33 weeks. I labored..for..not kidding...79 hours with my water broke all back labor. After that I was too exhuasted to go on...and finally got an epi. Had her at the 89 hour mark.

After that I feel like I really am not in the mood to torture myself LOL. So I always make sure my labor is really going strong and that I'm at least 4 cm dialated and then get an epidural. That literally saved me with #2. Because the cord was wrapped around his neck (he was coming at 35 weeks/water broke) and they literally punched him out of me...because each time I pushed he desatted badly. So in all honesty if I had not had an epidural...they would of done a c section on me...because I just do see the anesthesiologist willing to punch my belly with me feeling it.