Reasons for medication-free childbirth

[Anonymous]

There are also risks associated with "natural" birth (all births are natural events to me). You also need not have the full on, vaginal, unmedicated experience to fully experience having a baby. That is incredibly offensive to those who either could not or for other circumstances had any other experience.

That is why it is self-righteous. "I've experienced something in a better way than you." It's nauseating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are also risks associated with "natural" birth (all births are natural events to me). You also need not have the full on, vaginal, unmedicated experience to fully experience having a baby. That is incredibly offensive to those who either could not or for other circumstances had any other experience.

That is why it is self-righteous. "I've experienced something in a better way than you." It's nauseating.

I accept this argument for women who have done it both ways. My personal experience has been that overwhelmingly, people are saying "I had all kinds of medical interventions with #1 and with #2 I decided to avoid those things and my birth experience with #2 was much better."

I have yet to hear the argument the other way. I have heard women say that they did not have a bad experience with interventions and later chose to have non-interventioned births. I have never heard a woman say "I had a natural birth with #1 and it was so awful that I wanted all the interventions I could get with #2."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are also risks associated with "natural" birth (all births are natural events to me). You also need not have the full on, vaginal, unmedicated experience to fully experience having a baby. That is incredibly offensive to those who either could not or for other circumstances had any other experience.

That is why it is self-righteous. "I've experienced something in a better way than you." It's nauseating.

I accept this argument for women who have done it both ways. My personal experience has been that overwhelmingly, people are saying "I had all kinds of medical interventions with #1 and with #2 I decided to avoid those things and my birth experience with #2 was much better."

I have yet to hear the argument the other way. I have heard women say that they did not have a bad experience with interventions and later chose to have non-interventioned births. I have never heard a woman say "I had a natural birth with #1 and it was so awful that I wanted all the interventions I could get with #2."

Really? I had no interventions with # 1. Found pain positively horrendous. Coping techniques barely scratched the surface. Got an epidural for #2 and will do the same for #3. I actually know several women in this same situation. And at least one who had that plan all along. Wanted to try it but had no intention of going natural more than once.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are also risks associated with "natural" birth (all births are natural events to me). You also need not have the full on, vaginal, unmedicated experience to fully experience having a baby. That is incredibly offensive to those who either could not or for other circumstances had any other experience.

That is why it is self-righteous. "I've experienced something in a better way than you." It's nauseating.

I accept this argument for women who have done it both ways. My personal experience has been that overwhelmingly, people are saying "I had all kinds of medical interventions with #1 and with #2 I decided to avoid those things and my birth experience with #2 was much better."

I have yet to hear the argument the other way. I have heard women say that they did not have a bad experience with interventions and later chose to have non-interventioned births. I have never heard a woman say "I had a natural birth with #1 and it was so awful that I wanted all the interventions I could get with #2."

Really? I had no interventions with # 1. Found pain positively horrendous. Coping techniques barely scratched the surface. Got an epidural for #2 and will do the same for #3. I actually know several women in this same situation. And at least one who had that plan all along. Wanted to try it but had no intention of going natural more than once.

Congrats on breaking my cherry there

I completely respect your decision because it is YOUR decision, not mine. But I applaud it because you did the natural birth thing with the first one and for you, it was unbearable. And on the basis of that, you made your choice. I am personally boggled by the people who are really excited for their epidurals from the word "go" with their first baby. Since they don't have a basis for comparison. But that's just me

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are also risks associated with "natural" birth (all births are natural events to me). You also need not have the full on, vaginal, unmedicated experience to fully experience having a baby. That is incredibly offensive to those who either could not or for other circumstances had any other experience.

That is why it is self-righteous. "I've experienced something in a better way than you." It's nauseating.

I accept this argument for women who have done it both ways. My personal experience has been that overwhelmingly, people are saying "I had all kinds of medical interventions with #1 and with #2 I decided to avoid those things and my birth experience with #2 was much better."

I have yet to hear the argument the other way. I have heard women say that they did not have a bad experience with interventions and later chose to have non-interventioned births. I have never heard a woman say "I had a natural birth with #1 and it was so awful that I wanted all the interventions I could get with #2."

Really? I had no interventions with # 1. Found pain positively horrendous. Coping techniques barely scratched the surface. Got an epidural for #2 and will do the same for #3. I actually know several women in this same situation. And at least one who had that plan all along. Wanted to try it but had no intention of going natural more than once.

Congrats on breaking my cherry there

I completely respect your decision because it is YOUR decision, not mine. But I applaud it because you did the natural birth thing with the first one and for you, it was unbearable. And on the basis of that, you made your choice. I am personally boggled by the people who are really excited for their epidurals from the word "go" with their first baby. Since they don't have a basis for comparison. But that's just me

I'm actually one of those people who is "really excited for [my] epidural from the word 'go' with [my] first baby." I just think I have a really low pain tolerance and, to be honest, and sorry if this is TMI, but I sometimes find sex painful if there is not PLENTY of lube and foreplay so I am thinking a baby pushing its way out would be INCREDIBLY painful! Oh, and I've stayed home from work because of menstrual cramps before! So, yes, I am a big wimp, but to me the knowledge that I can get an epidural is about the only thing that made me comfortable getting pregnant in the first place! I totally respect people who want to and do go natural but I know I'm not cut out for that.

[Anonymous]

I'm sure there are lots of jabs back and forth. OP, I'll take your question on its face and not read between the lines and infer you're mocking those who want to go natural or trying to make a point.

So here goes:

I went natural because I knew I could do it. And I did! But I didn't always feel that way, so I understand how Before I got pregnant and I always figured I'd ask the doc for the epidural somewhere in between conception and the end of the first trimester. But the more I learned about pregnancy and childbirth, the more I began to embrace the more natural side of things. That's not to say anti-medical. I had an OB and a hospital birth. But I researched enough that I became convinced that natural childbirth was possible. I also knew a few people who did it and, while their descriptions of the "pain" varied greatly, to a woman they all said they would do it again in a heartbeat (and many of them had, multiple times over!).

Conversely, I watched several of my friends go in for what seemed like a totally routine birth that was progressing normally, have an epi, and either end up with a vacuum or forceps delivery, horror stories from hours and hours of pushing, bad tears or episiotomies, and sometimes c-sections. I was not inside the birthing room, so i absolutely cannot say that these births went the way they went due to the epidural. But my admittedly very unscientific poll of friends seemed to show those who went naturally had much healthier deliveries, quicker recoveries, and greater satisfaction and less (no!) lingering trauma from the birth experience itself.

Another thing I always paid attention to was the number of women who said things like "oh my god, it was so horrible, I cannot even imagine how bad it would be if I hadn't had the epidural. But I don't think I ever heard a woman say (outside of an anonymous forum where anyone can make up anything) that they had an (intention, as in, one that they prepared for) natural childbirth and regretted it or found it intolerable.

They call it labor for a reason. Childbirth was hard. I had a sunny side up baby and that produced a tremendous amount of back labor. I still say to this day that my husband suffered more than me, though, because he spent all 8 hours pressing on the middle of my tailbone as I took turns leaning over a sink in the bathroom or rocking on hands and knees.

Finally, if you've not managed to read all of this post, I hope folks will read at least this much: "unmedicated" childbirth does NOT mean you give birth with no pain killers! If you prepare well, learn how to embrace your pain (I did not do the relaxation techniques that they teach you and thought the Bradley method was a load of crap, I just let the pains wash over me and just sort of made myself get still and deal calmly until they subsided -- finding a rythm was key), the body's natural endorphins kick in. I felt waves of pain roll over me, but there was also a weird and almost pleasant time-warp going on. In the 80's, I remember they used to say it about athletes, that they were "in the zone." In fact, that kind of sums it up -- to me natural childbirth is the same type of accomplishment as a huge athletic event. Sure, there is pain, but there is also tremendous elation along with your dedicatoin.

I don't really tell my natural birth story a lot, especially not to moms who have had an epidural because it's easy to ruffle feathers when you're talking about doing something naturally that they though they needed painkillers to get through. But I do think that every pregnant woman should prepare for childbirth as if she plans to do it naturally and keep an open mind about drugs during delivery. Sure, sometimes nature needs a hand, but more often, it does not. But at the end of the day, if you have an epidural, I don't think it's any less of a birth than mine was. I don't expect any medals or accolades for my natural birth -- I already have the prize, my beautiful son!

Good luck and pleasant birthing to ALL mamas, along ALL paths to getting there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are also risks associated with "natural" birth (all births are natural events to me). You also need not have the full on, vaginal, unmedicated experience to fully experience having a baby. That is incredibly offensive to those who either could not or for other circumstances had any other experience.

That is why it is self-righteous. "I've experienced something in a better way than you." It's nauseating.

My first labor was without an epidural, which was what I wanted. If my second results in an epidural or a c-section, I will think my first birth was better than the second and I will wish the second had been like the first. Is that nauseating? I don't think I'm a better person, I think the first birth was better because it was what I wanted.

My best friend thinks hers was better because it involved less pain. I'm not offended by that. If she ends up with a second labor where she can't get the epidural, she'll think the first labor was better than the second. No offense to me.

[Anonymous]

I didn't read all the responses here because I know how these discussions usually go on this board. We all have different reasons for choosing different options for the birth of our children. I hope that there can be some respect for the choices of others. We all experience and percieve pain and birth a little differently.

Anyhow, I had a natural birth with my second because the epidural was not everything I had hoped it would be with my first.
I freaked out about being stuck in the bed, unable to do much of anything other than lay on my back. There are past issues that came into play and it caused a panic. I felt I needed a less traumatic experience.
I have a latex allergy and the non-latex catheter was painful everytime I moved.
I wanted to lower my chances of c-section and the use of other drugs and their accompanying side effects.
I firmly believe that "less is more" when it comes to non-essential medications.
The epidual didn't help much. I could still feel everything and even screamed from the pain. It helped with the contractions some.
Pushing took forever and was eventually helped with a vacuum. (I realize that it was my first and the same may have been true without an epidural.) I was so over those people yelling at me to push.

I was much happier with my experience without an epidural. It was not at the health expense of anyone. The first spent some time in the NICU and the second did not. I had less issues with healing. I'm not saying that this is related to me having an epidural. I do wonder if the pitocin with the first delivery exacerbated some issues for both of us.

[Anonymous]

I can't say that I had a natural birth. PE, magnesium sulfate, IVs, BP monitor going off every 10 minutes...but I did avoid the epidural.

*I was aware that if my platelets dropped I would not even be eligible for an epidural so it was good to be prepared.
*Wanted to avoid a c-section because it was major surgery and I had enough going wrong.
*Figured the less they added in the better off DD and I would be.

[Anonymous]

I'm in my first pregnancy and planning an unmedicated birth, but I seem to be coming at it from a slightly different angle than many. If all other things were equal, I would absolutely choose (medical) pain relief over being in pain. But based on the research I've done, I believe that all other things are not equal, and so I want to try without medications first. Primarily, I am a bit freaked out by being bed-bound and unable to feel, so an epidural is my last choice. I'm not crazy about the higher incidence of side effects that I've read about with the narcotics, so they are near the bottom of the list too. I would absolutely use nitrous oxide if it were available here, because I feel that it has a very low risk profile, but it's very hard to get, so its out too. So, that pretty much leaves me unmedicated.

I do feel that if I get to a point in my labor where I just can't stand it anymore, that changes the equation, and I would be willing to consider medication at that point without feeling like I failed. I don't personally feel a *need* to experience childbirth without medication, although I do admit that I will feel pretty proud of myself if I do it--just like I feel no need to run 26 miles, but I would be very proud of myself if I had to for some reason and did.

[Anonymous]

The very first PP with the 7-point list pretty much hit all my reasons.

But on an anecdotal level, I'd been watching "A Baby Story" on TLC, and seeing all the usual rushing through the hospital halls and doctors' furrowed brows and "WILL THE BABY MAKE IT?!?!" type voiceovers, and half of them ending up in C-sections. And then I saw one episode with a mother birthing in a birth center with a midwife, and it just had a whole different vibe. Like the producers couldn't wring an ounce of trumped-up drama out of it no matter how hard they tried, ha. The mom was wearing her own clothes, in a comfortable home-like room with mellow lighting, moving around, laughing... when I compared that with hospital gowns, flat on your back in a hospital bed, fluorescent lights, lots of people coming in and out, machines beeping -- it just seemed more like what I wanted.

Not surprisingly, I've ended up having two births with midwives in birth centers (no medication). They were great. The second one was much, much harder than the first, so I have a real understanding now that different births feel different, even for the same mom, so I won't judge anyone!! But personally, I have no regrets, and I'm really glad they happened the way they did.

HTH, OP. I too am taking you at your word that you're just genuinely curious.

[Anonymous]

My best friend greatly regrets her natural birth.

She was so invested in it that she feels she endangered her baby. Things got so bad that they had to cut her to get the baby out (cord was wrapped) and she has not fully healed from that. Her baby spent the first week in the NICU. Happy ending though, her baby is fine now.

I am not against natural births by any means. But there are risks to EVERY birth, medicated or non.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My best friend greatly regrets her natural birth.

She was so invested in it that she feels she endangered her baby. Things got so bad that they had to cut her to get the baby out (cord was wrapped) and she has not fully healed from that. Her baby spent the first week in the NICU. Happy ending though, her baby is fine now.

I am not against natural births by any means. But there are risks to EVERY birth, medicated or non.

I'm confused. Would having an epidural have prevented any of the cord problems?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My best friend greatly regrets her natural birth.

She was so invested in it that she feels she endangered her baby. Things got so bad that they had to cut her to get the baby out (cord was wrapped) and she has not fully healed from that. Her baby spent the first week in the NICU. Happy ending though, her baby is fine now.

I am not against natural births by any means. But there are risks to EVERY birth, medicated or non.

I'm confused. Would having an epidural have prevented any of the cord problems?

Getting to the hospital sooner might have. Her doula talked her out of it. The baby was completely unmonitored, they called an ambulance, she got to the hospital and had to be ripped open immediately. She will likely need a c-section if she goes for #2.

It wasn't the lack of an epidural, it was that she was going to such great lengths to avoid medication (getting to the hospital where they medicate you).

[Anonymous]

I am shit scared of needles and there is no way I want some huge needle IN MY SPINE.
I hated the idea of not being able to move or feel legs, contractions, when to push, etc.
Didn't want any drugs passing through to baby
Knew I could do it w/o drugs; trusted my body

I've had 2 natural births. I'll admit that I'm curious what a pain-free/epidural birth would be like (sleeping while in labor? reading magazines?) but I'm way too scared of the needle and potential side effects or other interventions to every go for an epi if I have #3. Plus, I feel like I can do anything. Having 2 kids naturally made me feel like super woman. I'm not afraid of anything any more.