Natural Birth Preferance?

Question

Hello! I was reading about natural birth vs epidural and I’m not sure which I’d prefer. Could anyone who’s had either (or both) lend some insight from personal experience?

Answer

Natural (if you can). The more medical intervention the higher the risks. You're either free to labour how you want (walking, bath, on knees etc) then push the baby out and you're up and about in a few minutes, or ...  you're paralysed on a bed, forced to push on your back with a catheter in you and may have complications from the epidural.
Go natural if possible, have epidural as a backup if needed ☺️

Answer

I've had two natural births and plan for a third. There is nothing wrong with wanting an epidural, especially if you've been laboring for a long time and are just exhausted. I'd say try for a natural birth and see how it goes. Prepare yourself by taking a class (I really liked Hypnobirthing as a natural birth prep) but realize that plans can change so you'll want to be clear with your support people and your providers what your wishes are in each scenario. My birth plan had a lot of "If laboring naturally then..." "If induction then..." "If epidural then..." "If C-section then..." This way I felt prepared for any situation and my husband could support me through any situation.

Answer

2 homebirths here. All natural is the way I lean.

Answer

I’ve only had unmedicated deliveries so I can’t really compare.  All I can say is that I was up and about immediately after each birth and loved being able to discharge early.  I felt great after each one and wouldn’t change it

Answer

My sister had a better and less complicated labor because she had the epidural. Everyone is different. Her labor was long and exhausting, upwards of 30 hours with no progress and the baby had a knot in his cord (not around his neck, the actual cord itself). Every time she actively pushed his vitals dropped a little, and they were monitoring closely to see if she needed a c section. She was 10 cm dilated for over an hour and baby was still very high up, too high to deliver. Her options were to wait for baby to move down on his own, or push and risk fetal distress. She ended up waiting it out, and at a full 10 cm dilated, finally was able to take a NAP! While she was asleep baby was able to move down naturally. Then she was only had to push a few times, and delivered him safely vaginally. She never would have been able to 1. Tolerate that level of dilation without pain medication for such a long period of time and 2. Get the rest she needed after 30 hours of labor that allowed her pushes to be quick and effective to avoid putting more stress on the baby. 
There is no shame in using pain medication and no one is going to give you an award for doing it naturally. Whatever is right for YOU and your baby is best. 
I really recommend you look at recent studies on this topic as well. There is increasing evidence that the earlier you can reduce pain and stress in labor, the BETTER fetal outcomes can be. That is why the standard of care is no longer waiting until a magic dilation to give an epidural, and instead giving it whenever mom asks for it.
Again, whatever you choose is going to be just fine as long as it feels right to you 😊

Answer

U can’t know until ur in labour how you’ll cope or what you’ll want, esp with ur first.
I was adamant I wanted a natural water birth. After labouring at home for 9 hours, I asked for epidural as soon as I got to the hospital. 
Make sure ur informed on ur options and defo have preferences but also try to keep an open mind and be prepared to flex ur preferences if u need to

Answer

I’ve had two births. First, wanted natural ended up getting induced, eventual epidural, and they forgot a catheter for my bladder. My bladder over filled and now I have bladder prolapse issues. My second birth was 100% natural. My recommendation is to wait to have the epidural as long as possible or don’t have one at all. It’s going to hurt like nothing you’ve ever experienced but you’ll recover faster. You can get up and move after the birth, you can go to the bathroom when you need to, etc. just go in with an open mind, the more you plan the more you’ll be let down.

Answer

I went into labor&birth really open to anything. If I could do it naturally I would but if I couldn’t tolerate the pain I’d get meds. 
I labored natural until about 7cm then got my epidural. I was able to to walk, eat, go to the restroom, and I mostly did my labor in the bathtub until my epidural. Obviously you can’t do any of that after you get your epidural but I was so tired by the time I got it that as soon as the anesthesiologist gave me mine I passed out and took the best nap of my life, then they woke me up and I started pushing. I pushed for 20 mins had my girl and was able to walk to the bathroom right after. I did need help because I was weak from loss of blood. But they turned my meds off right before I started pushing so I could “be free” asap

Answer

I’ve had one of each and preferred natural and unmedicated. I am hoping to do the same with this baby. My recovery was much quicker and I loved being able to move freely during labor ☺️

Answer

I've had both. My first was a three day induction from hell with terrible back labor so I got an epidural but it didn't work. So then I was just stuck in bed in all that pain rather than being able to move around. My second I went into labor naturally. Labor was only six hours and I wasn't in much pain until the very end, I showed up at the hospital at 10cm basically ready to push. I recovered so much faster, and my second was way way more alert, she latched and fed well immediately after birth! Epidurals mess with the delicate hormonal cocktail of communication between you and baby during and after labor so it's best to go unmedicated if you can IMO.

Natural Birth Preferance?

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