Don’t want an epidural! Tips, tricks?!

Question

So we may end up with a c section (IUGR, preemie, very very tiny little lady!) but I want my epidural free birth if we don’t have a c section :) fully expecting and prepared to be sent right to labor and delivery for induction Thursday after our appointment! (35+3. Early, but I’m not nearly as worried as I was about that aspect of it.) I am finally starting to feel excited and hopeful that her weight at birth is way better than ultrasounds have predicted… can’t wait to see my little girl! 
Can anyone give me some tips for pain relief without the epidural?? Most of their labor & delivery rooms have tubs so I do plan to utilize that a TON.. but I’m curious how anyone else was able to manage the pain of labor without an epidural. 
I kinda did it with my son (failed epidural and they wouldn’t place it again because his heart rate was all over the place) but the pain was god awful and I literally laid there crying and writhing around wanting to die. 
I will likely end up needing pitocin, if my labor is anything like last time, I don’t progress very quickly. So I know contractions will be AWFUL and I’m prepared for it. Been there done that type situation. I also do have somewhat of a higher pain tolerance, I’ve had endometriosis since at least 11 years old (diagnosed at 16, stage 4) so my period cramps are honestly about the same level that my contractions were last time. Literally felt the same but I couldn’t just toss back some ibuprofen and feel fine 30 minutes later 😂 
So yep, done rambling, send me tips, tricks, techniques… I know I’ve only got THREE days more than likely to prepare but I am determined. As long as a vaginal birth doesn’t stress out my tiny little not even four pound girl, I would love to have the full experience again.

Answer

I had an unmedicated, vaginal birth and my pain management was most helped by my doula’s touch, moaning/audible breathing, and a plastic comb I clasped in my palm, which caused some acupressure/pain distraction to help me get through contractions. It is possible, but prep is necessary!

Answer

Both my babies have been inductions, pitocin & ive had both all natural with no medication, first one sucked so badly but I didn’t scream or cry i just hummed and cussed the pain away under my breath asked for epidural around 7cm but then labor progressed too fast and the anesthesiologist came in as my husband was cutting the cord, but this second one wheeeeeew chileee i begged for the epidural so my nurse checks me and goes “ok you’re 4cm so if u want to get up do it before you get the epidural” so i say ok and get up to pee and as im peeing i feel the urge to push so bad so I wipe and feel something hard and i saw blood on the paper so i tell my husband get the nurse and she comes and she goes “oh no no no we need to get her on the bed NOW” so they put me on the bed and 5 mins later I was holding my daughter and the anesthesiologist walked in late again 🤣

Answer

I had a home birth vbac in January and what I thought would help me in labor didnt 😂 I thought I’d like the counter pressure and warm water but I didn’t like the counter pressure for some reason and I was so sweaty the warm water felt like hell. I did want my husband like constantly touching me though so when he would get up to go do something I’d pull him back down haha. I had a playlist going and that helped. During the beginning of labor I was listening to a lot of Christian Hypnobirthing and that helped but during transition and after I was mostly just tuning everything out. When I was pregnant I tried to practice as many techniques as possible so I’d recommend that! Just so that If something doesn’t work then you can try something else. You never really know till you’re in it what’s going to work. Also, it helped me to remember that God made my body to birth and it’s only been within the last 100 years that women have even had the option for an epidural. For me being at home it was easy to not get it because it wasn’t an option. So in your mind, just don’t even think it’s an option. Tell your husband and your care providers that you don’t want it. And when you get there tell the nurses to not ask you if you want one no matter how much pain it might look like you’re in. You know your body and you know you can do it!

Answer

For me counter pressure really helped and the water. I had a doula and if you can get one last minute NOTHING WILL BE BETTER. Granted you have to find a good one that you click with but if it's possible it's so worth it. Having someone to advocate for me and help me when I was in pain was amazing. She knew exactly what to do when I count express the words myself. If not possible I would also look into back tools and make your birthing partner learn how to use them. Other things to set up the room for calm like lighting, sound and smell, as well as birth affirmations are little things that help a ton. The pain really is horrible but kind over matter is also very real. I hope all good things for you!!

Answer

Soooo with pitocin, it’s godawful hard. Like, very difficult to get through without an epidural. When breathing what helped me was to take a huge deep breath in, and hum loudly on the way out. It’s like it scrambled my brain and felt like it was almost a full body massage, if that makes sense. Also helped to have my husband there, so I could hold his hands like I was doing a pull-up during a contraction, giving him a lot of my weight. Took a lot of the pressure off of my butt. My baby came pretty quick, though, so I fully believe I was sitting on her with every contraction. 😂

Answer

Movement, warm water, and my husband applying counter pressure on my hips/butt. Honestly nothing really "helped" cuz it hurts and I don't handle pain super well. I had 2 epidural free births out of my 4 and I think having somewhat fast labors has been what gets me through. I also find having some sort of a distraction was helpful. Like, with my 3rd delivery I was packing my hospital bag while breathing through contractions. I had something elsento focus on other than the pain.

Answer

Moving positions, laboring in the tub, relaxation and removing the fear. I plan to stay active throughout my labor in order to encourage baby to move down naturally. It’s actually harder and more painful if you stay in bed and don’t move around

Answer

I had 4 babies :
1st baby (37 weeks & 3 days) spontaneous birth, unmedicated
2nd baby (37 weeks & 1 day) induced with pitocin, had epidural
3rd baby (37 weeks & 2 days) spontaneous birth, unmedicated
4th baby (35 weeks and 4 days) induced with cervidil, unmedicated
I unfortunately never had money or other resources for birthing classes or a doula but breathing helped so much. Deep breaths and when you exhale kind of hum it out or oooh it out. If that makes sense? With my 1st I had intense back labor and my husband rubbed my lower back & that helped too. Good luck!

Answer

I got pitocin too. It made contractions so intense. I made it to 6 cm without an epidural then caved and got it lol but what worked for me up until then was walking around, sitting on the toilet and kinda rocking back and forth (not actully going but just sitting), and humming/moaning outloud during the contraction.

Answer

See if you can hire a doula, watch the spinning babies north education video. Give your partner the job of looking up positions to help ease your labor depending on the location of pain.

Don’t want an epidural! Tips, tricks?!

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