Unmedicated birth?

Question

Have any of you ladies had an unmedicated birth without doing any preparation during pregnancy? I would like to have an unmedicated birth but not sure how realistic it is if I haven't done much preparing

Answer

My firstborn was unmedicated, and I can't say I did much to prepare for it besides being really adamant that I did not want an epidural. Overall labor was about 18 hours. With my second, I was in labor for 32.5 hours, at the 24 hour mark I was just so desperate for rest, I got the epidural, and it really helped me relax and progress. With this baby I hope to not need the epidural, but I think it is important to be open to all possibilities, because every birth is different, and I think building up just one type of experience in your head can build up disappointment if it doesn't go exactly that way. Any way your birth happens, you are doing something amazing and I wish you all the luck and prayers in the world.

Answer

I plan on going unmedicated this time around, I’ve always wanted to. This is my 3rd baby, and I’m going in with peace of mind knowing what I want, but also knowing an epidural is available if I change my mind. Let your nurses know you’d like to go unmedicated and that you’d like things that can help you tolerate the pain (bouncing on a ball, baths, etc.)

Answer

I’ve had unmediated births with all 4 of my girls and I plan to do it again with my 5th which we are scheduled for induction 2 weeks from today. I’m not going lie it’s very intense being that I was induced via pitocin with my last 3, but I will definitely say this I you have an amazing support system nurse staff included it is manageable. They also have lots of different options to help cope with pain besides an epidural. I wasn’t in labor long with any of my girls I’d say about 5-6 hours maybe 7 from start to finish.

Answer

I just did it a week ago - decided pretty last minute I wanted to go unmedicated. I looked at one class/powerpoint and learned some mindset/breathing techniques. The main thing I would say is make sure your support person understands your wishes and also understands that they’re going to see you in significant pain and they will want to encourage you to get an epidural but they should not and neither should any of the nurses or doctors. I could handle the pain when we were all on the same page but it was SO mentally hard in the beginning because my nurse kept saying “are you sure you don’t want the epidural now” and my husband said he didn’t want to see me in so much pain.

Answer

What do you mean by being not prepared. I’ve had three homebirths and am planning my 4th homebirth for my twins and I feel like I would have a much harder time going in at least not knowing some relaxation/breathing techniques. Ina mays guide to childbirth is a great resource for visualization. I watched a lot of un medicated births and read a lot of books about the stages of labor before my first. IMO being able to let go and relax during contractions is the most important in being able to give birth unmedicated. Evidence based birth and the happy homebirth are great podcasts to listen to.

Unmedicated birth?

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