Natural Childbirth or Birth w/pain meds?

I’m a young mum of two and both of my births where completley drug-free and i LOVED them. You’re feelings are normal so don’t worry, i knew someone who kept saying she was gonna have the epidural and yeah on and on but she ended up having a normal duration labour with no drugs.

my first labour from the first little contractions was 13hours but only about 7 hours of those where intense labour

with my second i was in pre-labour for 7 days and was in intense labour for about 5 hours.

The reason why the drugs usually slow down labour is because the prohibit your natural hormones which are making your contractions come along so when you introduce those drugs that will tend to happen and also once you take the pain meds, may women become inactive or will just lie down which slows down labour alot as gravity fastens and helps for a better labour but if you’re on your back, it makes it harder for your baby to move down into your pelvis and then it makes it even harder during pushing as lying on her back makes the pelvis entrance the smallest possible which is not what you want when you need to push your baby through there so it’s going to be harder for you as you’re pushing against gravity.
I’d love to chat to you if you want to =) How far along are you?

I just had my first 3 months ago at 21 as well. I wanted to go natural, but was induced so it wasn’t the way I expected to go. I only had morphine. I definitely would NOT recommend using it! I was so dizzy and confused and I didn’t know what was going on. It didn’t help with the pain at all either. They did put my on oxygen toward the end because his heartbeat was slowing down, and it helped me concentrate a little better on my breathing but not much. My labor was almost exactly 6 hours from the time the started induction. Good luck, and I hope you have an easy and quick delivery!! Congrats!

I had a natural birth. My labor was about 2 hours long.

I will say, that it was not my intention to have a natural birth (I really hadn’t made up my mind), but the delivery went too fast for meds.

This isn’t criticism of your choice at all, but I would just in general caution you from getting too “set” in anything. Don’t set your heart on something too much, because so much with delivery (and babies!) is so unpredictable. You just generally need to go with the flow and don’t beat yourself up if you aren’t able to do your “ideal.”

I was in labour for 10 hours and I had a natural birth, mainly because I was refused any pain meds. I did ask for gas & air when my contractions became intense but I was told it would interfere with my labour!? however I did have my baby in a foreign country and everything went fine

Yes, you CAN make it without pain meds! No offense to anyone, but I get so tired of women who talk about their labors and say, “Thank GOD for epidurals (or whatever)!” They honestly don’t know what their bodies can handle and the pain they can tolerate. IMO, they’re missing out. Now understand, if you’ve been in labor for 20+ hours I can totally see why you would get something, but even then it’s not necessary and you can do it without.
I was 20 when my son was born at home with a midwife (almost 6 months ago) and the only pain relief I had was a hot bath/shower. It really does help tremendously. My labor was 26 hours long and I spent a good amount of that time, especially during the really hard labor, in the tub. The warm water helps you relax and go along with the pain.
Other things that can help is walking, rocking in a rocking chair, rocking on your hands and knees, ‘baby dancing’ (no, not THAT kind of baby dancing, although I’m sure that would help too if you feel up to it, lol), supporting yourself against a wall or your SO and rocking your hips, bouncing on a birth ball, sitting on the toilet, doing squats, etc. Moan or hum if you feel like it. Don’t scream as screaming means you are tensing up and fighting the pain- the exact opposite of what you want to do! A deep guttural moan is so comforting in a way. If you’re giving birth in the hospital, I would highly encourage you to hire a doula or someone you totally trust as a labor coach and as your advocate. Someone to tell the doctor/midwife/nurses that “No, she doesn’t want to do that right now.” Someone that can give you laboring tips and help you do what your body is telling you needs to be done. If you really want to deliver with no meds, go into the hospital with the idea firmly in your head that no, drugs/meds are not an option. I’ve known a lot of people who say, “Yeah, I wanna do it totally naturally, but if it gets too bad I’ll get an epidural.” And they almost always do. State ahead of time that you don’t even want to be offered anything because when you’re in the really hard part of labor or transition, it is so easy to crumble and say, “Give it to me!” I know- I’ve been there! Thank goodness I was at home, or I very well could have ended up with the epidural. Not that it’s the end of the world if you do get it, but give yourself a chance. BELIEVE in yourself and your body! You can do it! I know you can! Rethink the pain as incredible pressure (although that only works for so long), as good, purposeful pain. Meet the pain head on. Go with it. Go through it. Do NOT try and avoid it! Let go of tension and fear- it will make things a lot less painful!
When it comes time to push, make it know that you do not want to be on the delivery table. Push in the position your body tells you to use- squatting, hands and knees, standing with one foot up on something. The delivery table is purely for the doctor’s convenience- NOT the mother’s! You have a much, MUCH lower chance of tearing if you avoid the delivery table and squat or something similar. Also, have someone do perineal massage with olive oil as your baby comes out. It helps your skin stretch better.
And when you push that baby out totally naturally and unmedicated, you will get the biggest rush of your life! It is seriously incredible! I’ve told my husband that I would have a totally natural birth again, just for that rush, nevermind the baby, haha.
Oh, and if something comes up and you HAVE to have a c-section, don’t beat yourself up. You tried, you really did. You can try again next time. Just focus on the beautiful baby in your arms. But, if you do it all naturally, you have a much lower chance of needing a c-section.
Google ‘natural childbirth’ and learn about the childbirth process. You will be amazed at what you body was made to do!
Hope I helped! Good luck and God bless!

I went into my first totally expecting to get pain meds. I was all for the epidural and asked for it as soon as I couldn’t handle the pain anymore. Unfortunately for me, the anethesiologist was busy in the ER and couldn’t come, so I did it all natural (the anethesiologist arrived just as baby was crowning!). My son was so alert after the birth and my nurses told me it was because he didn’t get sleepy from an epidural. This labour was 7 hours.

For my second I intended to have no pain meds. Went in telling my husband I was going to try to do it with no pain meds. I ended up asking for an epidural, but the nurse knew my desire to go no meds and she managed to talk me out of it. I’m glad she did. This labour was 2 1/2 hours.

So, go for it. Let the nurses and your partner know your intention to do it with no pain meds, but if in the end you can’t handle it and go for it, don’t feel bad. Very few labours go as planned.