Anyone Experience Natural Childbirth?

Mary... good for you for trying for one of the most natural processes in the world!

I went through natural child birth... that ended up in a c-section.... no fears please, there is a reason why. I'll tell you.

Basically my first suggestion. Stay at home as long as possible. Once you get to the hospital you are on "their" time clock... hence my c-section.

I would also fill your room with not only positive people but positive thoughts.

I was a huge fan of the birthing ball. My husband was a great coach... he literally talked me through the contractions. My advice here... focus on relaxing through the contractions... I can still here him say, "relax your shoulders, relax your arms, relax your back..." he would work his words all the way down to my toes and then the contraction would be done. While I relaxed each muscle in my body, I would breath slowly and deep.

You can totally do this... I am very excited for you!!!

Your body knows what to do... it is mind over matter.

And please also just be prepared that some times things are not always according to our plan. So be open if things need to change. :)

Oh, I've done it four times now. The thing that is important for me to remember is that I manage the pain beautifully throughout labor, then reach a point where I suddenly become rather panicked and overwhelmed and most of all *convinced* that I "can't" do it anymore-- this point is right before the baby is born! My sudden emotion has to do with the stage of labor--hormones--and is nothing more than that. When I reach that point I'm almost done, anyway.

It is painful, but I hate the recovery more than I hate the labor. Labor has an end point you can focus on, and it is rewarding. After pains...not so much.

I should mention, too, that my labors have been on the short side. I imagine if I had a labor that dragged on for over 24 hours I'd be tempted to ditch my devotion to natural and get some medicinal help. Although I avoid pain medicine during labor because it passes to the baby (and epidurals for other reasons), do your best but do what's right for you and don't feel badly about it. I promise your baby won't hold it against you if your labor doesn't go the way you hoped. (My labors never have. It's disappointing, after you've spent so much time preparing for and dreaming of it.)

P.S.--After reading the other responses, I concur about waiting to go to the hospital and being careful to select supportive staff. I've had two children in birth centers. I love birth centers for many reasons but one is that they respect my wishes regarding my birth experience. But as long as your practitioner, hospital, etc. understands and agrees to what you request, you should--hopefully--get it.

I have--and it wasn't as good an experience as I'd hoped. I really wanted to go naturally because I wanted more control over the process. I wanted to move around, kneel, squat, whatever felt best. Unfortunately, my doctor's office did not believe me when I told them I needed to meet all the doctors early, because all my mom's babies came early and I expected mine to be early. I ended up with a doctor I'd never met, who never read my birthing plan, and wouldn't let me get out of bed! I had a doula, but the doctor wouldn't let her do much, and I ended up tearing quite badly, plus because it was such a hard birth, my son ended up in the NICU. Would I do it again? You bet! But I now have an FP who has acted completely horrified at my story and has promised that if there was the tiniest chance he couldn't be there for the birth, I would meet all possible other doctors and make sure they understood my desires. Now, if we could just get pregnant so we could try the whole thing with a better doctor! :-)

Hi Mary,
First off, congratulations! My 2nd child was natural (not by choice). But it wasn't as bad as people had scared me into believing. I had an epidural with my 1st and it was a breeze. It didn't work with my 2nd AT ALL. But I was also lucky and pushed a few times and out he came. But like another person wrote, the contractions are strong and come in waves. The pressure wasn't as bad for me. It was the same pressure I felt with the first. It was the burning circle of fire (10cm opening) during delivery was something else. That was enough to get my colorful language flowing. I tore too but they can rub an ointment on that and fix it right up. I think if I were to do it again, I'd go natural again. It was soooo much quicker (3hrs vs. 15hrs) and I wasn't so out of it.

Good luck to you and your wonderful experience. I hope it all goes according to plan.