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I agree with both wennyk and dedaa - relaxtion and breathing helped me go med free through 3 deliveries....I found you have to breath through your contractions and not tense up - don't dread the next contraction - cos that will make you tighten up and intensify the pain of it...And I love having my dh there - he personally hates it - but I honestly couldn't manage it without him there to distract me - he chats lightly to me but through his anxiousness he chatters aimlessly about a whole load of nonsense to the m/wife delivering me...It so keeps me occupied and takes my mind off what is happening....And always thinking that this is the going to be as bad as it gets with each contraction by the time you REALLY think 'thats it, I want some pain relief' it really is too late....Y

Hit the b___ton there too quickly!! ....You are at the point of no return and almost there...And I love being able to go home within hours!!! Good luck to you all whatever you do...Any way is a good way as long as our babies are born fit and healthy!!

Cindernar -- you CAN do it naturally if you want. I think the desire is half the battle. I have a lot of bad reactions to medications and knew I didn't want to have any pain medication unless I absolutely needed it. Well, I didn't need it! Made it through the whole thing with no pain meds. And ds was 9 lbs. 5 oz.!! I'm STILL proud of myself for doing it. lol. My suggestions for you: Take some cla__ses, whatever you can find in your area. The more you know about it, the better. You're also better prepared (imho) because you've had one already so you know what's going on. This was my first so everything was so new! Get a good coach. Whether it's a doula, a good friend, your husband, mom,whatever. (oops, just saw your mom isn't supportive, lol, forget that!) I had dh and my mom there -- mom went through two easy natural labors and I knew that would help. I also visualized (this'll sound corny, but....) all my grandmas who delivered all their babies with no pain meds and came out just fine. Talk to your doctor about your plans to go med-free. Be sure everyone knows. Write up a birth plan if you want. DH made sure the nurses knew I didn't want pain meds, and they didn't offer any to me. I could ASK for them if I really needed, but they weren't going to offer to tempt me. This made a huge difference for me. The Penny Simkin book is fantastic, lots of good advice on how to manage your labor. I would definitely suggest getting it. Like someone said, I really felt great almost right away. Had a sore back from pushing but never had to take anything stronger than ibuprofen. Ds nursed right away, too, with a good strong latch (probably didn't hurt that he was HUGE, lol!) Oh! And somewhere there's a thread about a well-managed delivery.... if you can find that, it's worth the read. Lots of good advice on how to relax before you have to push. If I can find it I'll bump it up to the top. Good luck!

hi there cindernar. i had 3 out of 4 of my kids with an epidural and 1 without. in my opinion of course you CAN do without epidural but i don;t know why you would want to. it hurts like crazy and why would you do that to yourself if you dont have to ? women have done it for hundreds of years naturally , yes, but i just say thank God someone came up with the epidural. you're not going to get some prize or something for doing it naturally, it's all the same in the end. that's all just my opinion. good luck in whatever you choose.

jenn95, believe me. I totally hear you about the pain factor. I'm just concerned about my reaction to the epidural. I didn't mention this, but I have lost two other sons to fatal birth defects. For the first one, I had an epidural as well, and the same thing happened, except it was my right side. So, the only thing I could feel on my body was my upper left side. It was freaky! My husband freaked out because my face was sagging and everything. So, it's happened to me twice. Of course, I did come out of it OK both times, but it still scares me. Obviously I have some sort of sensitivity to it. The wondering-if-I-could-really-do-it part of this is very minimal. It's mostly just a fear thing. I just didn't have a good birth experience, and I'm wondering what my other options are.

I had a bad experience with an epidural for a retained placenta with my first which was induced , emergency doctors were called out as going unconscious. So I really wanted a natural birth for my second. I had a water birth, with gas and air and it was so much better than with my first - the last hour was screaming type pain at times but I'ld still recommend it. So sorry to hear about the sons you lost. Hope everything goes well for you.

I wanted pain relief but didn't have time. I had the smallest injection of pethadine which lasted 30 mins, it was enough to take the edge of the contractions but it wore off by the time i had to push. I have no pain threshold what so ever and i certainly wasn't prepared in any way, shape or form to be giving birth naturally (i only knew i was in labour when i was already 7cm gone) i won't lie and say it didn't hurt because for me it hurt like hell when my dd's head came out but she was posterior so i had a bit of a hard time of it but as soon as your wee one flumps out the pain disappears instantly and when you see their wee face it makes it soooo worth while! If I can do it anyone can! :o) Good luck!!!!

I'm on my 4th pregnancy and plan on going naturally. I'm by no means doing it to be a "super woman". I had an epidural with my 1st and it never took effect, had my dd naturally. With my 2nd, I had 2 different dr's come in an administer 2 different epidurals, and neither of them had an effect other than dropping my blood pressure. My dd was born naturally and actually got stuck on my pelvic bone (it wasn't shoulder dysplacia). With my 3rd, I decided to forgo the process of "trying" to have an epidural and had him naturally. They were all painful in ways that you can't imagine unless you've had kids before. A part of me really wishes that I could've had some sort of pain meds, but I have to admit, I liked being able to be up and around during labor and right after giving birth. If you plan to got naturally, more power to you girl. The best advice that a nurse gave me is that the pain, at one point, will get to the worse it will ever get and it will plateau. Oh, if it helps any, with my 1st, I pushed for 15 minutes, my 2nd, 5 minutes, and my 3rd, I only pushed 3 times. The good thing about the pain, is when you feel it, you have more of an incentive to push, but that's just my opinion. I wish you best of luck cindernar.

I think that maybe I could psyche myself enough to handle the contractions and the pushing. But I had an episiotomy with my son (probably because I wasn't pushing effectively because I couldn't feel a d*#n thing). The thought of having another episiotomy or actual tear without any anesthesia makes me cringe. Jeez, I just got chills thinking about it.

Just to let you know I had a water birth and needed a couple of st_tches (I had an episiotomy last time which reopened slightly) and they did it with a local anesthetic. So you can give birth naturally and have st_tches without much pain. Also I could have had gas and air whilst stiches were going in but didn't need it, could just feel someone sewing inside me.

cindernar. I've had all c-sections...wouldn't have been my first choice, but I didn't have a choice lol. Anyway, I hope you are able to have your unmedicated birth. But, don't feel bad if you don't! Having a baby with meds or by c-section IS a badge of honor... not just the ones who go naturally. If you do what you need to to get your baby here safely, that's a huge accompishment :-) Be proud however your baby arrives!!

It is cla__sed as natural if you use gas and air? I had gas and air with my DD. My waters broke on the Friday at 3pm (I was a week early) and we went to the maternity hospital where they monitored me and said I was contracting but as I was not feeling them much I was sent home (still can't believe they did that as my waters were gushing everywhere!) Anyway we got home about 7pm but were back at the hospital by 10pm as the contractions got stronger very fast! I was 4.5cm dialated. Then a few hours later they checked again and were surprised to see I was 9cm! I started pushing about 3am. After an hour a Dr came in and said how concerned she was it was taking so long but they were monitoring my DD and she was ok so they let me keep going a bit longer on my own, but the Dr had the suction thing ready to help me when she came out, at 5am my beautiful DD was born-I was exhausted and had to have st_tches which really hurt, but she was healthy and cried straight away and was perfect :-) The midwifes kept telling me off during my labour for moaning and crying out too loudly lol! That annoyed me as I found it impossible not to it hurt so much! I sometimes wonder if next time I will try an epidural but then I think well I got through it without one this time so maybe I wil next time too! I have a low tolerence for pain too, you can always get extra pain relief if you find you need it though can't you? Up until the birth itself I was determined to keep my options open as I didn't know how I would find it being my first baby. Whatever you decide all the best with the birth and every blessing to you and your baby! xxx

With my first I had an epidural. After an hour of pushing I had an episiotomy. I think maybe with the numbness I really couldn't push as hard as I should have. With my second I had no epidural. I actually had to have pitocin. Why? My water broke at 35 weeks. I sat in the hospital for 2 days with contractions that were not powerful at all. After I was given pitocin, I took those hard contractions for seven hours before I asked for pain medicine. Again I had no epidural, I had something called Stadol. It had the same effect as alcohol if you've ever been really tipsy. Once I got it, I napped for a few hours off and on and when I woke up it was time to push. I'm due pretty much any day now and I don't plan on getting an epidural this time either. I hear acupressure works though. Try researching it, but from what I've heard, there are a lot of pressure points on your body that relieve pain. It might be worth a try. Good Luck.

You might want to consider looking into a birthing method called "The Bradley method". I am almost 38 weeks pregnant and my husband and I just finished our eight week set of cla__ses. We both loved it. This method teaches you different relaxation techniques and different ways to handle pain. It also teaches you different positions to try to naturally progress labor and get the baby to drop. I highly reccommend it. I think that it builds your confidence when you know that you have options other than medications.

Hi cindernar, it's good your considering natural childbirth, and because you've been through it before, you kind of know what you're in for. I've had four babies, three natural. I have very short, furious labours so I don't get the chance I guess, but I'd still try to do natural if they were long - I thinK! Longest was 5 and a half hours, last one was 25 minutes at home with hubby catching. Gas doesn't do it for me and pethedine was given too late at the second delivery, so I geuss I have no choice anyway. Go for it, just keep an open mind and if necessary, get pain relief if you've gone the furtherest you can during labour. Women seem to have different pains and tolerances, a friend of mine jsut had a baby by water birth and barely felt the contractions. So jealous. But, each to their own special time...so, seeing as your mum isn't supportive, perhaps keep your decision to yourself, as your the one who matters most here, that way there's no stress or pressure and you'll go into labour with a strong mind, clear and able to greet your baby! GOod luck...

also, it really is all mental as well, the mind is so powerful, I know youc an get through it mentally. Just keep yourself positive and only let those you KNOW will support in on it. The last two labours of mine were really to a point, quite scary and frightening for me, I felt I had no control (to a certainpoint anyway, you know...) and I KNOW if I went back in time and went through it again, I could change how it all went. The moment the first contraction hits, you must calm yourself and really think and concentrate - you'll be great.! :-)