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I had two births,good luck to you for doing it natural.I had a natural birth,the epidural did not take etc,and I was in so much pain,the second a very easy,in compara__sion,but elective section.You want to go natural,all I can say is you are right,it is a pain that you cannot imagine,think of your worse period pain and multiply it by a thousand.When it comes to pushing,you could not stop it if you tried,its like your body is not yours,and when the baby reaches the edge of your body,it will hurt,believe me.If I were you,I would take heed that it will really hurt,this is not to frighten you,but to make you aware to keep those options open,if you do not want pain meds,fine,tell them that,but also say that you really want to try without,but if it gets too much,then go for whatever you decide,gas and air,whatever.Please,do come back and say how it went,I find it helps others,who like yourself are asking for help.

Hi im not preg yet but planning a natural childbirth when the time comes. Look up hypnobirthing and waterbirths as they seem to be two options that may help you go natural GOODLUCK xx

thanks for responding...i will definatly come back and let you know how it went, but i am actually not due until june 14th...lol...i know a long time away, but i want to start preparing now. anyways, i am sorry to hear that you were in so much pain because the epidural didnt take, and i like the advice about letting them know what i want to do, but not completly ruling out things to a__sist me if needed. thank you so much ladies...take care, and god bless.

I just had my baby last friday all natural. I was fine up until transition but by then its too late to get anything anyway & I really didn't want anything. I did a bradley birth, I used the shower, deep breathing through contractions, walked, swayed back & forth while leaning on hubby or counter top or arms of a chair. It was well worth it, I'd do it all over again. I had a 20 hour labor and pushed for only 20 minutes. My husband & I were able to spend several hours with our daughter before the nurse even had to check her or she had to go to the nursery. That was my main concern. I know so many people that get the drugs & then baby has breathing difficulties and they get about 2 minutes with baby until they get wisked away to the nursery. Or mom can't push because of the drugs and the Dr has to use forceps or vacuum and baby gets wisked away to "asess any damage" done. I couldn't imiagin not having those first hours with my baby right after birth. AMAZING experience. Labor is not meant to be a pain that you can't endure. WHen you get strapped down & forbidden nourishment you tie your body out and it becomes much more painful than it would have been to begin with. Do a birth plan and give copies to every nurse and doctor and pack some in your labor bag. NOTHING beats a natural birth, you will be so glad that you did it.

rather than tell yourself that it's going to be a lot of pain, tell yourself something like.... "i will have a safe, painless and natural labor and a healthy baby." that's what i tell myself everyday. :) i'm also doing natural labor, for the first time. from what i've read, if you concentrate on the pain - you'll feel more pain. make sure you have a BIRTH PLAN ready for your hospital. when i was in the hospital, i was not allowed to drink, eat, walk, change positions or anything else. this is horrible for a laboring woman! it's helpful if you actually prepare a couple of them (printed or handwritten) so you can give one to the hospital nurses, doctor.. or if you don't make it to the hospital, have one handy just incase. GOOD LUCK!!

also.. make sure you add things like whether or not you want the cord clamped after the placenta is delivered, or immediately.. whether or not (if you're having a boy) you want a circ_msion. here's a helpful site .. http://www.unhinderedliving.com/childbirth.html

thanks ladies! i have gotten some wonderful advice from all of you, also shelbi...thanks so much for the website address...i am sure that it will come in handy. good luck to all of you that still have to give birth, and congrats to those of you that just delivered! take care!

I had a waterbirth in October. The thing that I think helped most was relaxing and breathing through every contraction. Relaxation releases natural painkillers (endorphins) within your own body. I started my breathing very early on in labour, and by the time the pain got very intense it was almost over. I also drank raspberry leaf tea, 3 cups a day from 28 weeks, and took evening primrose oil from 37 weeks. Our bodies are designed for the purpose of childbirth, we wouldn't be able to become pregnant if they weren't. Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy.

first of all-hell ya there will be pain, more than you ever imagined and i know i'll get crud for this one-but why in the hell would you want all that pain when modern science gives you a wonderful pain reliever call an epidural????? i know sometimes they don't take-mine did thank god!!!! but i guess if you have the mind over power thing really bogged down, you'll make it. good luck!!

I have had two babies and the first labour that I went through was the scariest thing in my whole entire life... I had the gas and pethadine and all it did was make me feel completely out of it... It didnt take the pain away at all... it slowed my birth right down because they had to lay me down so that I wouldnt fall over... So when I feel pregnant again I planned to have a complete drug free birth.. I told all the midwives not to even ment the word "DRUGS" to me and of course they kept telling me that because I was getting induced that the pain will be fast and sharp and that you will NEED the pain relief... well that just p'd me off and made me more determined to do it... we tried used homeopathic remedies, such as rescue remedy.. etc but we sort of forgot about it during the actually birth... My advice is stay standing, walking, dont lay down .. it is the best way to get gravity working for you and that it BLOODY HURTS get your head around that and the fact that it is only going to last for a few hours and then completely go away and you will be right... The very last stage is by far the worst... that was the time about 15 minutes before bub2 was born that I was think "I NEED SOMETHING!!!" but then it all pa__sed and I was pushing and then he was here... I would recommend it to anyone... My first labour I finished and I was still completely out of it and had people coming and seeing me and I was off the planet... With my second I was wide awake... gleeful and cheery... was completely a better experience than the first...

I guess everyone has a different pain threshold, or perhaps you haven't read all the posts through properly, some women don't have much pain at all, seems to have a lot to do with their att_tudes. And to answer your question about epidural with another question, why would you want to pump your baby full of unnecessary drugs before its even born, sometimes to the point of the baby having to be resucitated at birth, when your body is already equipped to cope anyway? Painkillers have a place in labour if necessary, but I don't see why anyone should a__sume you can't give birth without them.

i agree with o, you don't get a medal for natural childbirth. my labor was long and i did have an epidural. there were no complications b/c of the meds and my baby is happy and healthy. i see nothing wrong w/having an epidural when some ppl have a really low pain tolerance.

I personally agree with to o, painkillers are there if you need them, and it is personal choice whether to use them or not. I always got sick of people asking why I was opting for natural birth with so many wonderful drugs available. I didn't expect to receive any medals, and I didn't get any, just the satisfaction of letting my body do what comes naturally. I am a huge whimp and was pleasantly surprised that it was nowhere near as bad as I had expected, if not quite enjoyable. I say just let people make their own minds up and stop being so negative, new mama was asking about other women's experiences, not "10 reasons why you have to have an epidural". Sorry if I sound b****y, I just got so sick of people telling me to have pain relief while I was pregant.

I know what you mean about people and their unsolicited advice. Everytime I start discussing labor with anyone they immediately say "oh, be sure to get the drugs right away" or "it is so cool to be completely numb, you wont even be able to move your legs" or "get the gas youll be so out of it you wont even know what is happening" PERSONALLY I would hate giveing up control of my body. I strongly believe in mind-over-body healing and pain control. I am a music therapist and there are so many studies that prove music is a natural pain relief because it tunes the body to forget about the pain. So, try practicing your Lamaze breathing to music and remember to put it on during labor - you'll be surprised how pleasant delivering can be when your brain is properly in tune to the music instead of the "pain".

Courtney, you are absolutly right. When I had my daughter I had an epidural and could not move my legs, and it was pretty creepy. I got the epidural because I thought I was supposed to. This time around, I'm nine weeks pregnant right now and I am going to have a natural childbirth. My labor with my first was very quick, so I am hopeful that this one will be also!! I plan on watching television like I did with my daughter....it gave me something to pay attention to before I had the epidural, so I know it'll be on for a while!

wow...i though that i had stopped getting answers, so first i would like to say thank you for all that got back to me on this. i also am opting not to get an epidural mainly for the not having control over my own body thing...it is really scary to me when i think that i have no control over any parts of my body...its kind of like pa__sing out, and you just cant control how you are falling, or what you are going to fall into. (lol...i dont know if that makes sense to anyone else) i personally want to be of sound mind and body while i give birth, and i am by NO means saying that anyone who gives natural child birth deserves a metal over a women who opts to use pain relief during labor...as far as i am concerned ALL women who give birth (natural or otherwise) deserve a frickin metal...it is one of the most miraculous things a women could do...i dont think that i am any better than anyone else...and for all i know, i might not even make it through...but for now...this is my plan, and planning for it in advance is going to be something that can help me get through this, and to prepare myself for the "worst case scenerios" so to speak. i also completly agree with the music aspect as well, and that is why i want to have some type of stress relief cd in the room with me, to help me relax, and use deep breathing excersises to help me work through the pain (provided i am not out in the halls walking around lol). again, thank you all for your thoughts and insight on this subject, and i will try and update everyone at some point...to let you all know how it goes...lol...it wont be for at least six months, but i hope that at some point, i can be of some help to someone else. thanks again...and take care!