The allure of epidural avoidance

My very best friend had an unmedicated birth, and not by choice. She has already filled out the epidural consent form and was one of those "hook me up in the parking lot!" people.

Her son had a different idea. From the first contraction to born with one push, her entire labor was only 5 hours. She has told me on several occasions that is still upset that she was denied an epidural and will never have anymore children because she absolutely will not go through that pain again. Her son is nine and no pregnancies on the horizon. I belive her.

Labor is different for everyone, and I think the majority of women who have unmedicated births nowdays plan for it. I know I was VERY proud of myself when my daughter was born, and felt like I had really done something amazing. She was so perfect, and looking at her and knowing that I created her, and then brought her into our family was very special.

No matter how they are born, babies are such miracles!

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I gave birth to my second child with no pain meds but I used birth hypnosis which I highly HIGHLY recommend. Until I hit transition I honestly did not have any more pain than bad menstrual cramps. In fact, I had more pain with afterpains while nursing than I did while in labour. Before I tried hypnosis I thought it would be impossible for me to experience child birth without pain but I'm certainly a believer now!

I genuinely feel that childbirth is a natural process and that the pain we experience has more to do with out level of tension and fear. If you can find away to eliminate the tension and fear you can find a way to give birth without pain.

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I had a natural childbirth with my second daughter, in fact she was a home water birth born 3 weeks after my due date. She was my hardest and longest labor and my midwife told me afterward that labors like that are what epidurals are made for. But, I did it without any pain meds, and I felt so strong afterwards and like I could do anything. In the moment I would've taken anything, but the recovery afterwards was so much easier without having to worry about an epidural wearing off. Also, I believe that a lot of unnecessary medical intervention (internal monitors, episiotomy) is needed after an epidural and you can avoid that as well. Just my two cents after having had both experiences.

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Sometimes I feel this topic gets the same negative attention as working mom vs. stay at home mom. I've found that sometimes if a woman has an epidural then they are somehow labeled by non epidural moms as "not really going through the FULL experience of childbirth" and even sometimes c-section moms are labeled the same which I think is extremely unfair.

I had no epidural with my first 2 children (not by choice), and was able to have one with my daughter. Let me tell you, in all honesty I would do my daughters birth over and over again compared to the boys deliveries. Why? Well thank you for asking...let me share my experience.

After I delivered my boys drug free I still didn't receive my "Mother of the Year" award for NOT taking the drugs. That ticked me off. I layed in that bed writhing for 24 and 18 hours respectively with the boys deliveries...with the same outcome as my third delivery...a beautiful child.

Emily's delivery was such a better experience for me (and probably my husband and doctor as well). It was much more calm (up until the last 20 minutes when it was time to push). I was more rested, allowing me to push so much more effectively, and when it was over I was not so exhausted that I couldn't even hold her as I was with the boys.

Having drugs during delivery did make me more weak as a mother, it made me smarter.

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I had a natural childbirth almost 2 years ago, and am planning another in December. I've tried to write out why I am so passionate about it a number of times, but so far it has come down to this: I have never felt as powerful, as beautiful, as god-damned amazing as i did in the days following Ella's birth. I would, and did, walk through fire for this child, and I had proven, at least to myself, that I had the stuff being a mother is made of.

I also firmly believe that the ridiculous number of csections in this nation (as well as our shameful rank as 25th in the world for infant mortality)has to do with the unnecessary interventions being pushed on women in hospitals. Is it really such a jump, that after getting an epidural, a body that knew what it was doing suddenly is without signals, and quits?

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Good grief...the drugs did have an effect on me...it did NOT make me weak as a mother, but it did make me smarter.

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I've given birth twice with no meds and they were the most amazing, powerful experiences of my life. If I had plans for more children (I don't) I'd absolutely do it again. While I think it's an individual choice I think women are woefully in the dark about potential side effects. I knew a young woman who had no feeling in her thighs because of her epidural and others who have felt powerless and defeated by the drugs taken. I know women who honestly feel like there is NO way they could have birthed without drugs and I just feel that is so sad for them.

Every experience is different, but I think if you don't believe in your bodies ability to do it's job, then your chances of having natural birth are pretty non-existent. We need a more positive out look on birthing and our bodies. Not sure how you'd do it.

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I think maybe the desire to have an unmedicated birth is akin to the desire to run a marathon, or climb a mountain, or tackle some other great physical challenge. Personally, I don't really identify with it, but I can see for some there is a powerful allure.

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I had both my children naturally and I am really glad I did. Of course the pain was unbearable.... but I bore it. I feel really strong for having done so. I just kept telling myself that I could do anything for 1 minute (the length of each contraction), and that the pain would eventually end. Some of the benefits are that I was able to walk around (e.g., into and out of the shower), wasn't connected to monitors, and was able to push in any position I wanted to. Afterwards I was able to experience the natural high without being connected to tubes, etc. For me, it would have really bummed me out to be medicalized after the birth. My birth wasn't hard though (12 hours for the first and 15 hours for the second). If I had had a really difficult birth experience, I might have chosen differently. Also, eco-ing a previous poster, I have to say that the after-pains were really horrible to deal with, especially with the second, and that after the birth I grabbed all the Tylenol I could.

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I have 3 children. I had an epidural with all 3. The first one, I felt nothing, couldn't push effectively, because I said I felt contractions as the epidural was wearing off and they boosted it. The second one was better, I felt more, but no pain. The third was perfect. The epidural wore off just as I was beginning to push. I missed the tough part of transition, etc. and I don't regret that at all. I was able to concentrate and know what my muscles were doing since I could feel them as I gave birth. If I had had a fourth, I would have had an epidural as well.

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I had an unmedicated birth. I always planned on having an unmedicated birth, as I was a homebirth myself and my brother was a no-meds birth. After my sister's birth, my mom was wary of pain meds during labor and birth because she had side effects. Even though I'm sure that meds have come a LONG way in the past 37 years... I was NOT about to risk messing up my first moments with my son or heaven forbid- having HIM have a reaction to the meds. I mean, I have bad reactions to novocaine and lidocaine... I didn't want to expose my son to any medication that he didn't need. I had gone all through pregnancy without doing that, why do it at the moment of birth? Besides, epidurals increase a lot of risks of complications, interventions, etc. I had no interest in a csection for lack of progression, or use of pitocin since evidence linking it to autism freaks me out.

Every step of the way, I asked myself "would I do this again?" and my response- even as I was in transition- was "hell yeah."

I didn't have "pain" per se. I had concentration. When my concentration was broken, THEN I had pain. As long as I was left to my own devices to make my labor sounds (think: cow in heat, or "sex with the invisble man") and move around, I was not in pain. Exhausted, sure.

When the pain DID catch up to me was:
- When my mother in law interrupted me a horrible number of times in the car ride over and in the triage waiting room, leading me to tell her to SHUT UP. Something she still holds against me. For pete's sake, I was 5-6cm dilated and in active labor!

- When they tried to put a full-body belt on to hold the contraction/heart monitors to my body. HELL no. That thing felt like it was squeezing me into a non-stop super strong contraction. The lighter bands worked, though.

- When they tried to make me lay down to insert an IV/do continuous monitoring. HELL no. Moving around was what killed the pain. No moving, much pain.

If I hadn't been interrupted those times, I would have had a fully pain-free labor. Because my body moved me around to all the positions that kept the pain away.

The process made me love my body SO much. I trust it more and understand it more. It's made me comfortable with myself. Something I have never been before.

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I ended up having a c-section, but did experience some labor beforehand. I tried to go as long as I could before taking any drugs, but then opted for the epidural (and then the spinal when I had the C-section).

I don't feel weaker as a mother, but I have to admit I still feel like a "birthing virgin". But luckily I had no side effects whatsoever from the drugs (and neither did my nursing children, so I have no regrets about taking drugs.

That being said, is there any other medical procedure that is equally painful as giving birth, and if so....would you consider going drug free for it? I don't think anyone would suggest going without anesthesia for various other procedures, but somehow some consider it "undesirable" when it comes to giving birth. Why? Just because it's "natural" to give birth, it doesn't make it any less painful, and anesthesia is simply to reduce pain. That being said, if you can find a way to reduce pain (e.g. hypnosis) to reduce side effects, then I suppose that would be more ideal.

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(Oh, I was in labor for about 28 hours. From 6PM on Thursday to 10:10PM on Friday.) I didn't sleep at all in that time (other than in 30 second bursts between contractions, and between pushes during the pushing stage)

After birth I didn't really sleep for another 48 hours until we were home from the hospital. The high was so amazing. It wasn't that I wanted to sleep but couldn't. It was that I didn't want to or need to. I just hung out in my hosptital bed drinking in my son. :)

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The problem is not w/ pain relief (which is a GOOD thing) but with the way epidurals work...which is often to make a woman immobile (even "walking" epidurals--not many women can do much walking with them, honestly). Pushing out a baby effectively for most women requires being able to use your leg strength, gravity, and your body's movement. Epidurals take away those options...which mean labor often slows...which means labor can take too long, which means more c/sections.

And while I have no real worries about epidural side effects, major abdominal surgery is a whole other issue.

If you're using pitocin, contractions are much harder and faster...you pretty much have to have an epidural. The irony being, the pitocin is used to speed things up...but it requires an epidural...which can slow things down and lead to a c/section.

My advocacy of natural childbirth is based on the idea that avoiding c/sections and other serious interventions is a good thing; until they come up with something better than epidurals, then we do better managing pain by psychological/relaxation means. Which is why I love homebirths too, because a woman who feels safe and is given privacy is, most of the time, going to manage pain better than someone in a bright uncomfortable, cold, room filled with strangers poking her w/ needles while she's trying to concentrate. We're mammals, just like a dog or a cat who finds a dark, protected place to give birth; when we feel exposed and afraid (an effect hospital labor rooms create), we tense up, feel like we're in danger, and labor slows.

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I can see the allure to. But for me, it's sort of like having a root canal without meds. I loved my epi so much and if I have another child, wouldn't think twice about doing it again.

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You don't HAVE to have an epidural if you receive pitocin to induce labor (or speed things up or whatever). I was induced, but I decided to only get small doses of drugs through my IV rather than a full-on epidural. There are lots of choices for pain management (both natural and medical), far more than just epidural or none.

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By choice I had no medication for all three births...I was not out for the mother of the year award and if I had hard extra long labours I probably would change my mind if need be. My choice was becasue of the thought of a needle going into my back/spine scared me more than the pain of the labour...

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"Just because it's "natural" to give birth, it doesn't make it any less painful, and anesthesia is simply to reduce pain. "

Actually, it is less painful. The pain usually comes from tensing up, not moving with the contractions, etc. Things that animals do in nature and that women in other countries (without pain meds) do, as well.

I've had 2 wisdom teeth and a toenail removed without anesthesia (the doctors refused to listen when I told them it hadn't yet kicked in. Even when I described in full detail what they were doing and could tell if they were touching my toe with their gloved hand or bare hand, etc.) That was pain. Ripping, tearing, injury pain.

Childbirth is a pain unlike that. It's a focusing pain. A pain that signals you to find a safe place to deliver, and to keep moving so that the baby comes down properly and quickly.

I have no issue with popping the ibuprofen for my back injury or my recent bout of mastitis. (Although I avoided antibiotics successfully for the mastitis for much the same reasons that I avoided the painkillers during birth). Childbirth IS different.

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I think the key is education. I don't like to hear of women who get an epidural because "that's what everyone does and thats the way you should have a baby." Women have had children for many (!) years without epidurals. You also cannot deny that many women and babies died during the process before the modern age. It is important to arm yourself with facts, whatever you are doing. Keep in mind that the medical community has NO IDEA how these drugs are affecting your babies. Educate yourself.

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I'm one of those who for the most part had very few problems Two of my kids were "natural" birth (why is anything else unnatural I wonder?) and I'd do it again as long as there were no complications.

I was up and cooking Thanksgiving dinner the day after my youngest was born and back to work in less than a week. He had to stay in the hospital so I took my six week leave when he came home.

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