Why are you having a natural birth?

Posts: 21
10/8/12 1:33 P

1. For low risk pregnancies, unmedicated is safer for moms and babies.
2. I love birth. It is painful, in fact, it is the most pain I could ever imagine, but that's not all it is and it isn't constant. Birth is like this great big adventure that challenges you in every way possible, but it's exhilarating too. You reach the end of it and you are stronger, more confident and have a beautiful little person to call your own.
3. Breastfeeding is a big priority for me. Medicated births can cause some problems with bf (not saying always, but it's a possibility).
4. It's less complicated. No wires, straps, needles, tubes etc.

Posts: 8
8/16/12 8:35 P

I am working on #1 but this is why I want natural:
1) Childbirth IS NOT AN ILLNESS and should not be treated like one!
2) I trust my body and I know it will do what it needs to to bring life into this world; it's what it is designed to do.
3) I wouldn't want to miss a single moment of this life changing experience.

Just as a 'soap box' side note. I love being an American, I love living in this country, and I love the idea behind this country BUT we have completely missed the boat when it comes to pregnancy, childbirth, and newborn care. We have BY FAR the highest rate of c-sections in the world, the highest maternal mortality rate for an industrialized nation, AND the highest infant mortality rate for an industrialized nation. All of these can be linked to the fact that pregnancy and childbirth is treated like an illness and over 99% of all childbirths in this country take place in a hospital and most are attended by an OB(this may be an outdated figure with birth centers popping up places, but I'm sure it's still close).

Posts: 73
7/13/12 2:54 P

I am pregnant with #3, and this will be my third natural birth. Childbirth HURTS! For some, it might not be so painful, but my births went completely normal. It hurt, and yes, I did tear, but women in the hospital tear almost every time with a first baby, so to think you can avoid that just because you are in a hospital would be a waste of time. Luckily, your risk of tearing drops dramatically with your other babies. I did not have to with baby #2. As far as pain management medications, I am not a fan. The female body was made to birth babies. Everyone knows that. But no one said it was not going to hurt. With a natural birth, you can choose to be in the comfort of your own home, and have much more control over how your birth will go down. That is my take on it. I cannot speak for women who are high risk. I realize that may be a different story. But I believe for most women who are not high risk, there is no reason to not have a home birth, if that is what you want. It should be your choice. Man women might be surprised how the true unbearable pain in only at the last bit when your baby is actually coming, and even then, it is pain with a purpose. You are working towards meeting your child, and getting it over with. Once your baby is here, you know that it was all worth it!

There are so many births that are induced unnecessarily, or C-sections that are performed unnecessarily, and that is too bad. Women are sent home being told that it was the only way, but many of the time, the docs just get impatient, or are afraid of a lawsuit if anything goes wrong, and mothers are led to believe that because of "fetal distress", they had no choice. Fetal distress is not nearly as common as people are led to believe. It as always better to late nature take its course. I am glad that early inductions are beginning to decrease, I just hope we can see a day when C-section rates drop as well. But with all the celebrities doing it, it sets such a bad example for women.


Edited by: LIVVYKING at: 7/13/2012 (15:06)

Posts: 55
4/20/12 1:50 A

Not pregnant yet, but my DH and I are trying for # 2.

I had a natural home birth with my first child almost three years ago. The only little hitch was that I did tear some (I didn't feel the tearing at all, because I had had so much pain with my contractions that I'm guessing my endorphins were going FULL TILT by then. My midwife had to tell me to stop pushing twice, because I was tearing and didn't even know it.) and my midwife wasn't entirely comfortable sewing me up. So I did have to go to the hospital afterward to get sewn up by an O.B., but the hospital was 5 minutes from my house and my DS got to stay home w/ my DH and my mom to get his first bath while I went to get sewn up. It was a FANTASTIC feeling knowing that he was safely out, THRIVING and safe at home where nothing improper or traumatizing would be done to him.

I got sewn up and was back home w/ him a few hours later.

I did have PLENTY of pain with my contractions, but the worst of it was right at transition, so in real time, the hardest contractions weren't happening for all that long. Right at transition, they seemed to come one on top of the other with little to no break in between and that was hard. I do remember thinking around transition (though of course I didn't know it was transition at the time), that if I'd been in a hospital, I would have asked for an epi at that point, though by that time, they probably don't give them to you anymore since you're so close to pushing.

I used the Bradley method and while I do think the exercises and relaxation techniques of Bradley are PRICELESS, I did experience more pain with the contractions than I would like to again, so I might try hypnobirthing this time. I have had AMAZING results w/ hypnosis in other areas of my life and think it could probably work for labor as well.

Send some babydust my way! It took us three months last time, which I know is really quite fast. Hoping for another fast conception this time around.

Cheers, everyone!

Edited by: LOCKWOOD5 at: 4/20/2012 (01:51)

Posts: 5
3/8/12 10:31 A

To be honest, I am scared of the epidural needle being that close to my spine. :) That is the main reason, other reasons are that I hear recovery is faster. My mom had us without an epidural so I'm hoping (and praying) that I can too.

Posts: 8
12/22/11 8:09 P

With my first child I was toxemic and had no choice but to have medication during my pregnancy. I see it as a beautiful moment in life and sad to say I do not really remember even holding my son for the first time, this time I want the full experience!

Posts: 34
5/2/11 8:33 A

This is my first bub and I hope to do it naturally as all the statistics I have seen show that it is better for the bub and mums health. Also labour is a natural thing to do that we are designed for and taking drugs isn't (Seriously hope I don't need anything)..

Posts: 62
4/18/11 1:15 P

this is my third and my last - I've had it fully drugged and slightly drugged and now with preparation I think I can this!

Posts: 29
4/14/11 4:21 P

I had my son naturally and, looking back, I am very glad I did. He was a very sleepy baby for the first few weeks of his life and he lost a lot of weight because he wouldn't eat. We had to force feed him with a spoon in order to get him to eat at all. I still got the baby blues and he still had some minor health problems but I at least I couldn't blame it on myself for taking the drugs.

Posts: 3468
4/8/11 4:32 P

Because its safest for baby and momma!

Posts: 9
3/31/11 11:20 A

Simply put... because it's "Natural"

Posts: 9
3/24/11 10:45 P

I will be looking into natural birth at a birthing center, not a hospital, because it seems better for me and the baby and is more economical.

While I appreciate that medical advances now allow for more intervention in the event of complications, I feel that they are also being abused to make deliveries more convenient for medical practitioners and they also lead to many simple pregnancies to be treated in a cookie cutter mold that actually causes them to be more complicated than they normally would be.

My mom looked into birthing centers with my brothers, but at the time there weren't any anywhere close to us and the "birthing center" in our one area hospital was (and still is, I believe, at least to some degree, in name only to make mothers-to-be feel more comfortable than with the thought that they have to go into the hospital.

From her descriptions, my mother's labor with me progressed pretty rapidly after her arrival at the hospital - she'd "induced" me naturally with castor oil and begun walking until her contractions began and then continued until they were steady and even and the time was near.

With both of my brothers, she labored at the hospital (and being quite a bit older than them, I was present for both of their births). Everything was explained to me in detail in advanced and I watched the Nova special on childbirth with my family ... and when I got there, my Dad went with me to the family waiting area so that I would know where it was, and I was told that if I ever got uncomfortable or scared or anything I could go to the family waiting room and they'd let me know as soon as the baby was born (for my oldest brother, we didn't even know he was a boy, although we highly suspected that he was - imagine that!). My grandparents were at home and just a phone call and about 10 minutes away, as well. But I stayed through it.

When my youngest brother was born, my Mom wanted to walk, but they sat her down as soon as she arrived at the ER for check-in (the hospital still checks in from the ER after 9 p.m.). They wouldn't even let her walk to the room - she had to be wheeled to the elevator and up to a room, where she was immediately given an IV. That was a little upsetting to me that she wanted to walk - something so simple that I knew had helped her through her labor in the past - and the hospital wasn't giving her that option. She kept asking them to call her doctor because she knew he would find it okay, but they wouldn't disturb him until she was closer to delivery (and answering services, at that point, wouldn't contact the doctor directly, either, unless there was truly an emergency - not certain if they would these days).

With that delivery, she was given drugs to induce after over 12 hours of labor(which I honestly believe she would not have needed if she hadn't been sat down and then taken up to labor flat on her back - she had never labored that long and her labor had been progressing normally before she moved to the hospital). My brother was 10 pounds 15 1/2 ounces (yes, just nearly 11 pounds), but still I honestly believe all would have gone much more smoothly for her if she'd been able to more naturally progress through labor as she had wished.

Everything that I have read seems to indicate to me that for a "normal" birth, the older ways are better. I've read that laying on the back can slow labor, that the drugs given to induce produce more painful contractions, basically that any time a medical intervention is made, it comes with a downside as well as a benefit. So I want to make absolutely certain that I am not subjected to any of those unless it really is imperative for my health and my baby's.

Posts: 2722
1/28/11 12:23 P

Ive had it both ways. With DS I had pitocin with an epi and the experience was horrible. I wanted to go natural with him but wasn't prepared, didnt research and the hospital I went to was not natural birth friendsly. At 5 cm of being in the bed I caved for the epi. They kept messing with the pitocin b/c he wasnt coming when THEY wanted him to come. They ended up giving me an episiotomy and at the end of the day I felt much pain anyway. He didnt nurse well, wasn't very alert AND I ended up having baby blues for 2 weeks...it was HORRIBLE.

With DD I started researching and preparing myself emotionally and mentlaly for a natural birth without interventions. I was successful in having her in teh water. She was bigger than my DS and I didnt so much as even tear. I felt completely recovered after and after 1 week felt like myself again. I didnt get baby blues or PPD.

HANDS DOWN doing the waterbirth again with this baby. Not to mention we have to pay a small amount out of pocket and its cheaper without the drugs. I would NEVER have it any other way. And one more note...don't EVER let anybody tell you that your baby si to big for your pelvis! My DS was 9 lbs 22 inch and DD was 9.3 lbs 21 inch.

Posts: 4
1/24/11 3:58 P

I had planned on a natural birth with my daughter 9 years ago. I was hoping that my mother would be there for me for support but she showed up drunk 5 hours later than I asked her to be there. Unfortunately, I have a mother that is an alcoholic and that was something I had not planned on; I did not think she would let me down like that when I needed her. I believed that she would be there for me, sober, but that just was not my reality back then. She has since cleaned herself up knowing she has a grandchild that loves and looks up to her. That is a whole other post. When that happened, I gave up and demanded the epidural. My mother always bragged that she gave birth to me naturally and I thought she would help me. When I had to endure her illness that day, I almost felt rebellious. I was young and bit more immature then I think. I regretted it the minute all the tubes and wires started coming out!

I want to let all the mothers out there who are trying to have a natural birth, who may be going into this for the first time, know that natural is way better, I don't care what other epidural supporters say.

I FELT LIKE A SCIENCE EXPERIMENT! I had tubes and wires and monitors hooked up to me all over the place. It was like I was involved in some experiment by aliens! Like nobody there trusted my body to do what was right anymore! I had the fetal heartrate monitor which was standard, a urine catheter (spelling?), an IV (pretty standard), my heartrate monitor, a tube into my back, an oxygen mask and geeze, I don't remember, but that seems like just the beginning. My daughter's HR kept dropping and so they kept trying to put an internal HR monitor screw into her scalp! That is where I drew the line. NO WAY are you screwing something into my kids head! NO! Do what you want to me, but don't torture my unborn baby! I kept asking if that will IMPROVE the HR, the answer was of course , NO, so kept refusing. It was the most unnatural and uncomfortable situation. I felt like I was doing something wrong and very strange. I wanted to feel my baby coming out and I did not feel a thing. I ripped pretty bad because I didn't feel anything. It sounds strange to want to feel pain, I know, but it would have been more real to me. I came out of the birth feeling like I did something wrong; almost as if I had cheated.

This is incentive enough for me to do it this time naturally. And while my mother has her drinking a little more under control, I won't be having her there. I am going to rely on my body's wisdom to carry me through. I labored with my first for a few hours, so I have a feeling of what it is like, so feel a little prepared for what is coming. I don't want drama like I had before. The nurses were so nice, but kept telling me to get the epidural when they saw what happened with my mother. I won't allow anyone to persuade me this time. I am stronger and older and wiser. I also have a doctor who supports me that I want to try to go natural. Some doctors say things like, "why be in pain if you have other options?" etc. He is not that way.

Good luck you wonderful mommies out there. I hope we can ramp each other up for the big day and support each others' decision to let our bodies do what is best for us and our babies!!

Love and Hugs!!!

Edited by: GLAMOURMOM10 at: 1/24/2011 (16:06)

Posts: 255
1/19/11 1:23 P

I've had two natural childbirths without much pain. I guess I don't understand why I would want drugs.

Posts: 676
1/15/11 9:43 P

I wanted a natural childbirth with DD but it didn't quite happen. I'm determined with baby #2 that I have one. However, my reason has stayed the same - I want what I believe is best for my baby and for me. :D

Posts: 190
12/13/10 1:35 P

When I was a kid and my mom told me about what it was like to give birth, I immediately told her, "I'm never having a baby because I don't want to have the IV needle in my arm". I like to think that was a simple foreshadowing moment...

I simply feel that the fewer interventions, the better. I have been a birth doula for almost 2 years now, and in everything I've witnessed and read, less interventions = better outcomes in low-risk pregnancies.

Honestly, I would be more scared of having an epidural than undergoing the "normal" pain & sensations of labor and birth.