Its my first pregnancy, so Id like to get opinions on the best, safest, least painful birthing method. My mother tells me your stupid if you dont have it in the hospital, but there is something inhumane and very impersonal I feel about the hospital, advice about natural versus pain meds, and home versus hospital, thanks.
I've had two hospital births with epidurals. I'm have this next baby at home, period. I'm so excited! I can't wait for spring. I can;t really compare the two since I've not done it naturally in the past, but I've read a buttload and homebirth is actually much safer and healthier for mom and babe in low rick prenancies. Read "Ina May's Guide to Childbirth". It's a MUST read!
i had all 3 in the hospital.. mainly for my own comfort. my son, i can't remember what they gave me but it just made me dreamy, didn't numb any pain. both my daughters i had all natural. laughed and talked, had a good ol'time right until it was time to push. i have "text book" labor and deliveries though. easy. i really should look into being a surrogate mother.
I've had two children. the first naturally, and the second with an epidural. Allow me to tell you about both experiences. I had my first child with a midwife in a small hospital. I read Birthing from Within, and also had the benefit of attending a Womyn's Mysteries and Midwifery circle the weekend before I gave birth. All of these prepared me, emotionally, and psychologically, for the physical act of giving birth. I had my baby naturally. No pain medication, no cutting. The pain was intense, but it never got to the point of being unbearable. I trusted in my body. I told myself that "I can just breathe this baby out." I was alone during most of my labor. My partner was full of nervous energy, so I told him to go away and leave me in peace. My midwife sometimes sat quietly in a corner knitting, or else stepped out of the room for ten minutes at a time. I felt most powerful and confident when I was alone. I had a big birthing suite, which was equipped with a standard hospital birthing bed, a rocking chair, a hot tub, a bathroom with private shower, and a birthing stool. I consistently moved all throughout my labor. Swaying in the shower, pacing back and forth, chanting and grunting, rocking and floating under water. When it was time for me to start pushing, my midwife had me sit on the birthing stool and push while she massaged hot oil into my vagina and helped to stretch the muscles, by pulling me while I pushed. I had considered a water birth, but when the time came. I knew that I needed the help of Earth's gravity to bring my child into the world. I got up on the hospital bed, which was bent up like a chair. At first kneeling then sitting, I pushed and pushed and pushed my baby out into the world. Exhausted, I lay back as my midwife plopped a hot wet bundle of blodd onto my chest, and I cringed. The nurses brought atub of warm water into the room, and daddy washed the baby as I delivered my placenta, and got cleaned up. All I wanted to do was to eat and sleep. It was really hard for the first week. I didn't really bond with my baby until we had been home for a couple of days. Natural birth takes a lot out of you. But I did it to be connected to the unbroken line of women through out history who have undergone the same ordeal in order to bring new life into the world. My second baby I had planned to birth the same way, but she had other ideas. 5 weeks before she was due, my water broke and so I was unable to birth where I wanted, and instead of having a trusted midwife attend to me, I had a couple of hospital doctors stop in to say "Hi I might be the one who delivers you, depending on when you start your labor." I was there for three days before my labor started. When it started I tried to stay calm and sway, move, sing, all of the things I did to deal with the pain the first time. But I was anxious, tense, worried, and the pain seemed stronger this time. When the nurses noticed I was in labor they immediately strapped me down so that they could moniter the baby's heartbeat during my contractions. OH MY GOD!!! Not being able to move intensified my pain greatly, so even though I had told all of my doctors that I wanted a natural birth with the least amount of intervention possible, I was now asking them to tell me about Epidurals. In the end I got one. And it was wonderful. The shot to my spine didn't really hurt that much, and after a couple of minutes my body was calm. My breathing slowed and I was able to watch the graphing of my contractions with interest. Quickly I started to feel some pressure in my vagina and let the doctor know. When she looked down there, she was startled "The baby's coming out!" And Like that, my daughter was born. She was tiny, and I immediately felt an outpouring of love for her. They wanted to take her immediately to the neonatal intensive care unit, but I made sure they gave me my daughter to hold first before they took her any where. So I am glad that I experienced it both ways, because before I had the epidural, I was kind of critical of women who had them. After having one myself, I can appreciate the benefits of being calm and more baby centered during delivery. When you birth naturally, you are definitely experiencing extreme stress and need to go inward toward your Self. So, I would advise you to go natural your first time. I still believe it is important for every woman to really feel the power of her body. Then if you have more kids, go the easy way and get the Epi. Hope my long ramblings helped. Let me know what you think.
I had both of my babies at the hospital, because of health issues & a lack of nearby midwives at the time. But I always thought that an underwater homebirth sounded so special & would be ever so much more comfortable! If I had it to do again, that is what I would fight for. love, mom
Natural childbirth underwater. Underwater, your pain just about halves. When you give birth, you will want to find a comfortable position, and you will. This will not happen if/when a hospital doctor, for his own convenience, puts you in the exam position and tells you not to move or you'll disturb the often unneccesary heart monitor. RE: my son, i can't remember what they gave me but it just made me dreamy, didn't numb any pain. Scopolamine. They didn't believe women when they said "it still hurt" till they used it for appendectomies, and men threatened to kick the gas-passer's ass.
Do keep in mind pain is the stimulus for labor. It's a feedback loop. Strangely enough once they give the pain meds, the contractions stop (duh) well don't worry they have oxytocin for that, well it's artificial contraction, might tear your uterus in half, but that's much better than twinges of pain for a few hours...
irongoth, although its true that contractions stop for a brief period, they frequnetly start again when the body adjusts, oxyticin is only neccesary in cases where this does not happen naturally. Oxyticin would not tear the uterus in half so please dont be alarmist over and above the facts. Rarely, in cases where the mother has a damaged or scarred uterus (from severe fibriods or a previous c-section) or is given a very high dose, a woman can bleed heavily or suffer damage to the uterus. please dont scare the crap out of people uneccesarily. Epidurals are not an easy way out but they are sometimes neccesary if the birth becomes medicalised. if a woman is induced, she gets the motherload of oxytocin because her body is overstimulated to kick start labour, that hurts like fuck, and there is nothing natural about it. You can't find a comfortable position. Im not a fan of epidurals myself, they tie you to a bed and inhibit the natural birth processes but the dont have to mean a 'bad' birth. Pain is not the stimulaus for labour.Oxytocin works in a positive feedback loop, the more of it about, the more the uterus contracts, forcing the babies head onto the cervix which stimulated the production of oxytocin. pain is a byproduct of the massive oxygen debt the uterus builds up during a contraction. so yeah, in a way pain has to happen to push labour forward...if you ignore the fact that it is oxytocin doing the job, not the 'pain' itself. I pushed out my baby with an epidural in my back, ok, so there was a huge patch that didnt take so it hurt like fuck anyway in that bit, but it didnt stop my contractions, i needed no extra help, but some of my pain was gone and i could focus on what i needed to do, before i got that epidural i was in so much pain i didnt know what was going on anymore and would have ended up with a c-section because i was so incoherant ( i managed to labour two days on and off with only gas an air so i didnt give in easily) this is the thing with birth, you can plan for the best, and i think we all should, but we have to be realistic, we can't always control what happens and at the end of the day we do what we need to to get our babies into the world. i think the best thing you can do is to listen to the advice and experiences of others, and find out as much as you can about all the different options and eventualities, choose the one that sounds best for you and go for it, but be flexible. Most of all, don't get all caught up in the idea of a perfect birth, it will hurt, there will be funny bits, embarassing bits, scary bits and amazing bits but at the end of the day there will be your baby and how he or she got there will be less important as time passes and you get to know your child. Maybe reading the labour sticky would help you decide? in answer to the original question, i wanted a home water birth in true hippie tradition, with the exeption of some gas and air on standby. i believe as some others on this forum do, that birth is a natural process and hospitals are there for emergancies and so i wanted my baby to be born in a place that was secure, calm and peaceful, which most hospital wards are not...midwifery led centers are a great middle way. i couldnt have this due to complications but i would still recommed it. Many first time mothers have great homebirths so dont let people scare you for that reason. Hope your birth is healthy and happy, however it occurs
whatever method you are most comfortable with is the best for you. I had one with an epidural, hated it and had the other two medication free. You shouldn't feel pressured to do anything other than what YOU feel is best for you and your baby. My sister would not go without drugs, and her kids are fine healthy, breastfed, attachment parented kids.
i had my little boy in the hospital and i thank god that i did, cus i ended up having lots of complications, and im not able to have babys vaginally. BUT i didnt know that of course, and it was a good thing that i was there so that they could do surgery. I recommend taking the drugs they have to offer. I had morphine, and the epidural. It made me be able to relax and calm down. not to mention the pain............ so if i have another baby, i would still go to a hospital because id have to get a c-section.
