who thinks that i should do a natural birth the majority win… :???:
Go for it, but it’s not a majority win issue. It’s a personal decision and there are several factors which can affect the kind of birth you have. If you want to go natural you need to prepare yourself. I recommend the [name]Bradley[/name] method, but there are several others.
I don’t recommend you choose your birthing method based on the opinion of strangers on the internet, but I am a firm believer that natural births are best. Good luck.
lol hilarious. Can we also vote for the day you go into labor?
Meogan,
I agree-- the [name]Bradley[/name] method is really wonderful!
That would be like choosing the gender of your baby based on majority rule. You need to decide for yourself. There is nothing we can say to sway your decision. It has to come from within.
I agree that it’s weird to have me vote on what kind of birth you should have. I have no medical background and I don’t know you at all!
I have no idea what I’m going to do when I have kids. I like the idea of a natural birth, but I’m such a wimp! As of right now, I’d like to try going as naturally as possible and use as little medication as possible. I have a feeling I’ll end up begging for an epidural right when I get there though, haha. Of course with my luck I’ll end up like my mom when she had me. I came so fast that she didn’t have time for any medication. I was born within about 45 min of getting to the hospital! You never know until it happens!
I have no problem offering my opinion! :o) I’ve had several children and experienced birth both with AND without medication. GO FOR THE DRUGS! Either way the outcome is the same, and to me there’s no mystical “empowerment” attached to pointless suffering. The babies are the same. Motherhood is the same. No awards for being “tough” in the labor room. I have 2 cousins who are anesthesiologists, and I know several other medical professionals-all of them have stated they would take the epidural if making the choice themselves. People are always going on about the pain being “natural” or “there for a reason”. Well, yes, naturally it would hurt without medication, but why is that better? No one ever has concrete evidence or reasons why based on science-just more stuff about being in tune with your body. For me, labors were shorter with the medication, and pushing was just as effective. I know there are many who would disagree with me for my stance on this and even for offering my opinion. For some reason, there’s a great deal of sensitivity attached to this issue, something one of my doctors believes is based on a widespread fear of medical science. Not trying to pull you over to the dark side, lol, just saying since you asked-I’d let the “empowerment” come from being a mom day in day out, year in and year out, not from trying to be a martyr when modern technology has provided a safe and effective alternative.
I was induced because I was about 10 days past my due date, and the amniotic fluid looked low on ultrasound. [name]Even[/name] with pitocin I labored without an epidural for 8hrs because, having an epidural too early can affect the body’s ability to move the baby into position for delivery. (Not to mention, an epidural can cause major and lasting side effects for you). After 4hrs of pitocin, they broke my water trying to move things along. I still progressed slowly, so I was at risk of infection later because they had broken my water. I had the epidural and took a nap. After another 4hrs without much progress I had to have a c-section because I was at risk for infection and the baby was beginning to show distress.
Moral of the story isn’t that you shouldn’t have medical interventions, it is that one intervention can lead to a cascade of interventions and each and every thing that they offer you–pitocin, epidural, iv pain meds, breaking water, etc, c-section-- they all carry risks that aren’t part of natural labor.
Talk with your doctor and be informed before you decide that the benefits outweigh the risks to you and your baby in cases where a procedure is purely elective.
For me, I will try for a VBAC all-natural birth because that would be best for me, my health, and the safety of me and the baby. The risks associated with a repeat c-section are greater than those of a VBAC in my case. I may end up w/ an epidural, a c-section may be medically neccessary if complications arise, and I’ll be okay with that. But I plan on going w/ [name]Bradley[/name] method and a Doula this time!
Ultimately, its a personal choice. But like I said, elective medical interventions all carry risks that aren’t part of an uncomplicated natural birth, so that is what you have to consider.
Good luck 
I LOVED my epidural. But I have to say, I went into the experience without any type of birth plan. I took the class that teaches you breathing and pain management techniques and I asked all of my pregnancy questions either in class or at my OBGYN. I didn’t read a lot on the subject or make any big decisions about how I wanted my birth to go. I wanted to keep an open mind and not have a lot of expectations…I figured I didn’t know if I wanted pain meds cause I hadn’t felt the pain yet- makes sense, right? Well, once I felt it I KNEW I had to get some drugs ASAP. But I know people who have done it drug free and had a great experience. So my advice is wait and see what you need. But keep in mind that once I asked for my epidural it took almost an hour to get to me!
I am NOT picking on you, but I want to provide both sides here.
All quotes come from these web links:
“While in-utero, they may become lethargic and have trouble getting into position for delivery. These medications have been known to cause respiratory depression, and decreased fetal heart rate in newborns”
– you have to remember that any medication you take (including an epidural) will pass to your baby. You think about the dosage required to numb 1/2 of your body-- that’s a large amount of medication for your little one to get in utero.
“most studies suggest some babies will have trouble “latching on” which can lead to breastfeeding difficulties. Other studies suggest that the baby may experience respiratory depression, fetal malpositioning; and an increase in fetal heart rate variability, which may increase the need for forceps, vacuum, cesarean deliveries and episiotomies”
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- breastfeeding is important for mom and baby in the first hours and days. It helps deliver the placenta more quickly which can lead to less post-partum bleeding. If you want to breastfeed, the side effects or interventions caused by an epidural may prevent that in the first hours after birth. Also, once you go home from a C-section, you need to be creative with positioning of the baby while nursing and you have special care of your incision scar, etc.
Motherhood is the same. No awards for being “tough” in the labor room.
“For a few hours after birth the lower half of your body may feel numb which will require you to walk with assistance”
"The actual procedure is described anywhere from uncomfortable to very painful. It can be hard to lean over while pregnant and having contractions. The local anesthesia hurts more than the epidural needle, because at the point which the epidural needle goes in, you are numb. Most women describe the epidural needle as feeling more like pushing and shoving. Occasionally the needle will touch a nerve causing your leg to jump or you may feel a shooting pain. This is normal and does not mean you are paralyzed. "
there’s a great deal of sensitivity attached to this issue, something one of my doctors believes is based on a widespread fear of medical science.
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- no quote here. For me, it’s not a fear of medical science at all. It’s a fear of having an unnecessary major surgery (C-Section) because of complications triggered by the epidural. If people were so fearful of medical science, they wouldn’t labor in the hospital at all. They’d labor at home with a midwife like everyone used to hundreds of years ago.
not from trying to be a martyr when modern technology has provided a safe and effective alternative.
“Epidurals may cause your blood pressure to suddenly drop. For this reason your blood pressure will be routinely checked to make sure there is adequate blood flow to your baby. If this happens you may need to be treated with IV fluids, medications, and oxygen”
– this means you are more likely to need monitoring/interventions. You can’t move around while in labor. Moving around and helping your body progress are things that speed labor and by being able to move around more, you can do things to lessen the pain.
“You may experience a severe headache caused by leakage of spinal fluid. Less than 1% of women experience this side effect from epidural use. If symptoms persist, a special procedure called a “blood patch”, an injection of your blood into the epidural space, can be done to relieve the headache”
– yes, less than 1% is small, but that is still 1 out of 100 (or 105) people.
“After your epidural is placed, you will need to alternate from lying on one side to the other in bed and have continuous monitoring for changes in fetal heart rate. Lying in one position can sometimes cause labor to slow down or stop”
– if labor stalls or slows, other complications arise. The longer your water is broken and the longer the labor, the more danger for baby. This can lead to a C-section if the doctor feels you aren’t progressing, if you are at risk for infection (from the water breaking so long ago), or if the baby is showing signs of distress.
“You may find that your epidural makes pushing more difficult and additional interventions such as Pitocin, forceps, vacuum extraction or cesarean may become necessary”
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- again, while a C-section is “routine” surgery, it is still [name]MAJOR[/name] abdominal surgery. I’d personally hate to have “elective” surgery like because my labor slowed down after an epidural.
"In rare instances, permanent nerve damage may result in the area where the catheter was inserted. "
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- they wouldn’t list it as a side effect if it wasn’t happening…
“The risks of an epidural are numerous”
“The vast majority of moms who receive an epidural are pleased with how well it works. Though sometimes, for a variety of reasons, an epidural might not provide you with complete pain coverage”
That’s okay, I don’t feel picked on. I guess it’s good to hear an alternative opinion, but I still feel exactly the same and will continue to recommend pain relief to anyone who asks me. The actual procedure of getting the epidural does not really hurt; it feels alot better than contractions, I assure you. You don’t have to lean over in some impossible manner. Your legs are numb for a little while, but you’re not going to be doing alot of walking at first, anyway. I didn’t care. I breastfed all of my babies, and the method of their birth had no bearing on their ability to latch on. The “lactation consultants” also tell you they’ll get “nipple confusion” if you use a pacifier, and that doesn’t happen, either. For me, it really was easier to opt for pain relief; like I said the births were faster and MUCH more pleasant with the medication. I’m sure all kinds of horrible things are possible, just like in any birth, but are they likely? I doubt the epidural would be so readily offered or used with most c-sections if the dangers were really so great. The baby you have at the end really is no different regardless of your pain management choice. You can’t look at my children, my granddaughter, or the children of anyone I know and tell whether they were born with or without pain relief. It makes no bearing on what being a mother is really like on a day to day basis. The birthing process is only for a few hours. I had a MUCH better experience when the day was pleasant and I could enjoy it. Thank you for sharing the information you gathered.
I chose natural birth because I was more afraid of the effects of the epidural than I was of the pain!
LOL, same thing here!
As I already said, I’m firm believer that natural is best. I’ve had two successful, stress free, peaceful births and I’d definitely like to go natural for any hypothetical future children.
I think its more important to go into labour with an open mind, than it is to rigidly plan the birth. You might want an epidural, but you could be too far dilated to be eligible for one. You might want to go natural, but find you can’t handle the pain. You might want to avoid a section but it might be medically necessary if the little one struggles or if your labour doesn’t progress.
The key is to prepare yourself for any outcome so that you don’t panic if you can’t follow your preferred plan.
I second this! Getting the epidural did not hurt at all. I was having contractions when they were preparing to give it to me which scared me a bit (what if I jump when they put in the needle and they hit something!?!) but these people are professionals, you’re not the first person they’ve treated! I switched positions during my labor/delivery with very little assistance so it is not full on paralysis. I felt a bit of pressure to be an all-nature earth mother like so many of my friends and not take the meds but I am SO [name]GLAD[/name] that I did what felt right for me. I also am breast feeding, no trouble with that.
[name]Amen[/name]! Knowing what you want but knowing the many possible outcomes is the best birth plan you can have. You don’t need us to know what you want, but you’ve been given lots of great information so far to help you decide.