January 2015 Moms

Natural Birth Tips

So as soon as I was pregnant I told my husband that I for sure wanted drugs that I didn't think I could handle the pain...for some reason now I'm starting to wonder "How bad can it be"  I mean our bodies are made to birth children.  Does any one have some suggested reading for those considering a natural birth?  Any natural birth stories?  I'm just trying to start researching to see if this is something I'd really want to do or not.  idk if I should mention but regardless my method i'll be delivering in a hospital, so i'm not too sure if that changes my natural birth options or not??  any advice/articles/books would be greatly appreciated!
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Re: Natural Birth Tips

  • I haven't had a med free birth before, but I'd love to try this time.

    Maybe check out the natural birth board. Maybe hire a doula.

    I don't have allot of advice, but i'd Def Go into all this open minded.
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  • the birth without fear blog that @emmyg65 linked is great. Just saw this awesome new post about a frank breech natural hospital birth of an 11lb baby! so awesome. https://birthwithoutfearblog.com/2014/09/25/frank-breech-hospital-birth-of-11lb-2oz-baby-boy/
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  • sunnysunsunsunnysunsun member
    edited September 2014
    If you have a facebook, I would follow Birth Without Fear Blog, their website has amazing birth stories too. Some books I've read are Bradly Method, it's a little dated, but it has some good information, Pushed, Active birth, and The birth Partner as well.

    This is the list I found on the web:
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  • Which hypnobirthing book is "the" hypnobirthing book? I really want to try to birth without pain relief. (I have a feeling I will be induced. My last pregnancy I was GD and preeclamptic and was induced at 37 weeks.)
  • Ina May! Those birth stories are so empowering, and reading the success of other women can help alleviate any fear.

    Also recommend The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth. Full of practical ways you can advocate for yourself in a hospital setting.

  • Another vote for Ina May's Guide to Childbirth! The birth stories are super empowering, and she shares lots of good info about birthing.
  • Educate yourself! That's the best thing you can do to take away any doubts or fears.

    I'm reading Ina May's Guide to Childbirth and The Bradley Method book - Husband-Coached Childbirth. We just completed week 5 of our Bradley Method classes and I cannot recommend them enough! Just going through these classes is making me so much for confident in myself to have a med-free and low intervention childbirth. 
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  • I highly recommend: Birthing from Within.  It helps you with techniques that might help you birth naturally, but it also walks you through your fears and encourages you to keep an open mind about any birth process. 

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  • The hypnobirthing book is by Mary Mongan, she is the one who came up when the method. I got it as part of my hypnobirthing class. See if there is one near you and take it asap, the longer you have to practice the better, according to my midwife.

    Another vote for Ina May's guide to childbirth, it's awesome!!!
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  • Are classes necessary if I want to try natural birth? Or can I just go with book-learnin'? ;)

    I personally just did book learning. But I wasn't attempting natural birth in a hospital setting which can be more of an uphill battle
  • thank you everyone for all the feedback!  I'm going to look into everything and hope over to the natural birthing board as well!!
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  • aerotigergirlaerotigergirl member
    edited September 2014
    Are classes necessary if I want to try natural birth? Or can I just go with book-learnin'? ;)
    I guess it depends on your particular learning style. If you're more comfortable learnin' from a book, then you can definitely stick with plain ol' book-learnin'. Last time around, H and I did the 12-week Bradley Method course. We got a lot out of it, even though our plan for a natural birth was thwarted in the end. We were much more educated about the physiological changes going on during labor and delivery after the class, and that really helped to ease my fears about birth (for me, just understanding what is going on and sort of knowing what to expect next makes things less scary). Also, (and maybe this was just our particular teacher, I'm not sure) at the end of each class, we watched a birth video. The first week, I was horrified and I cried all the way home. But over the course of the 12 weeks, I got more and more comfortable with seeing real births, and honestly I think that helped me be less scared in the end. 

    The 12 week course (in our area) was a little pricey. I think it was around $350 or so? I'm sure this varies by location/teacher, too. 

    ETA: I thought this class was only six weeks. But when I looked it up, it was actually 12 weeks. My memory is terrible.
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  • FWIW, we didn't have to fight an uphill battle at all when it came to wanting a med-free labor/delivery in a hospital setting. It just seems like this film might put you immediately on the defensive, and that isn't always necessary. I can definitely see where if you go into the hospital and approach your nurses/doctors with a very militant attitude, you may get some unpleasant pushback from them. Arm yourself with balanced information, know what to expect, and be ready to advocate for yourself and your baby. But don't let that turn you into a crazed momzilla who storms into the hospital making demands and refusing to listen to and respect your caregivers, KWIM? All doctors/nurses aren't bad people, they're not all out to push you into every possible intervention.
    I totally agree! So many people would roll their eyes or make negative comments when I said I was planning to go med-free for our hospital birth with DD. I was convinced it was possible, and it ended up being totally fine. The nurses were actually kind of excited about it and were super supportive, cheering me on the whole time. I don't know if it's unique to this area, but it definitely wasn't an uphill battle. Good luck, whatever you do! 

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  • I've given birth twice in a hospital naturally. My suggestions would be to find a doula who will help you have the strength when weakness comes. In a hospital setting it is easy to be tempted to give up bc everything is right at your fingertips. Also - pay close attention to your body and what it's telling you. When it's time to push use every ounce of strength you have in your lower half to push. Your body knows exactly what to do. I will say that I have an incredibly high pain tolerance, but for me labor isn't painful really - it's hard to explain if you've never been there before. It's possible and I believe it's all about mind strength (if you're healthy) and endurance. Best of luck!
  • Seconding the caution about "The Business of Being Born." It's great about offering you resources you may not have known you had, but some of it is purely opinion stating and story-telling and I promise 100% of opinions stated and stories told are in there to back up the creator's agenda. One line that nearly made me turn it off immediately was, "OBs aren't trained in uncomplicated birth." Yeah...sorry, that's crap. A third year med student upon completing his/her OB rotation is trained in uncomplicated birth. I'm happy I kept through it, but there were moments....

    I'm personally reading and exercising through "Mindful Birthing." It has been helping me improve my focus hopefully in time for birth. It's targeted at coping with birth through meditation, which is what I used when a giant cyst exploded on my ovary instead of narcotics and found it quite helpful. I am more concerned about keeping myself peaceful and mindfully present during my birth than on definitively doing it in any one particular way, though.
  • @luvinlifeMN thanks for your input! I like your 30 min plan and I think i might steal it for mine :-).  I ordered my first book to just start researching to see if natural birth plan is for me.  If so I think i'll get another book or 2 on different techniques to deal with pain.

    Thank you everyone for your input!  I'm feeling more motivated to try this naturally.
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  • I had no idea what to expect pain-wise when I had my daughter.  I went in with a plan that my hubby knew about as did my nurse who was very supportive.  If I reached a point that I wanted medication, my husband was going to have us wait (per our plan) 30 minutes to see if it was a momentary weakness or something that I was really strongly wanting.  I had read Ina's book and a bunch of birth stories and knew that often the time of 'quitting' natural birth was during transition.  Giving myself 30 minutes would likely lead to being close to pushing and that is entirely what happened. 

    There was a moment when I felt totally out of control of my own body and I hated it.  The waves of contractions were intense and right on top of each other.  I told my hubby it was my 30 minute warning and when my nurse checked me I was a 10 and just had a little lip left.  Not only was it too late to get pain meds, but by the time they would have arrived DD was born.  Pushing was the best pain reliever ever - seriously.  I remember my doctor telling me at my last appointment before birth that pushing was the one thing in labor that I could control so I pushed as hard as I could and it felt so good compared to a contraction. 

    Was labor fun?  Nope.  Was it painful?  Yes.  But it was entirely manageable because I knew how to control my breathing and what movements to try to help alleviate some of the pain.  Surprisingly, laying down on my side holding on to the bar with my eyes closed helped me focus on my breaths.  I thought for sure I'd want a bath, to be standing/rocking, etc.  Following your body's natural lead will help you immensely.

    People ask me now what my plan is for #2.  It is the same as for #1. This birth will be different and I do not know how it will play out.  We'll go in with the same plan in place and see where it takes us.  I know my body can do it, but we'll see. 

    All of this!!! Usually when you feel like you are out of control and just can't go on, it is almost time to push. Pushing is sooooo much better than waiting for 10cm, you are working with the contractions and doing something.
    The instant that baby slides out, you feel so much relief and so great!
    I have done it twice, I was encouraged the first time by hearing stories of friends that had gone through it, especially those who chose to go drug-free a second time (to me it meant that it wasn't THAT bad). It is intense and painful, but has an end that isn't all that far away. 
    DD#1 (6), DD#2 (4), DD#3 (0)
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