Standing Ground

ksm2006

I have said from day 1 that I plan on having a natural childbirth. I have been faced with nothing but adversity from day 1. I am standing my ground though. I have had a great pregnancy and cant wait for the birth of my LO. I have been unable to obtain Lamaze classes in my area, so I am doing this on my own. I am currently reading "Your Best Birth" by Ricki Lake & Abby Epstein. Does anyone else have ideas or pointers to help me maintain my birth plan? 

Sawyerplus1

Good for you. Education is your best weapon. Confidence in your body's ability doesn't hurt either  

I have had 2 natural births now, both done without any sort of "method" (lamaze, bradley, etc). I had strong support from DH, which was also very important, but it ultimately came down to me knowing what I wanted and what was best for me. 

BarefootRI

So far I have read Ina May's Guide to Childbirth (so empowering and eye opening!) and I am about halfway through a book called Natural Hospital Birth, which I am really enjoying so far. We also watched The Business of Being Born. As of last week, we hired a doula which I am very excited about. 

Childbirth classes are not an option for us where we are living right now ,and without a babysitter for our toddler. I am just focusing on educating myself as much as possible and frequenting boards like this one to stay inspired and motivated over the next 18+ weeks. My husband and the few friends I have shared my birth plan with are very supportive so I'm feeling really good about the whole thing. I started out not 100% confident in myself but now I'm pumped and I know I can do it! I know I won't be changing my mind. 

My advice is just continue to educate yourself and be confident in your plan. Be committed to it and you can do it!

ftrmrsjksn

I am pregnant with my first baby, 13 weeks today. I am a real worrier and as much as I dont like pain I came to the conclusion I would rather go through pain that will go away eventually than to put my baby in danger. The hospital I am going to be delivering at does have birthing classes so my husband and I do plan on taking that. I have told some people that I plan on doing natural birth and they just laugh at me and tell me I cant do it, but I am not going to let them sway my decision, so as long as everything goes as planned through the rest of my pregnancy I plan on delivering naturally. Good luck ladies