First off I would like to say that while I went natural I do not see anything wrong with having an epidural in fact I was my friends labor coach for all three of her births and was totally supportive of her getting epidurals. But it drives me crazy when women claim that because their epi "wore off" they went natural. Um, no you didn't! Just because the epi didn't make it completely pain free doesn't mean that it's "like" you went natural. If you didn't go natural then you didn't go natural!
Re: Flame away but it makes me mad...
same here
While I agree with you to an extent, my epidural completely 'failed' because they never hooked up the pump. I had the initial bolus, but then nothing through the drip at all. They realized it after delivery.
So while I wasn't 100% natural I sure as heck delivered with no working pain medication. I plan to go without an epidural at all next time since I know I can 'do it' now...but you weren't there so you don't know. Sometimes epidurals really and truly completely fail and you feel everything. Maybe that is what these women mean.
That's how I see it too....
Why do you care how other women refer to their birth experience? I have never, never understood this. So they say they went "natural" after their epi wore off. This effects you how?
I'm not flaming you, I just don't get it.
Flame away but it makes me mad...
That people always assume, and let it be known, that they're going to be flamed.
Agreed.
I think the reason that it bothers me is because I am very proud of my UNMEDICATED (just found out it is wrong to use the term natural) birth and I feel like it takes away from how hard it is to do it without medication. I am not saying that it isn't hard even if you do have an epi but it is still not the same as having no medication and saying that implies that it is.
I so regret that I needed medication for my medically-necessary induction. Because we all know that babies delivered via unmedicated birth get full-ride scholarships to Ivy League universities. So now my kid is totally doomed. No wonder you are so proud!!!
No one is taking anything away from your birth.
And FWIW my first delivery--with an epidural and a cesarean--was a LOT harder than my second, an unmedicated, intervention-free birth. You have no idea how easy or hard someone else's birth was, because you aren't them.
So would you like a medal or a badge of honor? FFS, your birth experience does not trump others.
I'm very proud of my scheduled c-section birth!!!!111!!
Yeah, pretty much all of this.
OP - it's great that you had the birth experience you wanted. Truly. But it only matters to you. Someone else saying they went "natural" if their epi wore off doesn't take anything away from you. You can still be proud of yourself for going without drugs, if it means that much to you.
I suppose part of the reason I don't get it is that I never put any pride or stock in how my baby arrived. The experiences of other women have zero effect on me or how I view the birth of my daughter. I just couldn't care less if someone else pushed their child out of their vagina without meds. It has nothing to do with me, just like my decision to have a c-section has nothing to do with them.
You still got the experience you wanted. Since the women you are talking about had their epi wear off, they didn't, which is too bad. And again, who cares about any of it, other than the individual woman involved?
This! OP get off your high horse
Ok, I get it. To an extent... when you're actually talking about "natural births" one would assume you are talking about a completely intervention-free birth with no pain meds, so when that's not what you're referring to it gets confusing. Otherwise I don't see how it matters. I had a med-free birth with an episiotomy at the very end as her heartrate took a major nosedive. to some people that wasn't a natural birth either because of the episiotomy. Who cares? personally, I think we should toss the term "natural birth" as it has no true definition and makes no sense. a c-section is clearly not a natural birth as in you didn't actually "give birth" (I'm not discounting it at all, don't get me wrong) it's a surgical removal. otherwise any type of vaginal birth is a natural birth. otherwise a vaginal birth can be medicated or med-free. as for inductions(not elected ones) and other interventions, the mothers hands are usually tied there. those things are done for mother and baby's safety and it's not fair for someone to say that it was "unnatural" because of a medical need.
In short, your being "proud" of your birth make sit sound like they wimped out and you held out. well, if you're looking for a pat on the back and a "good job" you're not going to get it and certainly not here. Especially after a comment like that. No one can taint your birth by classifying their birth a certain way and if you did it for brownie points that's just stupid.
In addition, if you know people are just going to disagrree with you and there's going to be a whole page of posts about how ridiculous people think you're being then why did you post this at all? seems kind of silly to me. almost like you are looking for an argument. I mean, this post wouldn't get a whole lot of positive feedback, even on the natural birth board. Get over yourself.
I Bump from my phone 90% of the time, with a baby in my lap, so please excuse my bad format and poor spelling and/or punctuation.
WTF.
A c-section is still giving birth.
I Bump from my phone 90% of the time, with a baby in my lap, so please excuse my bad format and poor spelling and/or punctuation.
please allow me to clarify what I meant. I can see how that came out wrong. I meant that it isn't the body going through the birthing process. It is a situation that requires major surgery to assist in the birth of the baby. Like I said, I wasn't discounting it at all. I was just trying to show the difference between what i would consider a "natural" or "unnatural" birth.
I Bump from my phone 90% of the time, with a baby in my lap, so please excuse my bad format and poor spelling and/or punctuation.
Babies, tumors. They're pretty much the same thing.
Girl, tell me about it. After 9 hours of pitocin fused back labor, I needed that epidural.
i think it's interesting how there is so much pressure on women to go the "natural" route with no pain meds, no interventions what so ever. that's fine if that's what your "birth plan" is but i don't see how you're a hero. if someone had an appendectomy without anesthesia would you pat them on the back?
also, isn't the whole point to have a healthy baby, no matter how it happens? so what if it popped out of my vagina or was removed like a tumor. the baby is healthy and that's all that matters. now the important, heroic part begins, being the best mother possible to your child. not that you were such a she-woman and sucked up the pain. that's just the tip of the iceberg in the grand scheme of things.
She has one in her siggy. I effing hate the "I went natural" badge.
OP, like scout said, it's great that you had the birth experience you wanted and I give credit to women who stick to their med-free birth plans. But no one else's experience should take away from how you feel about your own. It is silly that people say they were unmedicated when in fact they were not, but as it was pointed out, unmedicated doesn't equal natural.
And FWIW, gloating about 'going natural' really grates on my nerves. I would've loved a natural and unmedicated birth. Instead, I ended up with a very-medicated major surgery to save my daughter's life.
This.
This will be my first baby, so I have no clue how painful it is going to be, but pain is relative to the person. You can't say med-free is harder because you aren't that person. Before getting pregnant I thought an epi was the magic potion to make labor easy. Now doing research and talking to experienced moms I know that a vag delivery with epi can be just as hard if not harder or easier than a med-free. It just depends on the person, how the medication effects them, pain tolerance, and even how much they focus and breathe. You are right it is not the same as having no medication, it very well might be worse.
I never thought about it that way. That is a good point.
Be mad all you want, but it's a BS reason to be mad. Everyone here had a baby....at the end of the day who gives a shiz how that baby came out. Vag. C-Section. Thru the nose. Drugs. No Drugs. In a friggin bathtub. Doesn't matter. I don't care that you had a "natural" birth - kudos to you. You shouldn't care that I had not 1, but TWO planned c-sections.
We're all doing what is best for US - and while you may feel that my planned c-section somehow makes me a lesser mom, I can say that you're the fool for not taking advantage of a plethora of drugs to ease your pain during a very painful process.
We all need to be supportive of each other's decisions in how to deliver & raise our children because the process is hard enough withouth having it being judged. Really....the only thing we should be judging is that if your kid is old enough to walk up to your boob & take a drink on his own - it's time to stop breastfeeding. Anything other than that, I think we can all just agree to disagree!
JFC this post just keeps getting more idiotic.
I am NOT judging anyones decision to get an epidural or a c-section (I never even mentioned c-sections). I think that epidurals are a great thing, most of the people I know have gotten them and loved them. It just wasn't for me though I went into labor with the attitude that if I wanted one I would get one. And as for c-sections I was born via one. I am all for each women making the decisions that are best for them.