September 2015 Moms
sparklett22
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Natural birth, less recovery time??
sparklett22
member
I'm planning on having an epidural. Now, hearing from different people that a natural birth equals less recovery time, I'm having doubts. Ladies, what are your thoughts? I guess this will be my main question to my doctor at the 20 weeks check up.
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Re: Natural birth, less recovery time??
If you choose to go unmedicated look up the Bradley birthing method. Good luck!
I also know plenty of friends who have had epidurals and had awesome quick recoveries similar to my 1st & 2nd. There are just too many variables that go into this. I will say an unmedicated delivery is generally faster and you generally push more efficiently which can mean less exhaustion, less likely to tear, etc. So in general, yes unmedicated = faster recovery but it's not always the case.
Not everything is so cut and dry I realize. There's always exceptions to every rule but an unmedicated birth goes without a hitch more times than not. It drives me bonkers that people don't want to speak honestly of the risks of medications and being on your back in labor and they push for meds more than the safer alternative of birthing without drugs. Knowing somebody who experienced XYZ negates the research, unfairly, as a whole.
I believe women were made to birth and are not inherently broken and don't always need to "be saved" in childbirth. Thank God for meds and for docs so that women who DO need cesareans and drugs can give birth and live. If my baby was in danger I'd jog my butt to the OR myself and tell them to save baby. I'm NOT against hospitals or medicine. I am against false information and assumptions about risks. Let's stop assuming that EVERY mother who wants to birth without drugs is going to be so selfish as to risk baby's life for the sake of saying "I did it without drugs!" I'm not into pain for pleasure. Choosing no drugs the last few births was hard, not selfish. There are many ways to give birth, let's respect each individual and her circumstances PLEASE.
Ahem.
That being said I have done both. My first two I had epidurals. I hated it for myself (some women love theirs; more power to whatever you want) which is why I began to really do my homework with my third baby and had an epidural-free hospital birth. Next two were also drug-free. No I'm not tooting my own horn. It was what I felt was best and what I worked hard to do so it was safer for everyone.
I never mentioned it in this forum before because it still bothers me but second baby's collarbone was broken during her birth by a hasty and less experienced doctor who wasn't letting me push. She pulled on my sweet girl's delicate head and we found the collarbone break the next day when the pediatrician came to visit (and he was pissed!). The conclusion was the fault of the doctor; my baby wasn't stuck. Yanking out someone's newborn out of their vagina in under a minute so you can get home is wrong!
So for me my natural births were for my subsequent babies' safety and why I'm a little hot under the collar for someone to say an unmedicated birth was MORE risky. I had an OB tell me to just skip to a cesarean with my third baby but I got a second opinion and had that first natural birth; no tears for me and no broken bones for her. Being free to move and to birth without anyone unnecessarily yanking on my babies' heads was important to me. More painful for me but less risk for them.
NOT saying this is the norm. Just explaining why I personally choose no meds now.
I digress...
Even with a natural birth you do need to recover. A lot depends on if you tore and how bad. Women who tear need a lot more healing. There are ways to reduce the risk of tears including birthing in *different* positions from the lithotomy position (on back or semi-reclining) and even water birth.
I tore with my epidurals and required a few stitches. Never had stitches with the three unmedicated births that I had. Again everyone is different. But tearing in one birth doesn't mean you will necessarily tear again.
Knowledge is power. Keep researching. If you feel you want to have a baby unmedicated then there's absolutely no reason you can't prepare for that. Your recovery time, most likely, will be easier. But rest is still super important no matter how you give birth.
Second baby came so fast I didn't have time for the epidural. I labored an hour at home and arrived at the hospital at 7 cm. With her I had a 2nd degree tear with stitches. I felt normal again after a few days.
So was it the lack of medication? Was it that I had a less severe tear? Was it because my body was better prepared for labor since it had happened once before? Or was I personally better prepared? I can't say I know for sure.
With my second i did unmedicated. My easiest labor. I woke up in labor and when I got to the dr office to be checked I was dilated to 4cm so he admitted me. I had no IV just the heplock they put in just in case. I was able to be up out of the bed and it made laboring and delivery so much easier. Recovery was so much better too. I didn't tear and only pushed for 5 minutes. I will be doing unmedicated again this time.
https://www.generationrescue.org/prevention/during-pregnancy/
With my labor when i had an epidural I was able to nurse right away and after stitches I walked around an hour after. I felt fine within a day so I can't say i'd rather have done it different. I only pushed 5 times and I was reclined. So to each their own but medicated isn't always as horrible as everyone says.
Yup. Me 2. I have godchildren who are twins. 1 is autistic, the other twin is perfectly fine. Obviously neither baby received different treatment during pregnancy/labor nor afterwards.
Though I do disagree with the last part about hospitals wouldn't do it if it wasn't safe. I firmly have to just disagree with that- research off label use of cytotec for labor induction and you will see how commonly it's used and how vastly high the risk level is yet many hospitals and providers consider it "safe". This is where it's vital to trust your provider, research and educate yourself so in the moment you know how to advocate for what you're comfortable with and making sure you're on the same wave length as far as what risk level your comfortable with. Just because something is offered doesn't mean it's safe- every.single.medication has its risk, you just have to decide what you're comfortable with and what you view as necessary.
A woman dies every 90 seconds from childbirth complications around the world so the need is not as rare as you might think. I went med-free, pushed for 2 hours and ended up with a csection anyway. If I had been in a different part of the world I'm not sure what would have happened.
We are so thankful that our second daughter, Lillian Elizabeth "Lily", was born healthy and happy on February 11, 2013. We love her to pieces.
We lost our first daughter, Hannah Grace on May 4, 2011. She was buried on May 14 during a beautiful service at my home church. We are grateful that if she could not be here with us, that she is healed and whole with the Lord. We look forward to the day when we will get to meet her. We love her so much.
We are so thankful that our second daughter, Lillian Elizabeth "Lily", was born healthy and happy on February 11, 2013. We love her to pieces.
We lost our first daughter, Hannah Grace on May 4, 2011. She was buried on May 14 during a beautiful service at my home church. We are grateful that if she could not be here with us, that she is healed and whole with the Lord. We look forward to the day when we will get to meet her. We love her so much.
The natural birth board is fantastic here on the bump. Lurk there if you think you are at all interested in a med-free birth.
I think that getting an epi ups your chances for other interventions....which could then cause you to need a C-section. That would require a longer recovery, for sure.
I've had two unmedicated births. The first...I felt like I was hit by a bus. But still I was feeling close to normal within a week or so. The second time, I felt fantastic a within 24 hours.