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Anyone else looking into natural birth?
As this is my first pregnancy, natural childbirth may be a little crazy to consider, but I am just in love with the idea of the baby and I going through labor undrugged! I am definitely willing to be flexible about it once I am in the delivery room....but has anyone gone through natural childbirth before, or is anybody else at least looking into it?
I also hate the idea of being strapped to the stupid hospital bed with my legs in the air....it's so unnatural, and from what I have read, the worst position you can be in while giving birth.
I am only 8 weeks along, and have not even been to my first appointment, so it may be premature to be planning the delivery, but I'm guessing most of you ladies are probably thinking about it too! Any input would be greatly appreciated!
I also hate the idea of being strapped to the stupid hospital bed with my legs in the air....it's so unnatural, and from what I have read, the worst position you can be in while giving birth.
I am only 8 weeks along, and have not even been to my first appointment, so it may be premature to be planning the delivery, but I'm guessing most of you ladies are probably thinking about it too! Any input would be greatly appreciated!
I don't think that everyone should go natural if they don't want to. I'd like to do it because I would feel more in charge of my body and I want to experience the 'whole' thing about pregnancy and labor, I want to feel my body do what its capable of doing to bring my child into the world. I just had a natural miscarriage and in a way I felt so violated by all the tests and prodding on my body at the ER for in the end them telling me that I should just go home lay down and maybe take a warm bath and a couple of advils, that the body will discard the pregnancy by itself. In other words "thanks for coming and giving me your money but there's nothing we can do for you, your body will do it for you". Don't get me wrong, the pain was sooo intense that I did take *** many advils as I could.
When I get pregnant again, I want to feel it all, I want to get all of the symptoms at least I'll know that all of that is part of my baby growing and me allowing it to grow in my body and feel every single bit of that baby in me and coming out of me and raise it and watch it grow etc.
My belief and desire does not make me a better or stronger woman, it is just what I want for me and my child.
SolusChristus
It totally depends on the hospital or birthing center. I think a CNM would be more likely to try different positions and massages etc, for giving birth but BEFORE deciding on where you want to deliver, read the maternity info from your hospital and see if they have a "birthing area", that's what I'm looking into for when I switch doctors next time I get pregnant. Usually women's hospitals are more inclined to have more maternity options. Also check out birthing classes, prenatal yoga etc.
I'm really determined to get pregnant again!
When I get pregnant again, I want to feel it all, I want to get all of the symptoms at least I'll know that all of that is part of my baby growing and me allowing it to grow in my body and feel every single bit of that baby in me and coming out of me and raise it and watch it grow etc.
My belief and desire does not make me a better or stronger woman, it is just what I want for me and my child.
SolusChristus
It totally depends on the hospital or birthing center. I think a CNM would be more likely to try different positions and massages etc, for giving birth but BEFORE deciding on where you want to deliver, read the maternity info from your hospital and see if they have a "birthing area", that's what I'm looking into for when I switch doctors next time I get pregnant. Usually women's hospitals are more inclined to have more maternity options. Also check out birthing classes, prenatal yoga etc.
I'm really determined to get pregnant again!
I have a 13yr old boy and I wanted to do it naturally with him but I had back labor and was in labor for 36 hrs. I went natural for most of the duration...they even gave me potessum to speed up the labor which just slowed it down and made the contractions worse..I was absolutely exhausted with no sleep and just drained from the pain of 8hrs staying at worst level of contractions at 9cm that are also constant... so finally I gave into the epidural and it was like a whole new start! I felt reenergized, I could eat, I felt great...they even let me sleep for quite a few hrs before they came in and broke my water and had finally dilated that last centimeter. I would never try to go natural again! It just made the whole process so much easier and why put your body through that if you don't have to!
Thanks for your post, I totally agree with you. I'll try to get that documentary, it sounds great. I just read a book my mother gave me called Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way....it was an incredible book, and got me really fired up about this issue! It's from the 80's, so some of the information may be outdated (and the pictures are hilarious!) but it seems pretty solid.
I had been having a horrible time with nausea, so I called my ob for advice, and the nurse IMMEDIATELY gave me a prescription for promethazine. After doing research about it on the web, I learned that some studies on it have found a slight link to kidney deformations in fetuses, so I decided to just weather the nausea, as long as I can stay hydrated. (By the way, if anybody reading this is on this drug, don't freak out, just do your own research!)
Anyway, that's why I started looking into natural pregnancy and childbirth...doctors are so eager to whip out a prescription pad.
I also want to deliver squatting...will a typical hospital allow you to do this? Do most of them force you to be attached to the fetal heart monitor thingey? My mother told me she was forced to lie in bed the whole time because of it, but surely times have changed since then.
I chose a CNM instead of a regular ob, so I'm hoping she'll be more open-minded about this.
I had been having a horrible time with nausea, so I called my ob for advice, and the nurse IMMEDIATELY gave me a prescription for promethazine. After doing research about it on the web, I learned that some studies on it have found a slight link to kidney deformations in fetuses, so I decided to just weather the nausea, as long as I can stay hydrated. (By the way, if anybody reading this is on this drug, don't freak out, just do your own research!)
Anyway, that's why I started looking into natural pregnancy and childbirth...doctors are so eager to whip out a prescription pad.
I also want to deliver squatting...will a typical hospital allow you to do this? Do most of them force you to be attached to the fetal heart monitor thingey? My mother told me she was forced to lie in bed the whole time because of it, but surely times have changed since then.
I chose a CNM instead of a regular ob, so I'm hoping she'll be more open-minded about this.
Well I'm not pregnant right now BUT i've been doing some reading and exploring. I've always dreamt of an all natural pregnancy. Dr's and hospitals don't seem natural to me and pregnancy even though you may feel sick at times its not a disease or a sickness its the most natural thing for a female body! We're basically designed to be able to get pregnant and give birth. I've always thought the same that I want a natural birth at a hospital with no drugs but flexible when I actually get to that point on whether It hurts too much and I'd want an epidural. BUT last night I watched this documentary (which has been recomended often on this forum) "The Business of being born" it is a great documentary and it just reassured me that I want to have a natural birth.
Think about your question, why would it be weird to want a natural birth versus an unnatural? Shouldn't the question be if its weird to want an unnatural birth? The US is one of the only countries in the world that more than 95% of women give birth in a hospital, and it has nothing to do whether US women are different from the rest, its just that here the medical institution has taken the nature our of giving birth.
Anyway I could go on and on about this. But I'm going to try my hardest to give birth naturally, if it gets to a point that I can't stand it which is very probable then I'll take the epi but I'll try to avoid it. Oh and I want to squat to give birth I agree laying down with your legs up seems more uncomfortable.
Think about your question, why would it be weird to want a natural birth versus an unnatural? Shouldn't the question be if its weird to want an unnatural birth? The US is one of the only countries in the world that more than 95% of women give birth in a hospital, and it has nothing to do whether US women are different from the rest, its just that here the medical institution has taken the nature our of giving birth.
Anyway I could go on and on about this. But I'm going to try my hardest to give birth naturally, if it gets to a point that I can't stand it which is very probable then I'll take the epi but I'll try to avoid it. Oh and I want to squat to give birth I agree laying down with your legs up seems more uncomfortable.
Honestly, I commend anyone who can go through it naturally. It takes a very strong willed woman...of which I am NOT! LOL
I chose to have the epi while giving birth to my son. It helped me get some MUCH needed rest during the day, because I ended up pushing for almost 4 hours straight and was bone tired! Unfortunately, the epi wore off within the first hour of pushing and I pretty much gave birth naturally from that point. I don't think I would have been able to endure hours of labor, then those additional hours of pushing! I'm grateful for the hours that the epi DID work...but it would have been nice if it had continued later on!
As for being strapped to a bed...I don't know where you got that idea! LOL They had my bed practically in a sitting position so that I could push. At some point they did lower it JUST a little and let me try the stirrups, but that's b/c I was having such a hard birth. They finally had to use forceps to help the little bugger out.
Just do a lot of research and talk to your doctor. I'm sure whatever you decide will be the right choice for you. Good luck! :-)
I chose to have the epi while giving birth to my son. It helped me get some MUCH needed rest during the day, because I ended up pushing for almost 4 hours straight and was bone tired! Unfortunately, the epi wore off within the first hour of pushing and I pretty much gave birth naturally from that point. I don't think I would have been able to endure hours of labor, then those additional hours of pushing! I'm grateful for the hours that the epi DID work...but it would have been nice if it had continued later on!
As for being strapped to a bed...I don't know where you got that idea! LOL They had my bed practically in a sitting position so that I could push. At some point they did lower it JUST a little and let me try the stirrups, but that's b/c I was having such a hard birth. They finally had to use forceps to help the little bugger out.
Just do a lot of research and talk to your doctor. I'm sure whatever you decide will be the right choice for you. Good luck! :-)
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