Do you have a positive, drug free, natural birth story you'd like to share? Pleeeease

[Taurean]

Just nod and smile when others tell you that you *won't* be able to do it. Every woman and every birth is different. Believing in yourself and your body is the first step to getting your dream birth.

In saying that, I didn't have a drug free birth despite all my efforts. I so badly wanted drug free but it just wasn't to be. DD was posterior, the back pain was hell, and she ended up being stuck so my OB had to manually turn her (both hands up there, ouchies) and then vacuum her out. Needless to say, I was extremely grateful for an epidural!! But, before my epi, I did get to 9cm drug free. I laboured for approx 6 hours before my epi and found a fitball, the shower and lots of 'rocking' really helpful. A great birth team who knew what I wanted and supported that made all the difference too. My waters broke spontaneously at home too so I think that helped me mentally as I knew my body was taking over and doing its job, ITMS.

Anyway, I do know of a few brilliant drug free births in my circle of friends. My sister had an amazing drug free, 1.5 hour water birth with her second son. It was incredibe! One of my close friends laboured for about 24 hours at home but wasn't really sure it was labour and delivered her daughter within an hour of arriving at the hospital - there was no time for drugs!! Another two friends delivered their second babies drug free and both said it was amazing and completely different to the experience they had with their first borns.

Believe in yourself and your body, be sure that your labour team knows your plans and look into natural coping techniques. But also be prepared that things can change and I think it's wise to know a bit about medical interventions in case you need to go down that path.

Good luck though!!

[AndiE]

Just nod and smile when others tell you that you *won't* be able to do it. Every woman and every birth is different. Believing in yourself and your body is the first step to getting your dream birth.

:yeahthat:

I love your original post - by the sounds of it, you'll have the birth you want. Your confidence in your ability to birth naturally and without drugs is the key - you sound like you're well on the way to birthing your baby the way YOU want. Don't let anyone - other mothers, the medical profession, friends and family - undermine your confidence in yourself.

I had two incredible births, both spontaneous, drug free and they were the most empowering experiences of my life. I desperately wanted births free of intervention and without drugs. To this end I educated myself as best I could about the birthing process, found out what my rights and options were and then I enrolled DH and I in a hypnobirthing course. I could wax lyrical about hypnobirthing, but suffice to say if I felt confident before the course, I felt like I had a super power afterwards, such was the faith I had in myself. And the course also helped DH understand totally where I was coming from and be the best support for me that he could. In addition I had weekly acupuncture which I'm certain helped me have easy, relatively quick labours. With DS1 my waters broke at 7.30pm and he was born at 4.25am. Of that, I was only in "hard labour" for the three odd hours I was in the hospital - I pushed for 30 minutes. With DS2 I knew I was in labour around 7.30am, arrived at hospital around 11.30am was in "hard labour" not long afterwards and he was born at 2.14pm - pushing again less than 30 minutes.

With both births I stayed at home as long as I could, I stayed relaxed and I kept the faith. With bub 1 you're not sure what to expect, and I was really keen to experience it for myself. It's fair to say that birthing isn't exactly a picnic, but it is definitely not something to be feared. Hypnobirthing taught us to embrace any "turn" our birthing may take, so we were prepared if we needed assistance, but fortunately I had straightforward births. I found birthing to be hard work at times, but ultimately just so rewarding. And I'll be honest, there is pride in yourself when you can birth the way you want. And then to be able to get up and walk around an hour or so after the birth is also a good feeling.

Good on you Babyluv - I wish you all the best in your birthing journey. Just keep the faith