Amber - well done on aiming for a natural birth - it's becoming harder to achieve one these days when there is such a hight rate of medical intervention, lots of it unnecessary too. Aiming for a natural birth is such a wonderful gift to offer your unborn baby.

A great way to really help you achieve this is to hire a professional birth attendant or doula - the stats speak for themselves (you can read the full info here: https://www.bellybelly.com.au/birth-support ):

"As recognised by the World Health Organization and according to many independent studies from around the world, where an experienced birth support person was present, the following benefits were observed:"

For the birth

* Reduction in length of labour (by an average of 98 minutes)
* The use of analgesia reduced by 35%
* Epidural use decreased
* Reduction in oxytocin augmentation (drip to speed up / stregnthen labour) by 71%
* Reduction in use of forceps by 57%
* Caesarean births reduced by 51%

Data from meta-analysis of twelve trials (includes data from a wide variety of medical, cultural and economic settings).

For mothers

* A greater sense of fulfillment with the birth experience
* A greater satisfaction with her partner’s role
* A feeling of better bonding with her baby after the birth
* Lower rates of post-natal depression

For babies

* Reduced amount / time of hospital stays
* Fewer admissions to special care nurseries
* Increased breastfeeding success
* Higher APGAR’s or post-birth assessment scores

Also you might like to read this article I wrote on aiming for a natural birth: https://www.bellybelly.com.au/birth/natural-birth

Use water if possible - baths or pools after 7cms (earlier can slow labour due to the weightlessness) and have supportive, encouraging people with you. You don't need sympathy in labour, you need encouragement to keep working through that pain! Mums are a bad choice for that reason, they don't like their little girls being in pain and want to help them get out of pain