Being a past "first timer" I can say this - sometimes you go into labour thinking you'll be okay handling a more natural labour. However when you are in labour sometimes you think pain relief might be a very good option! That's why it's important to think about different case scenarios when writing up your birth plan, remember to keep an open mind and trust your instincts. I think I expected to have a fairly straight-forward labour, I never planned to have a REALLY long labour (around 32-36 hours) and to have my waters broken and to be augmented (hence I couldn't handle the pain!).

For those of you who have not yet had their first baby, share your birth plan for pain relief

For those of you who have had one baby already, share your views on pain relief for your next labour

For those of you that have had more than one baby, what pain relief methods have you tried and what worked / didn't work for you at the time?