Not sure if mine is classes as drug free as I was induced but I didn't have any pain relief. I read a lot about labour and birth esp new active birth and I remember reading in one of the books about understanding why labour hurts and what the contractions are doing ie lifting the muscles of your uterus to pull open your cervix. being able to visualise this action with each contraction helped me to relax immensely.

i remeber the first two contractions I had hurt a lot as I was lying down hooked up to lots of machines. I knew then that I could not lie down for labour and as soon as I stood up the pain was manageable. In fact I remember saying many times over that labour was not as horrific as I thought it would be. I used some gas during transition but it made me fall over so I just used o2 with the mouth piece to bite on and focus on.

I had great midwifes that helped with positions and I think you really take yourself off somewhere where you can't feel the pain you just let your body do what it has to do - completely detached IYKWIM. Mind you I had a very quick labour only 4hs and 2 were pushing maybe if my labour was longer and more spaced out I would have found it more difficult to cope with the pain.

Best of luck with your labour