Nonie - just wanted to share with you that I had a 6 hour labour with no gas or drugs or pain relief of any kind and I birthed Hester with out any problems at all. She was 9lb4oz and her head was 36.4cm. (not exactly petite). I had her in a private hospital and the first midwife was fairly pushy with me about what pain relief I would be having but my doula and I managed to get her to back off a bit by being very polite and telling her I would ask for it later if I needed it.

The pain was probably the most intense pain I'd felt but if I gave labour a score of 10, then I've certainly had several occasions where I've had pain at level 9. The best thing about labour pain is that you know it will go away and you know that you are having pain for a really good reason.

Every woman is different and it's not possible to tell how anyone will go - but you are doing the right thing by keeping an open mind and trusting your body can do this will set you up incredibly powerfully for when the time comes. best wishes
kar