Labour with no drugs?

[Fire]

I think when it comes to being open about things, we're all different in that. I can't be open about it, I had to know exactly what I wanted to achieve and why and implement it. The first time I went into labour, I had a "keep your options open" mentality and I ended up on the cascade of interventions - epidural, which messed up both mine and baby's heart rate, syntocinon to speed things up cos of the effects of the epi, and eventually c section. This is very common, exactly that order, for a ridiculously large amount of women. Even the Pink Kit says several times in large bold letters, "Hope is not a plan".

This time, I have firmly shut the door on intervention, I'm homebirthing with a doula and a midwife. I am much more educated about birth now and like Kelly said, the Pink Kit is MIRACULOUS, totally recommended. Juju's stuff however, made me want to puke. On every single page she stresses how horrific labour is and how squeezing a ball will distract you through it... no surprises that her protege Sarah Murdoch ended up not coping during her labour (or so I heard).

In other cultures, women not only prepare mentally for the birth by attending births throughout their lives and therefore have a realistic idea of what birth is and the normalcy of it, but they also prepare physically. Being a little fit, or at least have endurance ability, being rested, doing weeks of internal vaginal massage to relax and prepare the tissues to stretch = all these things help a natural birth.

You won't get medals for not using drugs, but, of all the information I've learned over this last year one thing stands out: who cares about medals when you get to properly bond with baby, and work in a natural fashion with your body, and don't risk fetal issues during labour? I know from my first labour that labour is extremely intense, and without support it is overwhelmingly so; but by the same token, it's a short time in a lifetime. I've left myself no option but to get this baby out naturally, so my motto is "this will be over soon... this will be over soon..." oh, and several other things I picked up from the Pink Kit.