I was VERY glad I remembered that transition was supposed to be the worst bit!
birth details, not scary
because that was the exact moment I broke down and the midwife told me “you’re transitioning hun” and then I was all “oh right everything is easy now for 5 minutes and then we push, cool cool.” I understood exactly in that moment why so many women ask for the epidural “too late” - it was the only point where I thought “shit should’ve asked for help”
I do not remember the placenta at all. I was holding baby by that point.
I remember thinking it was a waste of time and just pushing without it effecting me, because baby. But I’d imagine that if it hadn’t gone well or if baby was on someone else it’d matter more. I do remember discussing who got to see it (ND doula, ND sister in law, and medically curious me and nieces).
If you gave birth with/without an epidural, would you choose the same again?
Thinking through what I’d like. I’m not a purist, but since movement has usually been helpful when I’ve felt crummy this pregnancy, the idea of keeping some mobility seems good. But also, since I’m not a purist, why not take help?
There are some fascinating quotes in this article with 14 birth blurbs. This gem: “Physically, the closest I can compare it to is a Quentin Tarantino movie.”
I went without. My labour was also 4.5 hours long in the wee hours of the morning, so I didn’t have a great deal of time to consider one and I was rather nervous about the concept. I think in any normal length and certainly longer labours they can be a huge help.
I believe my first text to my best friend afterwards was to advise her to have one!
ETA: I expect to do the same again if it goes as quickly, simply because of time.
I had a posterior labour without an epidural for more than 24 hours, then had the epidural in hopes of getting some rest, then emergency caesarean.
If I was going to attempt a vaginal birth again I would try without again, but not let it go for so long, especially if baby was posterior and didn’t rotate. Knowing where to draw the line having never experienced labour before was hard, in retrospect I should have asked for one sooner but I did not know what I was in for.
Full disclosure, I am booked in to have an elective caesarean in three weeks.
I had an epidural during labour. Ended up with a caesarean so can’t comment on how it would affect the actual pushing out a baby part.
I’d already been in labour (to some extent - induction started slow) for almost 24 hours by the time I opted for an epidural, and was attached to a lot of wires to monitor the baby’s heartbeat etc anyway so it didn’t make much of a difference to mobility. It was an induced posterior birth so it was pretty painful.
If I was a good prospect for VBAC and was pregnant again, I’d plan on another epidural unless labour was surprisingly much easier than last time. However, I may or may not ever be pregnant again, and if I do have another child, it’ll be another caesarean so it’s irrelevant.
I work in a field where if someone has had a side effect from an epidural they will tell me, and it will effect my treatment 20, 30, 49 years later, and I be one of the first people believing and trying to help. That colours my judgement about side effects and fully warls my sense of how common permanent side effects are. That, plus crunchiness meant I didn’t want an epidural.
It wasn’t much worse than a period, plus I had the knowledge that I was getting a baby and minus I had to do it in front of people. My periods are bad though. I would be clearer about wanting other pain relief, i.e. NO and asking for a different nurse. The only time I asked for an epidural was “if it will stop [bad nurse] from yelling at me”. Bad nurse was, at her heart, anti movement and anti vocalizing. If I was not allowed to move for a medically valid reason, I’d need the epidural. But moving and vocalizing were enough for me. Having my doula also helped a lot during the hour or so of misery.
I didn’t want an epidural originally but after 24 hours of stalling labour my waters had to get broken and then it all got too much for me and I got the epidural, which was great for the next few hours. I wasn’t pleased with how the rest of it went and I wonder if it might have gone better without the epi as I would have been more mobile and may not have need further intervention (largely dependent on the birthing team though). But in terms of pain relief, definitely would go with it again if it was a long labour.
I went unmedicated (though H always reminds me I did get a Tylenol for my headache on day 3 ). I had to be induced at 37 weeks and we started the induction at home for 2 days and it got going a little but never took off and I needed pitocin at the hospital. So days 3-5 were at the hospital and I will do it unmedicated again if I get the chance.
My labor was so long because of the induction but I wouldn’t change it. At one point one of the hospital midwives got frustrated with me and said “well, are you SUFFERING?!” when she asked me (for the final time) if I wanted any pain management. I laughed in her face about the dramatic way she asked and reminded her that I had specifically asked, in writing, not to be repeatedly offered medication. I knew that psychologically I would need to say things like “I don’t know if I can do this” but for me that’s more of a releasing the negative thought kind of thing. If I say it out loud it becomes clear to me that I actually can do it. I also now have the hindsight to see how bad my period cramps have been my whole life. I thought they were normal but now I see that I should not have had contraction level cramps every month. So I feel like that helped to prepare me.
For me, walking in the halls, bouncing on the yoga ball, and ESPECIALLY being in water helped me so very much. The hospital only had a stupid size regular bathtub but we made it work. If I get a next time I hope it will be at home with a giant birth tub. The water was a game changer, 400%.
My main consideration with going unmedicated was that I have never had any real pain medication in my life. I’ve been lucky that I’ve never had much that required it. I think I took oxy one time with my wisdom teeth removal maybe? So I was worried about how I’d react or in general how I would feel and I didn’t want to react badly to it on top of trying to have a baby. If I had any frame of reference to any kind of meds/anesthetic I may have chosen differently.
Any and all methods of doing it are valid. My biggest thing was to remind myself to be flexible. My birth was obviously not what I had planned or wanted specifically, but since the overall goal was heathy & safe mama and babe we adapted. And no matter what that changes to include for you it is the right call.
I very much wanted to try unmedicated but didn’t have set-in-stone plans for any of it, which made my prenatal class teacher a bit antsy but I didn’t want to have a plan and then things not go to plan.
Managed unmedicated with a textbook 8 hour labor. Kid was doing some crazy disco moves and punched his way out. If I’d have had another labor in the following few years I would have tried unassisted and definitely would have gone unmedicated for future labors.
I have an extreme tolerance for a very high level of pain though. It’s often a detriment to my overall health in day to day life but was a huge benefit in labor.
My plan was to go unmedicated and I labored for 18 hours in the hospital after my water broke before I finally got the epidural. My labor stalled a ton and in those 18 hours I only went from 3cm to 4cm, but then I went from 4 to 10 in 2 hours, so I’m really glad I got the medicine when I did - not sure I could’ve done that without it and I got to rest a little bit.
Pushing was a whole different game. I pushed constantly for 5 hours. Baby E’s hand was up against her face and she was caught in my pelvic bone. I was a celebrity for the rest of my hospital stay but I really wish it would’ve been a normal 30 minute pushing session!
My experience is very similar to Ducky’s: very fast labor (6 hours for me), wee hours of the morning, no pain relief. Knowing that about myself, I would once again choose no epidural. It was fine; it hurt, but I remember effort more than pain. What I would do if I were planning another pregnancy is get myself to the birthing location ASAP after my water breaks in hopes of getting an actual water birth this time (what actually happened was they had the birthing pool ready for me, but it was too late when I got there). FWIW, I was up and moving the whole time, except for the agonizing drive to the birth center.
Of course, I had no idea how quickly and smoothly labor would go ahead of time! I suspected that my labor would resemble my mother’s (and it did), but the midwives were skeptical.
This is close to me, but weirder. I went 12 hours without, then had 4 fail. Posterior labor and on pitocin. After 36 hours, had a c section since she wasn’t progressing and it was my last spinal I could get- I would have had to be put under general if I went for a c section after that, but I wanted to be awake.
Next time- if baby is smaller (all the growth scans pls) and I am progressing, I’ll try without. If baby is big, I’ll go straight for a c section.
I’m very glad I planned/prepared for labor without an epidural. I can’t imagine them failing like they did if I had planned to have them no matter what. I would have felt very trapped and panicked I think.
Thank you all for sharing . For now I’m leaning towards preparing for unmedicated, but open to epidural if it’s taking a long time. Either way, I feel a lot more equipped to consider the options.
This is a section of my birth plan that my midwife and the OB referenced when we decided to pivot to the c section.
“We’re comfortable with western medicine, but also lean a bit “crunchy”. Our hope is to achieve a minimal intervention, unmedicated birth. BUT, the main reason for this is to maximize the health and wellness (short and long term) of everyone involved. As soon as the situation tips to interventions having a good probability of improving outcomes, we will want those interventions.”
My midwife said she wishes everyone had that clarity in their birth plan, so I figured I’d share in case it resonates!
I like how that’s worded. That’s pretty much the exact philosophy of my midwife and the OBs in her practice. Out here, it’s a whoooole different mindset and the moment I walked in to the hospital is when they would claim interventions would improve outcomes. I was immensely thankful to have had my first birth in the PNW after making parent friends here!
). I had to be induced at 37 weeks and we started the induction at home for 2 days and it got going a little but never took off and I needed pitocin at the hospital. So days 3-5 were at the hospital and I will do it unmedicated again if I get the chance.
. For now I’m leaning towards preparing for unmedicated, but open to epidural if it’s taking a long time. Either way, I feel a lot more equipped to consider the options.