Pro natural birth (with drugs)...or am I?

Hi ladies

Congrats to the two new pregnant moomies in the thread

I saw both a c-sec and natural birth when I was a student, and I must admit, that I fainted during the natural birth. The way that lady was shouting, freaked me out Despite that, it was still my intention to have a natural birth.

In the end I was induced, and I understood that I would have a c-sec if the induction failed. The epidural was not painful at all, I hardly even noticed it. I never felt one contraction the whole time, except towards the end when it was time for me to push. Shoo, it is not easy! My husband was by my side and he was great, but afterwards he told me how it really was for him, and it looked as bad as it felt If it was so painful with drugs, then I am not even willing to consider going 100% natural.

I had two stitches, and it was tender down there for a few days, but I was able to walk around and do everything like normal the next day. My baby weighed 3.6kgs and I'm very proud of the fact that I eventually managed to push him out

Hi All,

I am 16 weeks pregnant and the birth choice for my baby has been a concern since I found out.
I have read numerous books and articles and i must admit, this by far has been the most helpful, its real stories that will help me make the right choice.

I want the best for my baby but at the same time want to be calm and mentally prepared for him/her.

Thank you for the great advise.

Hi Carien,

Congratulations on your pregnancy!!

Now I can go on and on about defending my choice with my first son etc. but would like to share this with you!

I was the the only one of our friends who went for a natural birth option first time round - everyone was able to share their experiences based on their C-sections - so I felt I had to know what I was letting myself into. I also watched numerous videos on the internet of births and was terrified after seeing it.

I told my midwife that I was doubting my choice because of these horror images I saw. She told me not to look at the images as experiencing it and what I see happening to someone else is two different things. First off I have not experienced giving birth before and therefore seeing these images and feeling terrified was a normal feeling!

She told me everyone is scared first time round because you don't know what to expect!! She told me to write out my birth plan so that I can hand it to them and they can ensure that I tell them exactly what I am expecting from my birth experience and what I don't want.

This really was an experience - I had to write my "wish list" for option A and option B and handed this to them - they then sat down with me at my next visit and worked through my list with me! This really set my mind at rest and I felt that each of the options had its pro's and con's.

Fact is giving birth is not as easy peasy as the movies suggest I felt at ease and gave birth to my lovely boy.

I am now pregnant with number two and I will definitely be writing up a birth plan second time round again!

No matter what choice you make - you need to feel comfortable with it and your baby needs to be safe!

Good luck with the journey ahead and I know no matter which option you decide on at the end you will have a little bundle of joy that will change your life forever!!!


Kathleen

Hi Carien,

Congratulations on your pregnancy.

I had vaginal birth with semi-epidural, my husband and I watched all the births, and we both freaked out after watching a c-section (the way they pull the baby out put my husband off immediately) and the surgery room freaked me out. I really didnt want to have an epidural whatsoever as I have this thing if I cant move my feet I become anxious and due to the fact I already have back problems (sciatica and a slightly curved spine). But alas when those contractions kicked in, I buckled and opted for pethadine first.

That took the edge off a little but made me very sleepy, an hour (or two) later I opted for an epidural! It wasnt as bad as what I thought it would be, even though the anaethetist struggled with my curved spine. I was able to move my legs outwards and move my feet so I was happy.

The only downside to my whole experience is that by the time my lg was ready to come out, I was dead tired and needed assistance (12 hours labour). They broke 2 vacuum suction units as the membrane was stuck on her head (my water didnt break as it only came out afterwards) and so it couldnt suction correctly, but she came out nontheless and I would do it all over again, although this time without the pethadine and definitely with the help of a midwife from the beginning!

For my husband the only bad part of it all was the amount of blood, and according to my gynae she definitely agreed with him on that. (that could also be because my mother happened to knock over my placenta - it was 1am afterall lol).

I cant knock a c-section as I havent had one, but to me a vaginal birth has just those added extra's that make the birthing story just that more interesting.

Just remember though if you do opt for natural/vaginal birth always be prepared for a c-section as you never know what can happen and you definitely dont want to be disappointed.

Good luck in the decision making

Here's just one thing to consider that I read today

holisticibclc.blogspot.com/2011/06/gut-m...es-and-poop.html?m=1

Between my two girls it is most definitely the truth

Clueless. Well said.

However I think a lot of moms unfortunenately don't do enough research about the pro's and cons of types of births and are almost 70% bulldozed by doctors into having a c-sec where there was rarely a true medical reason. By true medical reason I also include "EXTREME" fear of birth due to psychological reasons.

All I can say is that should you have fears about natural birth and you need someone to help you get over these fears (should you be interested), this is the place to be (Moomie)!! There are a few really clued up ladies here and I take my hat off to them!