Crazy hallucinations during drug-free birth... anyone?

[Birthdreams]

I've name-changed for this as I've told a few people, so it's quite outing.

10 years ago I gave birth to my first child. It was a water birth and I had no drugs whatsoever during the entire thing - not even gas and air. I did have two paracetamol, but I don't think that can explain what happened.

Although it was 10 years ago, I know this is an accurate memory as I wrote down that day what had happened and I read it again yesterday.

When I was in the pool, in the late stage of my birth, maybe the last half hour, I started falling asleep between contractions. Let's say the contraction lasted a minute or so, then I had 3-4 minutes between each time - I would put my head down and would pass out/fall asleep. Every time that happened I instantly felt I was transported somewhere else around the world. I would be in a dream, a dream in which nothing really happened - I would just be there, observing a perfectly ordinary scene somewhere else in the world. I would be there until my next contraction started, at which point I would be pulled back into wakefulness, and the birthing pool. I would do my contraction, and then the cycle would repeat.

It wasn't a long labour, so I wasn't particularly tired. I had had a good night's sleep, woken up around 5:30 a.m when my waters broke, and this was happening only about four hours later at around 10 a.m. So it can't be drugs and it can't be tiredness that caused this to happen.

I've talked to a lot of people about their birth stories, and I've never heard anyone have one like mine. I'd love to know whether any of you did? (I think a complicating factor is that I don't know that many people who had drug-free births.)

I went on to have two more children, but this never happened again -- only with my first child.

Hi, I gave birth both times with no drugs. I wouldn’t say I had hallucinogenic experiences, but I was very aware it was me and the baby working together, both times. I will say that I’ve always found it easy to live in my head, so I think that helped with being able to dissociate from the pain.

I also have never met anyone IRL who has had a drug free birth, and you’re the first online!

A friend of mine is a doula and very experienced womb healing and alternative births, she might be able to shed some light or you might be interested in her blogs etc on Instagram

the.womens.witch

I tried hypnobirthing for DD 24 years ago.
During one particularly strong contraction, I went through the whole ‘white sand, cold water’ thing, and while I was waist deep in the water, a gas and air canister came floating by. I grabbed it with both hands.

Probably sleep deprivation/ delirium/ dreaming. I had lots of drugs during mine so my delusions are understandable. However a few months after my very long first labour I was chatting to my husband about DD birth. I had ended up with an emergency forced delivery and was rushed to theatre very quickly. We were reminiscing etc and he came out with “god that other family in the theatre must have been wondering what the hell was going on”. After a bit of probing it turned out he “seen” another labouring women and partner giving birth in the theatre, I reassured him that absolutely definitely 100% did not happen, 2 patients would never be in a theatre at the same time yet he still insists they were and he “seen” it. I can only imagine 3 days with very little sleep messed with his brain.

I didn't have any drugs when in labour, either. My husband said I frequently looked around the room and said "what are you all doing here, I haven't defrosted enough spring rolls!" So I assume I was hallucinating! I don't remember it at all 😂

I had a drug free birth but didn't have any hallucinations. Maybe because it was super quick. But these are very interesting. I am wishing I did have some stories to tell

I would assume a coping mechanism - trauma dissociation is where an individual disconnects from themselves or the situation mentally

I had a drug free birth for my third at home and I delivered her myself (with the midwife standing right next to me). There's a painting by Matisse, a woman, like just blue brush strokes, and I remember getting well lost walking down these blue roads outside of space and time.

Sleep deprivation, exhaustion, pain, possibly beginning to hyperventilate with the stronger/closer together contractions.

Nothing magical or otherworldly about it. Just a normal physical reaction to the extreme process you were going through.

I had a drug-free birth that ended in a c section with spinal block. I was just happy, then after the contractions came (once the midwife broke my waters) I thought I was going to die and kept thinking I wish I had all the drugs. Turned out my uterus is fused into place by scar tissue from a late- treated ruptured appendix in childhood, so my uterus couldn't do the movement to expel my baby. Also explains my unexplained infertility as my whole abdomen is scar tissue.

Your experience sounds lovely- I really hope more women experience lovely, trippy, drug-free births.

I wasn't either sleep deprived or exhausted - I'd just woken from a full night's sleep. Don't think I was hyperventilating. But yes there was a bit of pain

Not sure why u need to change your name, nothing to be shameful about ..

My first birth I had gas and air.was in labour for 12 hrs.i was exactly the same drifting off in to a dream like daze,then awoken then drifting,i felt like it lasted forever.i had four more children after and never the same again.

My first labour was only 3 hours from start to finish and only went to hospital 1 hour before baby arrived, so no time for any drugs. I’m talking 30 years ago and I had been watching soldier soldier when contractions started and was pleasantly surprised when Robson Green arrived to help me through the horrendous pain.
Everyone always says how lucky I was to have such a short labour but to me, it just meant there was no build up to the pain, it was just there from the off. Thankfully Robson was there 🤣

The pain can do very peculiar things to you. I had a water birth and gas and air made me sick so I did it without drugs. At the point of transition, I felt like I was turning inside out. They had to break my waters and the pain was way more intense than physically pushing the baby out. Much like you, I went into a dissociative state and went somewhere else in my head. I think it’s basically that your body goes into shock, and your reaction to that is quite unique to you. I went into shock again afterwards when the placenta was manually removed and I found myself shivering uncontrollably, but that’s different story. It might not be glamorous but women’s bodies are truly amazing, aren’t they?

It sounds like a hypnotic state. I did training in self hypnosis prior to giving birth in the 80's. In the US at that time there were no epidurals, and only some pain relief prior to reaching a 7. I actively used it and it worked.

Yes I had the same type of thing in a birthing pool.

Was fully alert, but drifting out of being present in the room, to travelling and even communicating with ancestors.

Was not in a lot of pain, a bit odd really. Only happened in the pool.

I had something similar with my second child... I had a long latent labour and was drifting to sleep in between contractions... it was only a little lull in between each contraction so it was like sleeping while semi conscious/experiencing nothingness but being somewhat aware of it. I've always put it down to just being so tired!

I did a hypnobirthing course and I remember them saying that you can "get into the zone" and it can be like a bubble. Either way, it's very common not to really be aware of your surroundings and retreat into yourself during birth (I've definitely experienced that too).

The mind (and associated/individual coping mechanisms) is powerful.

This wasn't a hallucination to me amd still isn't. I was in advanced labour 20 years ago with my first-born rainbow (2nd pg) and my mom came to help me cope with the pain. She, or rather her body, had been deceased for 6 years nearly by that point - would you want to tell my Mom that she can't attend the birth of her 2nd grandchild or help her daughter? She would've said that even Death and wild horses wouldn't dare try. It's been a lovely memory and I've had several 'visits' from her since then 💕

YES!! I experienced this with my second daughter. Total out of body experience, I literally had a hallucination that I collected her from what I assume was heaven??! She was handed to me by an older woman. So bizarre lol. Odd thing is, we didn’t know she was a girl until she arrived.
She also came out with very clear “stork bites”

Completely drug free birth too. It was very special 🩷 I enjoyed every second of her labour.

Yes. I am glad others have too. Only with my middle child, who was back to back, and I only had gas and air. It was horrific.

I started to have extreme deja vu, so I was predicting who was saying what and when. I could even hear/see what they were saying in the corridor and was answering them but they couldnt hear me....I was saying to my husband "they need to give me that fucking pethidine, they're saying they won't..." he said, "they're not in the room, don't worry" then they came back and one said "I'm so sorry, we can't give you the pethidine".....I said I know I've just watched you discuss it!

Then I said "don't ask me that, I'm exhausted" and gave the evils to the midwife who said, "well I was just going to get you to stand up...."

It was very weird...I felt like I had an all seeing vision and also said to them, "you can talk about me all you want, I know I'm not as bad as the woman in the same situation yesterday" to which they looked a little anxious/scared. My husband then said I said in a sinister voice "I know more than you think"

I mean, could all be hormones, gas and air, pain, exhaustion etc. But for a while I felt like I was God 😆

I had 2 drug free water births. One at 4am and my water went at 10pm so I hadn't had any sleep but I didn't experience what you did. Sounds like disassociating though

I was a POW being tortured during my horrendous back to back labour with a very stuck almost 11 lb son… it was so real. It was like I came back to myself in between contractions. Weird.

Well my labour hallucinations were purely provided by pethidine, but if you look up influencer Louise Pentland on YouTube, her birth story with her youngest DD who’s about 6 or 7 she talks about a very similar experience.

I didn't hallucinate but with both my first and third births I was unmedicated and went to a very strange, zen, "inner place" where time didn't exist and I wasn't in the room. In the pool as others have said.

I am absolutely useless at meditation. I have ADHD and I can't sit still for that long, I get bored! But birth was different. I've never been able to achieve the same level of relaxation/self-hypnosis in any other situation.

(The second one was horrifically painful and I mostly yelled my head off and panicked after I couldn't sit still for an epidural either so that didn't work 😨)