What's the bottom line - is giving birth without chemical pain relief manageable? Yes or No!

[Baretoes]

If you could answer either 'yes' or 'no' ONLY - what would your answer be?

Yes.

yes

For me - Yes (just about!). Definately not fun or enjoyable tho! But would do it again.

For you - ? Well it will depend on the circumstances. Dont rule out anything. You wont know until its all happening. The end result is what matters.

x

Yes

I think the 2 paracetamol I had at 11.00pm do not count as DD1 delivered at 8.40 am. Think this was due to being at home and a really supportive MW who let me get on with things. And yes I do feel proud and a sense of achievment. I can not say why as it may be what everyone feels anyway but I think it came partly from being so pleased about what my body is capable of. Especially as this was my first, gutted at the minute as my next homebirth has been ruled out as expecting twins, I will still want to avoid as much intervention as possible though.

My dd2 came so quick I didn't have time for pain relief at all...they gave me gas and air but I was in so much pain...and very focused on pushing...I couldn't be doing with holding the damned mouth piece...so I just kind of got on with it!
It was ok...just breathed as calmly as I could and focussed on getting her out as quickly as possible!!!!

oh sorry...my answer is yes!

yes (twice)

Not for me. I had two sections.

yes, I did it three times

well the answer is yes of course it is, women have been doing it since time began but why would you want to? Man use to cook on a camp fire but that doesnt mean we dont use our cookers.

No, no, no, hell no!

Seeing as everyone is giving more than a yes! or No! answer, I will elaborate.

1st child, 31.5 hour labour freak contraction 10.5 pounder pulled out ventuse + forceps + HUGEST CUT in history. and this is a tame version

Again I say hell no. Will ask for everything they can throw at me next time

Yes, had g&a + pethidine with ds and just g&a with dd. To expand on an earlier post: I felt proud after ds, but I felt really empowered and fulfilled as well as proud after dd, because I did feel like I was more in control of the whole process. I never expected to have that feeling of empowerment when I actually went into labour with dd, as I thought it would be just like the previous one, but it wasn't it was definitely more fulfilling.

NO! I was induced. Epidural took 3 hours to arrive and 2 hours after that, I was ready to deliver. So I think I had a good idea what it would have felt like without epidural.
Then again, the top-up was again too late and I practically delivered without it, so I guess, its possible. But why bother ...?

yes. 4 dcs no pain relief

DD1: G and A and pethidine, painful and felt drugged and not part of it.... so elected for epidural for second - was great, ..... so with 3rd asked for epidural again, but though it took the edge off, the pain was still great so asked them to bring back the G and A (which I'd been using before they set the epidural up) and this worked well - DS was 11 1b 11 oz! Was in the bath for some of labour and noticed pain was a lot less but got bad when had to get out, so water birth could be good. If you're on a moniter or timing your contractions my advice is to start breathing the gas and air when the contraction is due - don't wait for the pain - as it takes a bit to work and this way the pain releif coincides with the peak of the pain which makes it quite manageable.

YES...
But I have to write more than that
I had my first 9 weeks ago. NO pain relief, not EVEN G &A or birth pool. Only because Im in a country that doesnt "do" pain relief, not because I was on a mission.
On one hand, I dont regret it at all, and the high you get afterwards is amazing because your body has not been altered by chemicals. I was up and about immediately after the birth. I would definitely try to do it that way again. On the other hand, IMO this route is not to be taken lightly. You need a midwife you can trust to help you relax. Ideally, you need the lights dimmed so you can concentrate. you need someone supportive to tell you how well youre doing, and you need to prepare mentally for the pain. It f*ckin hurts, and donT let anyone let you believe otherwize. Try Birthing from within` to get you started.

Yes.
DS1 born after a 15hr labour with just G&A and I was home 12 hours later.
Elected to have a homebirth with DS2 so attended Active Birth Classes to give me an advantage.
Waters broke, contractions started 30 mins later was 5cm dilated after just an hour, however the MW's couldn't get the G&A canister open, I desperately wanted it and concentrated hard on what I'd learnt in the classes while DH attacked the canister with his wrench. Anyway, needed to push MW's gave the go ahead and baby delivered without any pain relief.
I'm not gonna say it didn't hurt, it hurt like hell but I tell you, if you ever see Active Birth Classes advertised locally you should enrol, they gave me the knowledge to keep calm and maintain control of the situation and obviously deal with the pain. My OH though was excellent at both labours, reminded me of a football coach.
After a bubble bath I was downstairs on the sofa eating the curry and rice I had cooked earlier in the day, with my OH and MIL cooing over the baby.

DEPENDS...
The mums saying yes must've had nice straightforward births. No one can promise you that.

Yes -

Gave midwife big scare at visit before last. Said women in 3rd World countries gave birth o thier own all the time - often up a tree with tigers snapping at thier heels - so I was thinkning I might not call her if I felt everything was going okay and DH and DD were out of the way - the woman went gray - ha ha

Yes!

Yes, But not if you're induced (IMO)

BaileysMilkshake - in some 3rd world countries up to a 3rd of 1st time mothers die as a result of childbirth.

No

First birth definately not. Tried to be less 'drugged' for 2nd but ended up with bucket loads of pethidine again.

never mind both the children were fine, and we all survived. Compared to some people on here I think my birth experiences were rather tame despite being 25 hours (dd) and induced (ds)

Depends on the labour. I did, and I'm a wuss. But then I had a quick labour with no complications. I don't think it's a good idea to rule anything out. And I must admit (sticks head nervously above the parapet) I'm not a fan of written-down-prescriptive birth plans for that reason. My birth plan just said 'As natural as possible, but go with the flow'. If I'd have needed an epidural I'd have asked for one with no compunction!