Positive birth stories/pain relief experiences please!

[muriwai]

Sorry, a bit of a long one. I've been reading Toothache's 'Why are women treated like idiots...' thread with growing dismay. I'm a first timer due in August and attended an all-day ante-natal class at my local hospital a few weeks ago. We spent a lot of time talking about different types of pain relief and the assumption of the MWs really seemed to be that because we were all first time mums we would all progress from gas & air, to pethedine and then probably on to an epidural. This is not what I want at all -I'm worried about pethedine because of effect on baby and losing control myself and epidural because of lack of mobility etc. My question is, are there any mums out there who managed to get through their first births with just gas & air?

got through first without it and with no 2 used gas about 3 breaths, trick being leave it as late as you can manage before going in!
If you get to near transition without pain relief the rest is a piece of cake....
sort of...

This is very very long....sorry!

I had my dd (my first) with no pain relief at all. I'm in the US and gas & air isn't available, I didn't even have a TENS machine....so it is possible with nothing at all. It is painful (doh!) however I found it manageable. It was without doubt the most amazing experience of my life and the feeling of birthing - the last 30 seconds or so - is beyond words - it's ecstatic. I feel it's a shame some women don't try to have no drugs - having been through it if you need them then by all means you should have them - but a lot of women have drugs (ie. epidural) especially in America, without even trying to do it drug free. The feeling of her little body coming out (which you wouldn't be able to feel with an epidural) is one I will never forget - it was wonderful.

I was in labour for 14 hours, the first 7 or so were really very manageable (like worst period pain x10), with my dh helping me out. I got in the bath, used a rocking chair, used a birthing ball etc. The second 7 hours were progressively harder, I spent a lot of my time squatting down (using a bar on the wall to help support my weight with dh/my doula supporting my back).

From my experience (and I've only gone through labour once so I haven't had much!):

1. Breathing, deeply into the abdomen, regularly and quite slowly. Focus on the out breath and breath the pain out.

2. Relax (hard I know!). Fear and tension are the worst things...they only slow labour down as your body can't open up and do what it's designed for.

3. When you're in transition and pushing grunt instead of scream....bear down and grunt (I made some very odd animal sounds!) as effectively as you can.

4. Talk to the baby (I'm not mad...promise!)...positive feelings from you are picked up by the baby (or so my doula and midwife promised me!) "We're ready for you baby girl, gently move on down the birth canal. Daddy & I are ready for you, we're relaxed and looking forward to meeting you. Please descend'......OK, maybe I am a bit mad but it seemed to work for us!!

5. On your birthplan ask to not be offered drugs.....if you need them don't worry, you will ask for them! If you're not being constantly offered them it's easier to carry on without them.

6. Practise before the birth - practise the breathing & squatting, talk to the baby about the birth and don't be scared. Get a birthing ball (we used a cheap yoga/pilates ball - about 10 quid) for use at home, rocking on it and moving your hips around will help open up your pelvis. Women have been birthing for thousands of years, it's what we're designed for. Don't be scared.

Wishing you lots and lots of luck - and anyone else who's about to go through it. mit xx

Well done MIT I don't know how you coped for so long with no pain relief. I've had 2 births with no drugs only gas and air and a tens machine but that was purely because of the speed of both of my labours. Both were under an hour and a half from 1st contraction. Quick question though, I've always wondered when watching Discovery Health why gas and air isn't available in the US it's so good. My lifeline through both of my labours!!!!!

I didnt reaaly want pain relief before I had my daughter but you just dont know till it happens. I had to be induced and went for quite a while with just gas and air but when things started to slow down, i was put on a drip. It was a this point I knew I needed pain relief and was offered an epidural which I then discussed (not really the right word) with my husband and my mum. by the time the Doctor arrived I was promising to snog him if he took the pain away. im not usually so forward haha. All I can say is that it was the best thing i could have done. They controlled the epidural in such a way that I could feel what was happening but the overwhelming pain had gone. Basically my advice is go with the flow you will know what is right for you when its happening. Have an open mind and be flexible. All the best and at the end of the day its a truly miraculous thing, however you go about it.