Okay mums, you've been nothing but AMAZING answering every question I throw out here... So here's a bit more of a personal one...
I have absolutely no doubts or fears about childbirth, I have complete trust in my midwife and medical team (I'm on the red pathway) and when it comes to childbirth I trust they will do what they need to so everything is successful.
However..... I am absolutely, undoubtedly, completely, utterly, entirely petrified of splitting or having to be cut............ Now, I'm not sure if it is a certainly inherited thing, but my maternal grandmother split during childbirth, and my mother ended up split a couple of times too (we were an open family of medical/care professionals), now I have that fear... I'm tempted to opt for an epidural but I'm terrified of being in pain with labour and then having a needle poked into my back!! My mother had an epidural with her last child and she had to be injected 7 times as they couldn't get the right spot, and that caused chronic back pain... Since my mother and grandmother are now gone, any words of wisdom? Any tips even to help me relax a little? Its my only fear, the only thing that's making me think I can't do this...