Thinking of a birth centre birth, minimal pain relief.

[H000]

I would love to know people’s experiences with giving birth in a birth centre rather than a labour ward.
I’m aware in a birth centre that epidurals are not given.
My first baby is due in 9 weeks and I’m depending and trying to tell myself I can do this without an epidural.
My reason being that I want to be mobile and feel more in control. The thought of a needle in my spine also freaks me out.
I know all births are different but would love to hear experiences of birth centres and or non epidural births.

Compl agree with @Greybeardy

Why is this always thrown at women who don’t want an epidural? We never said we’d get a medal or that it’s the superior way to do it, it’s a choice and people are so derisive about it.

FWIW as someone who’s worked as a midwife I’m very aware mobile epidurals exist. However my lived experience is lots of midwives don’t encourage mobilising and/or lots of women don’t want to get up or the block is too heavy or it’s not even or they don’t know they theoretically can get up.

I also cared for lots of women who thought they’d be entirely humb and were disappointed they still felt pressure or that it wasn’t even or that it wasnt what they expected. Of course we also got it reviewed and sometimes they’d get resited but it’s not a guarantee. A friend cared for a woman with an epidural who got up (with the midwife support) to go pee, she hadn’t realised how heavy her legs were, fell and broke her foot!

I don’t have any objections professionally or personally, but it’s a valid choice to say no I don’t want one thank you.

I 100% agree. And I certainly wouldn’t be encouraging my dd to give birth in a particular way - it will entirely be her choice over her birth plan.

its such a cliche when people say ‘no one gets a medal.’ It’s got absolutely nothing to do with it. For me, I never saw giving birth as a medical procedure in the same way as other things. So when people say ‘you wouldn’t have a tooth out/ other surgery without pain relief’ - absolutely, I wouldn’t. I think a small minority of women just find it hard to accept that.

I never expected birth to be pain free, I knew it would hurt like fuck but I found hypno birthing, plus the fact I was giving birth in a very non-clinical setting, with known midwives, went a long way to dealing with the pain. Not blocking it, but dealing with it.

if a woman decides she wants the best chance of a painless birth then an epidural is obviously the right choice. It doesn’t make it ‘superior’ to other choices though.

There is no harm starting out in the birth centre. If the pain gets too bad, you can request to move to the labour ward and have the epidural and other drugs etc. There is absolutely no shame in it. For me personally, the pain was so bad I ended up with 2x failed epidurals, fentanyl and then a finally a spinal block for an emergency c section after pushing for an hour. Just be open to anything because you really have no idea how your birth is going to go. Either way, you will have your beautiful baby at the end of it. As long as they’re delivered safely and you are okay, that’s all that matters.

It’s more a case of you share your experiences with your daughter and let them make their own decisions.
One person’s experience could be very different from another. One person’s level of tolerance for pain is very different from another and then of course there’s medical issues to consider as well.
We’ve become very blasé about birth, women do still die in childbirth babies still die in childbirth.
It is a Medical procedure in my opinion and I accept that that’s all it is an opinion.

Birth can and should be pain-free. It’s incredibly misogynistic that we inflict this mediaeval torture on women.
But fundamentally you are free to make your own decisions as you should.

Actually on reflection no I do not consider it an opinion that birth is a medical procedure.
It is a medical procedure otherwise even homebirthers wouldn’t be calling for ambulances or booking midwives to attend. Very few people want to do it completely alone due to the implications.

Which is why I wrote that I didn’t see giving birth as a medical procedure in the same way as other things. To me, it was a process that had a medical aspect but it wasn’t a case of being ill or needing something fixing like an operation or tooth extraction.

and talk of misogynistic medieval torture is irrelevant to women who make an informed choice that they prefer to go down a low tech birth route and use techniques like hypnobirthing. Actually, I’ve never felt so empowered as I did after giving birth in the midwife unit with wonderful midwives supporting me.

At the risk of derailing the thread, I remember when our NCT teacher said that birth should be painful because “if it was as easy as waking to the shops then how would that prepare us for motherhood?”. I was completely aghast and had to bite my tongue not to ask her if fathers also have to be in pain to prepare for fatherhood. Not to mention women who had epidurals or c sections - were they unprepared?
And then imagine my shock when I came across this (admittedly from ages ago, but still www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2009/jul/12/pregnancy-pain-natural-birth-yoga

Hello!

First birth was planned at a midwife-lead centre, but I had to go to the nearest hospital instead (45min drive) as there weren't enough staff available at the midwife lead centre when I went into labour. I was SO glad that I went to hospital because I haemorrhaged (would have been a trip up the motorway in an ambulance) and DS had an infection that meant we stayed in 7 days. Completely healthy pregnancy, I was walking 3 miles a day at least right up until he was born, he was well overdue but the midwives had no concerns.

DD - i had to be in hospital because of the previous haemorrhage but honestly it was the loveliest birth, no pain relief, brilliant midwife, all super calm. I was upright, chatty, happy and in control throughout.

I hope you complained. Probably one of those NCT’s who only promotes drug free births and provides no help to those of us who wanted to bottle feed!

I probably should have! The class on feeding was taught by an independent feeding specialist who was very good and covered everything pretty neutrally.

But yes, the NCT teacher went big against pain relief, especially against epidurals. There was lots of very outdated and misleading information on those, which the NCT have since had to remove from their website.

The most jaw dropping moment was when she said “And if a doctor even looks in on you when you are in labour, your oxytocin levels will drop and your LABOUR WILL STOP!”. I remember laughing about that to myself as the lovely, kindly obstetrician came in to check on me in labour. I was so pleased an expert was keeping an eye on us, and he later probably went on to save my daughter’s life.

That sounds awful! Have to say, my NCT classes were brilliant and I found the input about relaxation and the practising breathing were really helpful in labour.

I loved my epidurals. I wanted to go drug-free for the first one but it ended up being a 26 hour labour with interventions in the end. The epidural saved me I think.

My only take is to not be too set on what your perfect birth looks like. It is different for everyone and whatever feels right at the time should be what you go with- (with medical approval of course). There is no shame in having pain relief for something that can be hideously painful.

First birth was almost an accidental home birth as I progressed quickly and was 10cm and ready to push when I arrived at hospital. She was born in the pool in the midwife led centre. She was born to a flurry of activity as they were worried about her shoulder being stuck so had pressed the emergency button but it freed itself. 2 hours of active labour, 4 stitches for "cosmetic reasons" whatever that means. 2 paracetamol in early labour and gas and air for pushing. Diclofenac post birth before stitches but no pain relief afterwards.

Second birth I was hoping for the same but my head rapidly declined at 32 weeks when I developed ICP and possibly hellp. I was called in for induction at 36+6 and he was born at 37+1. I had been unable to stand up due to my physical health and spent a lot of labour sleeping. I had 2 lots of 2 paracetamol during the induction and gas and air during the labour. Active labour was 6h and they nearly had to press the emergency button as he went into distress and they started losing his heart beat after contractions. I managed to deliver him before interventions were needed. He was born blue and with the cord tightly around his neck which was the cause. He soon pinked up and was fine after this. I didn't need any stitches and had 2 paracetamol and 2 Ibuprofen post birth. The midwives in the maternity ward found it weird that I kept declining pain relief but honestly I didn't need any

Hope you don’t mind me asking but how does it work when someone is in the midwife led unit but then wants/needs an epidural and there is no space in the labour ward? My local hospital has both on the same corridor apparently one side is midwife led and the other is the regular labour ward, but it’s a very busy hospital and when I took a relative to maternity triage last week the staff were panicking where to place a lady who had gone into early labour. The community midwife has previously just said they would move you to the labour ward if your needed the epidural, but I’m not sure they could and would just leave you in pain.

@Shopaholic100 I know people who have requested epidurals and not got them in a regular labour ward - I think it often depends on whether there is an anaesthetist available to administer one in time - they might be caught up dealing with emergencies and not be able to attend.

You have to wait until there’s space (unless it’s a medical emergency), but that will happen even if you’re already on the labour ward and want an epidural if the anaesthetist is busy.

I couldn’t have a birth centre birth with my first due to meconium in the waters - it was a very long birth so I was tired so did have an epidural but pain level was ok (and epidural doesn’t hurt at all - or didn’t for me). Second born in birth centre attached to hospital and was amazing, third born in in birth centre too and needed surgery after the birth and was whisked through to labour ward which was right next door. I say go for it and you can move if you want/need to. Birth centres attached to labour wards are the perfect place if you’re eligible and not dead set on an epidural! I went with an open mind all three times and had different experiences - but was well looked after in all.

I’ve had 3 kids, one vaginal birth and two c sections, but still went into labour with the c sections. I couldn’t do it without pain relief, not a chance.