Best tips for an intervention free birth

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Hello

I'm booked into a birth centre at the moment (due in 2 weeks) and I'd really like tips for anyone who managed to give birth without intervention. Top tips to dela with the pain or to distract?

Very much appreciated.

Tens machine. Some good music. Some nice food (cake helped). Staying at home watching films for as long as possible...

for me:
a positive attitude
acceptance - go with the pain, don't try to fight it
staying at home as long as you possibly can
staying upright
a barrage of aromatherapy/homeopathic remedies etc - distractions/props even if you think its all baloney
a doula, ideally

enjoy!

i had a list of things I gleaned from other people who'd had a non-intervention-y birth

it involved things like:

positive thinking (google this)

visualisation

working with the pain... embracing it, feeling that it is doing something

don't scream. if you want to make noise low "moo-ing" noises are more helpful

if above not working- distraction. back rubbing, drinking water, music

remembering that each contraction was going to end. that I can work through it as it will be over soon

thinking of the new baby

oh and being upright helped me a LOT. at one point one of my midwives asked if i wanted to lie down as I looked tired, and to see if a change of position would help, I hated it and got straight back up again

listen to your body and do what you feel you need to do

keep upright
have a birth attendant with you (a doula)

Yoga earlier in the pregnancy (although you can do it right up to the birth).
Stay upright as much as possible.
Walk around between contractions.
Use water if and when it feels right.
Get into the position that feels right for you. Midwives in birth centres are used to following the woman's lead and will measure the baby's heartbeat while you're on all fours, if necessary.
Stay positive. Tell yourself you can do this.

I had two intervention free births in birth centres this way. Well, intervention-free until the placenta refused to come after the first one, but the birth itself was great.

My advice would be as other have mentioned, staying upright and at home as long as possible.Also, staying really calm - I don't remember feeling scared or excited at all, just very calm and accepting. I found it helped if my DH pressed into the small of my back during contractions (well it gave him something to do!)

I had my DD at a birthing centre too - born in the pool with me kneeling upright. No drugs and all very manageable. I'm the only one of my friends who is actually looking forwards to doing it again!

I think a very positive attitude helps. I knew that I'd be OK and the birth would be fine and it was (although I do realise I was incrediably lucky as well!) If you go into it scared then you get tense and stressed which makes things harder.

Good luck!

Thank you ever so much - not just for the tips but for the positive stories, I think most people would agree as soon as you get pregnant it seems to be a license for all the women who have 'been there done that' to tell you their (or if not their friends sister's daughter's) horror stories.

I've been going to yoga since 16 weeks and have really enjoyed the positive I CAN DO THIS feeling it gives me - just hope I can carry it through. I'm going to look into visualisation now.

Thanks again

Good luck to you. You have had some very, very good advice here.

And I'm not here to tell horror stories, just a small piece of advice. There are so many things you can do to help avoid intervention and to have a positive and active labour and delivery. But if for any reason you need any intervention then you must not believe that it is due to something you did or didn't do. There's no reason to assume that you will need intervention assuming a healthy and low-risk pregnancy so far, but try to adopt as part of your visualisation, the attitude that whatever happens it is still positive.

Congratulations and good luck. You sound like you're preparing well.

I just wish to second what SOH said. Please remember that if you do end up with interventions it will not be because of anything you did or did not do. Birthing is wholly unpredictable. It is worth acknowledging this, mentally, in the weeks leading up to it. Good luck to you . Almost everyone I know who has a very positive birth story seems to have been in a birth centre.

My big tip sounds daft but I did need reminding throughout labour: BREATHE! It is amazing how well pain can be diluted by deep, controlled breaths.

The other advice you've had here is excellent.

Good luck!

STAY AT HOME FOR AS LONG AS POSSIBLE
tens machine
Positive attitude
Confidence you can do it! (read Ina May Gaskin, spiritual midwifery)
Visualise cervix opening with each contraction
slow calm breathing
Don't let yourself get out of control / screaming etc
Upright / mobile positioning if you are tired try leaning over a bean bag - can get onto all fours for contractions and flop over inbetween
Keep mouth / face relaxed
Don't allow them to do unnecessary internals
Distractions - for me sniffing clary sage oil or using tens machine or spraying water vapouriser or drinking some apple juice (cartons with straws good)
visualising baby coming down birth canal

agree about STAY AT HOME AS LONG AS POSSIBLE!

I agree with the positive attitude, although it's easier to say than do. I read about half of a book called Childbirth Without Fear and decided there was nothing to be scared of which helped!

And pacing up and down, up and down, up and down.

To be honest the lack of need for intervention is luck. I had an easy and quick birth and so I didn't need any help. Fingers crossed you have the same luck!

Just 2 tips:
Read Ina May's guide to childbirth
And stand up
My second birth was actually a pleasure because of the above. My first, I read Miriam Stoppard, and ended up lying down to try and get a posterior baby out . That one wasn't such a pleasure

stay st home until you cannot manage the pain any more - by the time I got to hosptial there was no time for intervention as baby was almost "on the perineum". She was born 15 minutes after parking the car ;D

Stay upright - don't lie down even for monitoring. For the pain just accept it. I thought to my self bring it on and made a lot of sound.
If you need an epidural or medical help it's ok as well.

Let your body take over, don't fight anything it's telling you it wants to do (apart from when head is crowning..listen to your midwives/doula at this point for breathing techniques. I had 3 home births without any intervention or stitches and remember listening intently to the midwives at this stage so I didn't tear!).
Calm environment.
Visualisation-imagine your body opening up and gradually releasing the baby with every contraction, think positively about it (easier said than done, I know, but it helps!)
Eat and drink freely (within reason!).
Remain mobile.
Don't labour on your back, more painful.
Have plenty of pillows and support, you may need them for your knees/elbows..mine ended up very red!
If you can find a rhythm it can sometimes help to keep you focused and "in the zone"; rocking, dancing, humming, chanting (no howling at the moon though!)
Cold flannels/face spritzers at the ready
Massage aids
Someone's hand to dig your nails into when you need to. (I found this remarkably satisfying!)
I wish you all the best with it.

Correct breathing is one of the best tips for staying in control of your contractions. Imagine trying to blow your stomach up like a big balloon, getting all that oxygen to the baby and your uterus.

Visualisation helps - I used hypnobirthing techniques and imagined the horizontal uterus muscles moving up so the vertical muscles could open. You're meant to visualise a flower opening but that was a bit much for me!

Positive attitude - your body knows what to do - go with it. There's nothing to be scared of.

My saving grace was my best mate who quietly but firmly dealt with the hospital when they refused to send out a midwife and, when one finally arrived, explained to her that I was fine and wanted to be left alone. Having a midwife who respected my wishes also helped a great deal. Not a single internal exam - "You're in labour dear, anybody can see that. Who cares how dilated you are?" !!

Good luck!

Love your last remark girlynut, that's a midwife who knows what they're doing.

Keep moving.

Do not lie down anywhere for long enough enough for anyone to suggest a 'little injection' or whatever for the pain.

Accept that it will hurt, a lot, but that you can work with the pain and not fight it.

Remind yourself that birth is a natural event, and women have been doing it for thousands of years.

BELIEVE in your body and your ability to birth your baby. You are doing all the right things already to maximise the chance of a natural birth (booking into birthing centre) so look on it as a process. Each step that you can make as natural as possible, increases the likelihood that the next step will also be natural. There are loads of natural pain relief methods - water, massage etc - so look on them as a 'toolkit' of many different options. I found that helped a lot, rather than seeing labour as stretching endlessly before me. When I got to the point that I needed to be in water, I felt good about having got that far already. Same with getting into different positions.