birthing pool, gas n air, TENS

[tweeni]

i didn't really want an epidural or anythin cos u cant move around and pethidine can slow down labour and affect the babys breathing so i was thinking of just using a birthing pool and gas and air and maybe a tens machine in the beginning. how painful was labour for anyone who used just these methods?

i just had g&a but near the end i was screaming for am epi my labour was only 3.5 hours but was induced and contractions were constant i swore i wouldnt have 1. after it was all by i forgot about the pain. all im saying is dont say u deffo dont want something cos it all goes out the window when it comes down to it

Bad but bearable - you can get over the contractions with gas and air - the pusing stage gas and air is ineffective - but by then the end is in sight - so the pain has a purpose so it is not so bad- never had a eppidural but I am sure thay make the labour better

Tens did nothing for me, just irritated me so much that I took it off very early on. Gas and air was wonderful for the first 17 hours but after that I needed something more and the epidural gave me a welcome breather until I had to start pushing. It also meant that when it all went pear shaped and I ended up with a c-section, all they had to do was top up the epidural.

Don't rule out any form of pain relief; you don't know how you're going to feel when it comes to it.

dd I had TENS, gas and air, birthing pool and then nothing for actual delivery... It was horrible (sorry but have to be honest)

ds I had gas and air and pethidine (not allowed in pool due to PROM) much, much better imo

I had nothing at all for my four home births.
I was able to do this because I was completely free to move around and manage the contractions as my body told me.
I found mooing like a cow extremely effective for controlling pain. (Perhaps less easy or desirable in hospital).
Also leaning fowards during contractions with my hands propped on a low table helped take my weight off the bump.
I got quite good at riding the contractions like waves, knowing they would peak ... then ebb away again.
For stage one I always need to be alone in a darkened room most of the time, but when it comes to the pushing contractions I put my arms around my poor dh's neck and sort of grind him down with me. It helps him that he used to play rugby and likens this to being in a scrum.

I really liked feeling all there was to feel. I needed to be totally in control and responding to my body.

That said, women really do seem to love their waterbirths. I'm done with birthing so I won't have one now, but it really seems to help.

I had nothing at all for my four home births.
I was able to do this because I was completely free to move around and manage the contractions as my body told me.
I found mooing like a cow extremely effective for controlling pain. (Perhaps less easy or desirable in hospital).
Also leaning fowards during contractions with my hands propped on a low table helped take my weight off the bump.
I got quite good at riding the contractions like waves, knowing they would peak ... then ebb away again.
For stage one I always need to be alone in a darkened room most of the time, but when it comes to the pushing contractions I put my arms around my poor dh's neck and sort of grind him down with me. It helps him that he used to play rugby and likens this to being in a scrum.

I really liked feeling all there was to feel. I needed to be totally in control and responding to my body.

That said, women really do seem to love their waterbirths. I'm done with birthing so I won't have one now, but it really seems to help.

tweeni - I used these methods and it was incredibly painful, but also bearable iyswim. The pool was fantastic - I took the TENS machine off in the middle of a contraction (not the best idea ever!), got into the pool, and all the pain just disappeared - bliss. Of course, it worse as time went on but it was still manageable.

I was at home and think that helped with managing the pain as well because I was much more relaxed than I would have been if I had been in hospital.

DD1 was born in hospital and I ended up with an epidural and ventouse. Even though dd2's "natural" birth was much more painful, it was also much more manageable.

Oh - I also played self-hypnosis tapes throughout my pregnancy (from a company called natal hypnotherapy). Don't know if this helped.

ds1 was tens then epidural, ds2 was tens then G&A. For each birth I used the right method - cos they were both so different. Try to have as open a mind as possible about your birth, so that you won't feel disappointed if you react to the pain differently to how you thought you would and change your mind. For example, all I wanted to do with ds1 was lie in bed (oh, and I had to anyway cos of merconium in my waters and all the monitoring that entailed!)