Birthing and labour plan

[Polkadot1988]

Hi everyone,

I'm a first time mummy to be and I'm jut wanting to get people's opinion on options for labour! I think I want to try a natural labour if possible with just gas and air and maybe the birthing pool but am wondering if I'm mad saying no to the drugs lol it's just I have read up a lot and seems to be that people who have used different drugs for pain relief have felt a lack of control and didn't really know what was happening which frightens me more than the pain! As it's my first baby I don't really know what I'm letting myself in for and would really appreciate some guidance and help from those who have been there and done it!! All opinions welcome!! Ps I should say I'm 29weeks and low risk normal pregnancy so far with a baby measuring on the 90th centile

Agree with PPs about keeping an open mind - I took hypnobirthing classes while pregnant and hoped to give birth in a pool. Unfortunately I ended up being induced and was fixed to a monitor, so the pool wasn't an option for me anymore. It helped that my birth plan was 'There is no birth plan' in the sense that I did just roll with the many twists and turns that followed!

I did try gas and air but it made me violently sick so, despite believing I'd never actively choose an epidural, I was advised to do so and readily took that advice! And while I'm sure many people from my classes would have disapproved (I am sure there are many great hypnobirthing groups out there, it's just mine put a heavy emphasis on the evils of "drugged babies") it was the right decision for me and meant my labour was calm and peaceful - exactly how I'd imagined it after all! In the interests of balance I would say that I ended up having a ventouse delivery as I did lose sensitivity and found pushing trickier after that. But I stand by the epidural being the right thing for me, and I'm sure you will make the right decision for you.

And congrats OP

That was supposed to be flowers, not gin! Sorry OP!

OK, everything is gin now. I give up!

Thank you so much for getting back to me! This really interests me as a couple of people have said to me about the group B strep test! I'm definitely wanting to do this but not sure how to go about this have heard the test on the NHS isn't very reliable but can't find much more info on it! I know I think I just want to have an idea of things but will go with the flow on the big day... baby will come out whatever way they want I guess LOL 😂

You should speak to your midwife about group b strep. The reason (as I understand it) that the NHS doesn't test for it is because antibiotic use during labour doesn't change the likelihood that a baby will develop group b strep-related problems. So it's kind of pointless to have the test as ~40% of adults carry group b strep and so your chances of having a positive test are quite high. Which would just make you needlessly anxious since there are unlikely to be problems and you can't really do much about it.

www.midwiferytoday.com/enews/enews0337.asp#main

I knew I wanted as natural a labour as possible. I used my tens machine as long as possible. Then I used a birth ball for a short while. Then the birth pool really helped me a lot (I was in a birth centre).
I tried a bit of gas and air, but it made me feel so sick I didn't have more than 3 or 4 puffs of it.
I was having contractions for 4 days, so I was physically exhausted. The midwife recommended a pethadine injection so I could rest, so I had that and then I was able to 'rest' for nearly 3 hours.
I insisted no epidural as I knew I didn't want one.
I think that had I not been in early labour for so long, I would have managed the pain a lot better, and only used my tens machine, birth ball and birth pool. In fact I may have even given birth in the pool.
When we have baby number 2 in a few years time, my birth plan (in terms of pain relief) will say something like: tens machine as long as possible, birth ball and birth pool, possibly a water birth. No gas and air and no epidural. Open to injections such as pethadine if deemed necessary.
Though that's just me. Plenty of people feel drugs make it easier, which is fine.
Ultimately it's your choice what you do or don't have. And remember the midwives will advise you.

TAKE THE DRUGS!!!

Ok I'm being dramatic but I could not stand the pain AT ALL. I had a full 24 hours of contractions with no pain relief, not even gas & air. It was horrific. Epidural was amazing....until it failed and the pain was ten times worse than before. Gas & air didn't do anything to help me except make me feel drunk.

Everyone is different of course. I was all about the water birth 😂😂

My birth plan was start with a bath at home and progress down the drugs when I felt like I wanted. I wasn't keen on the idea of epidural as my hospital doesn't do mobile ones and I didn't think lying on my back was a good way of getting baby out. In the end I had a very rapid labour and pain relief wasn't an option, I live over an hour from hospital though and arrived fully dilated.