Am I crazy for not wanting pain relief?

[gimmeadoughnut123]

I've spoken to a few people regarding my plans for labour. My first choice will be gas and air, in a birthing pool if possible. An epidural is second choice for pain relief but I have said I would prefer to try not to have this.

Don't get me wrong...if I am struggling and it will be better for me and baby then I will have it. But I've heard quite a few stories of people that literally couldn't feel anything when giving birth and didn't even know they were contracting. I've always wanted to have a natural labour and to know I brought a child in to the world, and would find this strange.

I have a very high pain threshold as I am in pain most days with a chronic illness, generally people never know.

The second I say my first choice is just gas and air, I immediately get 'ok then, that will last five minutes' or 'yeah right, good luck with that' which I find a bit crap. Of all of my friends that have had babies, none of them have had pain relief, except for one who asked for it but the epidural wouldn't work for some reason. I'm unsure if people just didn't want it, asked too late, or were encouraged to stick it out when they asked.
Don't get me wrong, it's possible I'm being very naive and will change my mind on the day!

What are your thoughts?

I have just had my first, got to fully dilated in the pool on just gas and air. Sadly my son decided to rotate into an OP (back to back) position and got stuck so ended up with epidural and forceps but had he not turned that way I think I would have delivered him quite happily with just gas and air. I loved the pool as I could shift position as much as I wanted and still be supported, the warmth helped too.

That’s a perfectly reasonable plan OP so don’t be discouraged! If I had another one that would be my plan again.

PS. Re: what PP said about not reading horror stories. My birth ended up basically being a list of all the things I least wanted: synto infusion, epidural, failed Keillands forceps followed by standard forceps, episiotomy extended into a third degree tear and I haemorrhaged 1.5 litres.

Despite this I still feel really positive about the whole thing and I’m proud of getting as far as I did. If I could go back in time and have an elective section instead I wouldn’t - despite how hard it was at times I wouldn’t have wanted to miss out on the whole experience. So don’t worry too much about what might go wrong, it’s perfectly possible to have things not go to plan but still come away with a positive experience.

I have a very low tolernce to pain , my first I had pethidine and gas and air the next 2 gas and air , the 4th , i didnt feel the contractions .
It was nothing to do with my mindset , or my strength i was just very very lucky ( quick labours too , which must have helped )

If you can manage it then all well and good , just dont be unrealistic

I went into labour with the intention of just having gas and air as I too think I have a high pain tolerance. My labour lasted 20 hours and I was coping fine up until the point where my baby decide to turn when I was 6cm dilated and went back to back. The pain was horrific and I had to have an epidural, at that point I was really past the point of caring and needed it. The epidural was amazing. I would have an open mind because you just do not know what will happen. I was a low risk pregnancy, baby was in the perfect position for birth and I had been to many antenatal and hypnobirthing classes but in the end I had to have an emergency C section.

I was exactly the same. Until I found out I was being induced and I decided to have an epidural. Labour didn't follow what I wanted and I ended up doing it with just gas and air and even that was turned off when I was pushing. It was very painful but I made it through! That being said, my labour was quite quick - only 2 hours of intense contractions and less than an hour pushing (which was a relief from the contractions in my experience). Furthermore, I did get a 2nd degree tear in the end. My reason for wanting to avoid the epidural was to avoid tearing which I got anyway so who knows what would have happened with the epidural. Might have ended up the same but a lot less painful .

I should also say that although I asked very early on for an epidural (which couldn't be done due to anaesthetist availability in the middle of the night), I'm incredibly proud of myself for doing without. My first words after the baby was born was "I can't believe I did that!" In most cases, you can do it without an epidural if it's important to you.