Natural Birth vs Epidural

How many women are planning on delivering naturally vs. getting an epidural?

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33%

 (7) 

Give me the meds!

23%

 (5) 

Natural all the way!

33%

 (7) 

Already delivered natural & I a plan to do the same this time..

9%

 (2) 

Already delivered with meds & I will definitely do it agian...

21 Members voted

[ashiepooh]

I have delievered natural twice, and this will be my third!

[angeleyes11601]

i had a cesarean first time and second time all natural and plan on going natural again.....even tho i was a ***** i was told lol

[Jem75]

what are the pros and cons to drugs vs. no drugs?

[Whitneylauren]

I don't know if there are medically proven pros and cons, but I can tell you my personal experience. I delivered my first son completely naturally and will with my second (due in March). I found the experience completely spiritual. Although it was really painful at the time, I can look back on the experience with fondness. I am the type of personal who has to have complete control over everything, and I felt as though with meds I would not have that. I also felt more connected to the entire delivery experience.
My friends who delivered and had the epidural have said that they couldn't feel anything, and didn't even know for sure if they were pushing or not. Plus it took forever for the medicine to wear off. Also, have you seen the needle the put in your back? That thing is huge!! I guess I am completely biased and I would encourage every woman to deliver naturally. Women did it for thousands of years before us, and will continue to.

[Jules31981]

I was planning on meds  I had a pretty painful miscarriage in Feb and had the contactions from that.  I really don't think I could do it again.  I have a very low pain threshhold too.  I am a baby

[evthing4reason]

I haven't decieded yet. i have always said meds all the way but i am also scared of the epidural as i saw one being put in and dh's cousin had very bad complications from the epdiural plus i have a very bad back am scared of what may arise from that.so i couldn't vote in the poll.

[ashiepooh]

I have herniated discs  in my back, and my doctor had actually me that if my labors weren't so quick he wouldn't reccomend that I get the erpideral.  I'm glad I don't need it anyways!  But he said it could have damaged my back even more.  

However, if you honestly can't handle the pain that's what it's for!  Although, I've heard of a few friends of mine, that they get it because of the "high" feeling you get from it.  

I love being able to get up and walk 10 minutes after delivering, and not having a worry of how long it'll take till I can walk...

But I am one of those people who also believes everyone should give it a chance at going natural.  It's a feeling of....euphoria I guess is a good words to describe it.  It's just something else!  =)

[JamieLee_cherokeemommy]

With my son, I had a natural birth due to him being born a month early my blood results weren't back in time so they couldn't give me any pain medication! But it isn't half as bad as anyone says, atleast for me. Mostly just pressure.I wouldn't be disappointed  if I have a natural birth again, the only downside is I was very very tired afterwards instead of having the epidural and having a little more energy. :) I'll try to get some pain medication so this time I won't fall asleep a few minutes after again. I think your experience depends on how long your labor was and how your pain tolerance level is.

*I started having contractions at 6am and had my son at 3pm, and my pain tolerance level is pretty good*

                              ~~do whatever is comfortable for you~~ :)

[JamieLee_cherokeemommy]

Oh, I plan on most likely getting some type of pain medication through a IV but not a epidural ,if I decide to get any pain medication. To many cons to epidurals studies are showing lately :)   (sorry forgot to add)

[justice6920]

when i had my daughter I had her naturally... No meds! LOL I think I only made that choice at the time bc I am TERRIFIED of needles so I was NOT going to get an epidural..... I do remember it hurting but it was all worth it.... and with this little one i am going to try to do it naturally again..... I am not against meds LOL just afraid of the needle!

[AmyC311]

My best friend just had her baby and she originally planned to do it natural...it didn't take her too long after the contractions started to change her mind! I have heard from several different people who have had both ways before and they have all told me to take the drugs. So...I am taking the drugs! I have no problems with it...I think it is fine and won't hurt baby.

[tea_berries]

wow is it really possible to get pain medications via IV instead of epidural? I am really scared of needles let alone the huge one they have to poke in me.  

If yes then I will be voting for that instead because my tolerance level in pain is pretty poor I even pass out with dismenorrhea :0(

[amg_]

i wish to have a natural birth, i am a little concerned about how the pain and fatigue will affect my M.E, especially if it's a long labour. I want the best for my baby, and don't want meds that affect them at all (including increasing risk of needing assisted delivery as with epidural), but on the other hand i don't want a huge relapse and be unable to care for my baby. So really don't know until it happens. Will go natural if i can.

[mami2karina]

With both of my kids my water broke and I was contracting or dilating so they gave me pitocin.  Since it wasn't working with me they had me on the max dosage so I ended up with epidurals both times because the pain was excrutiating.  I had long labors with both of them, 12 1/2 hours with my daughter over 17 hours wiht my son.  If I hadn't gotten the epidural I wouldn't have been able to make it because of exhaustion.  If I should go into labor this time and not need the pitocin I might try going natural, but God only knows what's in store for me!

[ovaz129]

PLAN on going natural... but the key word is PLAN :)  But, like our midwife said... "You wouldn't go into a brand new restaurant and tell them that you don't want to look at the menu, because you already know what you want".  Basically, don't go into labor without considering all options because, for me, this is my first time and I don't know what to expect.  But, I would like to go natural.

[ashiepooh]

If you write out a birthplan, and tell your doctor or midwife, to try and talk you out of pain meds...Then your in control!  =)  

I had written something out a long the lines of....

"I wish only to go natural, if I start yelling, by some chance that I want to drugs, please try and talk me out of it (which is you really don't want meds, your easily talked out of it) and if you can't talk me out of it, by all means give me the meds!"

LOL  I know it sounds funny, but your midwife/doctor will respect your wishes!  Good Luck!!

[tbeards]

Definitely an epidural because I am having twins and if they need to do an emergency c-section they can use the epidural faster. I will also be delivering in an operating room because of the twin situation.

I had an epidural when I was in labor with my dd but will pass on other IV pain relief. I had Nubain when in labor with my dd and it was hard to concentrate on managing between contractions so I will skip that this time.

The needle is the very last thing on your mind when you are in labor. I also was scared about the needle but you don't see it anyway and I actually welcomed the end result!

The biggest advantage, to me, about the epidural is that with the pain relief, I still had a very clear head and actually sleep through part of the labor (was in labor in the hospital for 12 hours) so when my dd was born, I was actually pretty rested. I pushed for an hour and it was difficult to feel the pushing but they can actually lower the dosage so you can feel more. The biggest disadvantage was that I couldn't walk for a couple of hours after delivery but so much was going on anyway (baby's first bath in my room, visitors, breastfeeding) it didn't matter much anyway.

Hope this helps.