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Drugs or Natural?
Just wondering what you ladies are planning or hoping for, for your birth.
What is your birth plan (If you have made one yet)?
What is your birth plan (If you have made one yet)?
This is my first baby and I am planning on a natural birth. Things can change but, I am praying for a natural drug free birth with a healthy baby as a result. My younger sister had all 4 of her children natural and drug free, she was too scared of the epidural..so am I.
I had one birth with an epidural which stalled and then I was given pitocin (never again) and my 2nd I had drug free. Drug free was a better birth and recovery for me so Im trying to go that route again. I am open to the epi though if I really cant take it but I know I can do it without. Im scared to death of getting a c-section :(
You shoudl read Ina may Gaskins "Guide To childbirth" Since this is your first it is a great book and covers way more about every thing that can happen and proceedures and what to expect and how the body works. Great for anyone weather there first or not. It has statistics and so very much! Love it!
I'm probably going to have a vaginal birth, but everyone I've talked to who's just had a c-section recently says they were wonderful. So I dunno, if I need one then I'll have one but if it ends up going one way or the other I won't be upset. The most important thing is to have the baby be healthy. While I have no doctor technically, I just get whoever is on call, the nurses and the lactation consultant at my hospital are absolutely fabuless, and we all know its the nurses who take the most care of you.
I know! When I had my first I thought I read all the books and had my birth plan worked out, but it was for the bradley method and most of which is medical. At 19 and no word of natural birth I stilll have no clue like I do know after having the internet, had 4 babies and had all differnet types of births. I had it planned that he would not get eye drops or shots till I bf and bonded with him and he was never to leave me unless he had problems. Now as I have studied the studies and learned how our bodies work and how the US is so far behind in the birthing process basically from politics and insurance I am just astonded. Now this time I have a doula to voice for me with the statistics, my birth plan is better equiped to natural birth and I know the risks of proceedures and alternatives I feel so confident and relaxed! I don't nessisarily trust the medical field for a natural birth but I do when a problem arises that is serious!
It just makes no sense to me why OB's are not made to taek courses in natural birth methods and nurses too! There are hospitals on the west coast of the US that will not allow c-sections unless it si medically nessisary and have doulas on site and riki massage and all types of pain relief methods. It si working for them and should be an example for ohters to save mothers and babies and money for them! My hospital does not even offer baths or showers in the delivery room or labor room! Only in the post partum room they offer showers! They have no squatting bar either! They have 1 triage, 2 labor rooms, 1 delivery room, 1 c-section room and three post partum rooms! I took a step back in time when I moved to the mountians!!! All I know to do is labor at home for as long as possible and trust my body and when something goes wrong know there are medical Ob's I trust to know what to do. My OB is for natural birth but the hospital protical is not at all. So it will be interesting to say the least but I plan on just doing my thing and ignoring the nurses:)
It just makes no sense to me why OB's are not made to taek courses in natural birth methods and nurses too! There are hospitals on the west coast of the US that will not allow c-sections unless it si medically nessisary and have doulas on site and riki massage and all types of pain relief methods. It si working for them and should be an example for ohters to save mothers and babies and money for them! My hospital does not even offer baths or showers in the delivery room or labor room! Only in the post partum room they offer showers! They have no squatting bar either! They have 1 triage, 2 labor rooms, 1 delivery room, 1 c-section room and three post partum rooms! I took a step back in time when I moved to the mountians!!! All I know to do is labor at home for as long as possible and trust my body and when something goes wrong know there are medical Ob's I trust to know what to do. My OB is for natural birth but the hospital protical is not at all. So it will be interesting to say the least but I plan on just doing my thing and ignoring the nurses:)
yes, I would say it was the people instead of the machines - I had very good nurses who were with me almost the whole time- a lot more attention than I expected delivering in a hospital setting. My point was as a first time mom I wouldn't have known anything was wrong since everything in labor was new to me (& I had been in hard labor for 2 full days by delivery) (and I had taking all the classes, read all the books, etc...) so I'm all for someone else watching out for baby, however that is done.
That is why you have a compitent dr or midwife there to use the doppler often and they use it during and between pushing which it would show stress. They are trained for that! Also the fetal monitors do not always show stress and often can show stress just becasue the baby has moved and the monitor is not picking up good. Most monitor will not pick up unless you stay in the same postion most of the time (i.e. no waling around and no standing or swaying. They have to constently be moved and if you use a doppler often studies show that it is just as effective if not more. Most hospitals do not have nurses that can stay with you to do this becasue they plain do not hae the time, doulas and midwives that are with you and only you till the end you have no worries about stuff like that. IF it is going to happen it is going to happen and you just have to be comfident in yoru cartaker and your body. It is normal for the heart rate to drop during contractions, that shows the baby is getting ready to be born and you are most likly 9-10cm. It is when the babies heartrate does not go back up afterwards that shows the problem. Some mothers do not know this.
I am glad your baby was born alright and you had a good dr but it was the dr not the monitoring! I have known a couple babies that showed stress and the dr did nothing and the baby almost died! There should be more nurses on labor and delivery then there are, that would make a big difference for both mothers and babies and the final outcome of the birth. Also if they were trained in both medical and natural birthing.
I am glad your baby was born alright and you had a good dr but it was the dr not the monitoring! I have known a couple babies that showed stress and the dr did nothing and the baby almost died! There should be more nurses on labor and delivery then there are, that would make a big difference for both mothers and babies and the final outcome of the birth. Also if they were trained in both medical and natural birthing.
If you can stand the pain of all natural more power to you, but for those scared of needles- wait till you've been in labor for hours & are already 4+ dialated- you won't even feel the needle! Believe me labor is so much stronger pain than any needle can cause :)
I also recommend lots of monitoring whether you are doing natural or not. With my first, her heartbeat would go down every time I pushed - turns out she had the cord wrapped around her neck & arm, but they don't know that until baby is delivered. With lots of dr care & monitoring they gave me extra fluid (pumped inside) to take the pressure off the cord & then only let me push every other contraction so not to stress the baby. When she got close dr cut an equidural & used suction to get to the cord quickly (since it was so wrapped the cord was shorter & harder to get her all the way out). The end result was a very healthy baby girl :) but it makes me worry every time I hear someone wanting litttle intervention so they can do it naturally. If I wasn't closely monitored I never would have know there was a problem & the end result may not have been so happy.
Just my 2 cents to think about when planning your birth plan - remember it's not Your birth, just your delivery day, what's important is the end result :)
I also recommend lots of monitoring whether you are doing natural or not. With my first, her heartbeat would go down every time I pushed - turns out she had the cord wrapped around her neck & arm, but they don't know that until baby is delivered. With lots of dr care & monitoring they gave me extra fluid (pumped inside) to take the pressure off the cord & then only let me push every other contraction so not to stress the baby. When she got close dr cut an equidural & used suction to get to the cord quickly (since it was so wrapped the cord was shorter & harder to get her all the way out). The end result was a very healthy baby girl :) but it makes me worry every time I hear someone wanting litttle intervention so they can do it naturally. If I wasn't closely monitored I never would have know there was a problem & the end result may not have been so happy.
Just my 2 cents to think about when planning your birth plan - remember it's not Your birth, just your delivery day, what's important is the end result :)
Oh yes I know the medical reasons that when they are needed!!! The placenta and transvarse and all that:) I did have to have a medical emergency c-section with my third. I had Prom but never went into labor and they were trying to keep her in as long as possible as I was 30 weeks. I was in the hospital for almost three days and she stopped moving. THey had her out in 26 min from the time I called the dr and if they had not gotten her out so fast she would nto be here right now ( will be 10 on the 19th:) )
I was just wondering why she had to have one. A close friend of mine had her first natural then her dr said she was to small to birth a 6lb baby, her second, her first was almost 8, they gave her a c-section and she lost her uterus at the young age of 24:( So sad and she developed a infection the almost killed her ( this all just about 8 weeks ago) Well she was in the hospital for 5 weeks and could not see her new baby. She went into another dr to get a peliv scan to see the size of her uterus and they said it was normal. Then she found out that that dr was to have a vacation when she could go and so he scheduled for a c-section. So sad!!! Not that your dr woudl ever do that! Just wondering. I feel so bad for my friend!
Atia_Julli that is great your thinking! I know many woman who went in thinking one thing but then had an emergency and they left feeling horrible about the whole experience. It is good to think about what if and have a birth plan that includes everything! A good site is earth mama angel baby.com It has were you can click your birth plan/ even for c-sections, and then just print it out without typing it all out. Very neat!
I was just wondering why she had to have one. A close friend of mine had her first natural then her dr said she was to small to birth a 6lb baby, her second, her first was almost 8, they gave her a c-section and she lost her uterus at the young age of 24:( So sad and she developed a infection the almost killed her ( this all just about 8 weeks ago) Well she was in the hospital for 5 weeks and could not see her new baby. She went into another dr to get a peliv scan to see the size of her uterus and they said it was normal. Then she found out that that dr was to have a vacation when she could go and so he scheduled for a c-section. So sad!!! Not that your dr woudl ever do that! Just wondering. I feel so bad for my friend!
Atia_Julli that is great your thinking! I know many woman who went in thinking one thing but then had an emergency and they left feeling horrible about the whole experience. It is good to think about what if and have a birth plan that includes everything! A good site is earth mama angel baby.com It has were you can click your birth plan/ even for c-sections, and then just print it out without typing it all out. Very neat!
My goal is a vaginal birth with an epidural. I'm pretty laid back about the entire thing though, and know that things sometimes need to change last minute due to medical needs of the baby. My #1 goal, as I'm sure everyone's is, is to have a healthy baby. And if that means a c-section at the 12th hour, I will not cry because my birth plan changed. Although I'm really hoping for vaginal as I've heard the recovery time is SO much better.
I'm glad you posted a poll on this I was wondering as well. I'm doing vaginal but really can't decide if I want to do it natural or get the epidural (I'm scared of needles). This is my first and everyone just keeps saying how bad it all hurts.
30something13::::sometimes a c-section absolutely is medically necessary. if the baby goes into cardiac distress and must come out immediately but isn't in a position to be birthed...or if the baby is transverse and cannot be manually versioned into a proper position...if the mother goes into cardiac or respiratory distress and cannot complete the labor.... my SIL had to have one because her son's heart rate dropped significantly and he wasn't properly aligned in the birth canal, so they were afraid that by the time he aligned and was birthed vaginally, he would be dead.
I'm going to have them insert the epidural but leave if off until I either absolutely can't take it anymore, or in case I tear again...because when I tore last time, they cranked up my epidural and pushed me right into the OR which saved a lot of time because they didn't have to administer an anesthetic. My dr says, based on my anatomy, i will probably tear again...so he recommends epidural, but he supports me not turning it on until I need it (or not, hopefully). I've passed several kidney stones while pregnant (more painful than labor, trust me) and I'm currently in the process of passing several more stones...yay...so I know I can handle pain and I would like to go natural as long as possible, lol. the labor with my daughter wasn't too excruciating...they turned on the epidural but I only pushed it once when it first was inserted, and by the time she was born it had mostly worn off and it wasn't too bad....but I sure was glad it was there when I tore. the anesthesiologist just started pressing the button like mad and all the pain went away lol.
JillyHemp::: Don't be afraid of vaginal...tears suck, but they're USUALLY easier to heal from than a c-section. and while the pain is intense and it really is the worst pain you've ever felt...there's this satisfaction and strength you get from the whole process...it's impossible to describe, but you feel so powerful and so beautiful. if you have to get a c-section that's absolutely fine, but I recommend giving it your all and trying to go vaginal...it's worth it IMO.
I'm going to have them insert the epidural but leave if off until I either absolutely can't take it anymore, or in case I tear again...because when I tore last time, they cranked up my epidural and pushed me right into the OR which saved a lot of time because they didn't have to administer an anesthetic. My dr says, based on my anatomy, i will probably tear again...so he recommends epidural, but he supports me not turning it on until I need it (or not, hopefully). I've passed several kidney stones while pregnant (more painful than labor, trust me) and I'm currently in the process of passing several more stones...yay...so I know I can handle pain and I would like to go natural as long as possible, lol. the labor with my daughter wasn't too excruciating...they turned on the epidural but I only pushed it once when it first was inserted, and by the time she was born it had mostly worn off and it wasn't too bad....but I sure was glad it was there when I tore. the anesthesiologist just started pressing the button like mad and all the pain went away lol.
JillyHemp::: Don't be afraid of vaginal...tears suck, but they're USUALLY easier to heal from than a c-section. and while the pain is intense and it really is the worst pain you've ever felt...there's this satisfaction and strength you get from the whole process...it's impossible to describe, but you feel so powerful and so beautiful. if you have to get a c-section that's absolutely fine, but I recommend giving it your all and trying to go vaginal...it's worth it IMO.
I was going to do an elective c-section bc I have this condition with nerve damage down their, and tearing really scared me. But my insuranced won't cover the elective c-section even though the doctor said I was a candidate for it. So I will be doing it natural. Also, I am scared of the epidural, so I will probably be doing it drug free as well.
Not really looking forward to it, but I can only hope for the best!
Not really looking forward to it, but I can only hope for the best!
Vaginal birth is wonderful and I highly recommend it! Recovery is so much faster (after all a c-section really is surgery) and it isn't as bad as you are probably imagining. Just make sure that you mention to your ob that you are worried about tearing and get him to go slowly and ease the baby out. Also when you start pushing push gently. Most people push as hard as they can (and some actually need to to make any progress) but for most of us gentle pushes are fine and help ease bub out more slowly/gently. That definitely reduces the risk of tearing and the severity if it does happen.
One case would be placenta previa. The placenta blocks the exit (so to speak) and so a c-section is scheduled. There are other valid reasons for not having a vaginal birth. I however have been lucky enough to have three vaginal births so far.
First was natural no drugs second was emergency c section with epid but didn't work so I was put to sleep and doc said I can have a vbac this time and I want to do it with no drugs
I'm hoping for...well I'm hoping..lol..jeez, labor scares me. I don't wanna rip. I think I would honestly rather have a c section than go through regular birth. I'm sure that's not gonna happen, but that would be nice. Lol
Yes very interesting! I was hopeing not to be nosy but why is a c-section medical? I know lots of dr's say woman need them but it is more dangerous from all I read on many studies. My friend was told the same thing becasue she already had a c-section once. I have had two natural, one emergency c-section because she was not breathing or moving, then one natural VBAC. I plan on another VBAC this time as well.
It will be interesting to do a follow up afterwards and find out what happened for everyone as opposed to what we all wanted!
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