My partner thinks I’m crazy for even considering it. I’ve never taken pain relief in my life, growing up my parents didn’t agree with modern day medicine, though I did have all my vaccinations. So I don’t even know how my body would react to pain relief and I don’t want to harm my baby if I do react. I’ve tried those TENS machines when I broke my wrist and it didn’t work.
Would you ever consider giving birth without pain relief?

Chosen Answer:

I’ve done it.

When I had my son I was in back labour for 36 hours, he was over 9lbs and his head was 37cms, I pushed for three hours and had stitches afterwards. I did the first 31 with no pain relief at all, then I had gas and air for two hours, then nothing at all for the last three hours (which is when I was pushing).

It’s entirely possible to give birth without pain relief. I did it because I hate anyone fiddling with my back so an epidural was out and I dislike feeling spacey and out of control so morphine and pethidiene were out too. Plus I didn’t like the idea of whatever I took affecting my baby. I wrote in my birth plan “please offer me support and encouragement rather than drugs. If I want them I will ask for them” to make it clear I didn’t want to be medicated. In the UK the majority of pregnancies and deliveries are midwife-led in hospitals or birthing centres, doctors only get involved where there are issues the midwives can’t deal with. They encourage natural, non-medical methods of pain-relief however the option is there to use them if you so wish. If you’re in the UK then discuss pain relief with your midwife to see what options your chosen hospital offers.

Because I hadn’t had any drugs I was able to continue to eat lightly and to drink during labour – sips of ice water and icy cold fruit juice are just heavenly when you’re sweaty and tired. I had tea and toast right after the delivery, followed by a shower, and I was then able to walk from the delivery room to the post-natal ward rather than being wheeled there in a wheelchair or bed.

There are other ways to relieve pain – have your partner rub your back, try a variety of positions to find one that is comfortable, move around, rock back and forth, I found standing and leaning on the bed to be comfortable. You could ask the hospital if you can use the birthing pool as water is great for pain relief. If they don’t have a pool then put a chair (a waterproof one!) in the shower and straddle it so you’re leaning your chest against the backrest, angle the shower spray aginst your lower back – it’s amazing for relieving some of the pain there.

The main thing is to breathe, if you tense up then it will hurt more. It’s easier said than done but relaxing, breathing, and letting your body do what it was designed to do is the main thing. Imagine each contraction like a wave lapping on the beach. As it builds, that’s the wave coming in, so you start to breathe in slowly and count in your head 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. When it reaches it’s peak, that’s it lapping over the shore, start to breathe out slowly like your breathing it away, and then it starts to recede and you count back down in your head as you exhale, 4, 3, 2, 1, etc. I know that sounds lame and stupid but that helped me. I didn’t take any relaxation or breathing classes, I just did what felt natural and right on the day and didn’t give a stuff if I looked stupid lol.

Keep an open mind on the day, there are no medals for being brave and it’s not a contest to see who can withstand the most pain. If you do need pain relief then take it, but you don’t need to jump right to an epidural. Think of pain relief as a padder. On the bottom rung is no pain relief (except for methods like massage, water, etc). On the next rung up is gas and air. On the next is morphine/pethadine. On the last rung is an epidural. If you decide that you want some pain relief then you need only go up to the next rung (gas and air) and see if that works for you. If it does, stick there. If it doesn’t, move up another step. Take it as it comes and see what the day brings but if what you really want is a drug-free delivery then go for it. I’m a wuss about pain and I managed it and it was the best thing I’ve ever done. I plan to go drug-free with this one too.

It hurts at the time but once that baby is in your arms, you forget – seriously, you do. They injected a local when they stitched me and I didn’t even feel it because I was so preoccupied with looking at my baby.
by: Coeebod
on: 19th August 10