[AvadaKedavra]

Both mine were drug free, but not because I had any objection to pain relief.

I think you can get so caught up in what you want and your birth plan that it can be a source of stress, and stress makes pain worse. My approach was to make sure I had birth skills through calmbirthing etc, but to also know my pain relief options if I needed them. It meant I could cocentrate on labouring without worrying about whether I might need analgesia, and if so, was I 'failing'?

I think sometimes we women set too high a bar for ourselves in a situation we've never experienced and then cling to it tenaciously and to our detriment. Stress increases pain and slows labour. When uou've gone to such efforts to make your environment perfect (private midwife, bath, music, lights etc), then why do we make ourselves to uncomfortable and stressed about our birthing 'principles' rather than just allow yourself to go with the flow?

In my first I briefly thought 'gee this is hard, an epidural would be nice' but it rapidly became apparent that that was because I was transitioning because a minute later I needed to push. No drugs for me, but that was ok because i was so close. With my second (large posterior baby), I pushed for two hours (way longer than my first) before he turned and started to descend, and it was a way more painful labour than my first. But it wa only later that I realized that I hadn't even thought of analgesia as an option nor had it been offered to me (even though, to quote a PP, I crapped myself and screamed like a wild animal!). I was in such a deep place that it disn't even occur to me to ask for it, but had it been the 'elephant in the room' that I was determined to avoid, then my labour would have been so so much harder.

So I guess my advice, OP, is to prepare yourself for all eventualities and not see it as a marker of a successful or 'failed' labour if you need intervention or drugs at the end. And if you're prepared enough for an active and calm birth you increase your chances of a drug free labour. And leave it at that.

[Brownie22]

I had drug free births both times but both were "easy" labours in that they were fairly quick - about 6 hours from first real contraction to delivery. The second was actually a lot more painful than the first but the fact that I managed my first drug free gave me the confidence to do it again. I think you need to go in with an open mind. I know that is easier said than done because I really didn't want drugs second time partly because I felt that i wanted it to be "fair" to baby 2 to have the same experience as my first which when I think about it now makes me feel stupid!

See how you go but if you need/want drugs dont beat yourself up about it.

This post has been edited by Brownie22: 25/04/2012, 08:34 AM

[magicalsurprise]

DD1 - Long drawn out posterior labour, had pethidine.
DS1 - No time for any drugs. A quick and easy labour/birth.
DD2 - Back to pethidine again, failure to progress and bubs in distress after peth so E C/S
DD3 - Quick labour but still wanted pethidine. I had it about 45 minutes before she was born so didnt really feel the effects untill after.
DS2 - I am hoping for a drug free birth.

I guess each labour is different and you just dont know what is going to happen.