Do you have any suggestions for natural child birth?

Shayna - posted on 04/10/2012

Honestly, lots of prayer and support are invaluable, but so is "work" in preparation! I read something an old family friend had on a plaque on her wall once, and it's stuck with me: A farmer better not pray for rain unless he already has a hoe in his hand. You can hope for the best situation, and even pray hard for it, but be willing to put in all the work you can to get the outcome you want. Now that my "preachiness" is done, here is the best tip I can give you if you want a natural birth: DO SQUATS NOW. :) Squatting tones and strengthens muscles you need to push, lessens the chance of tears, helps make sure the baby is in the right position by the time he/she decides it's time to meet the world, and it improves your stamina to do as many squats as you can fit in during your pregnancy. I did a lot of walking, hiking, swimming while pregnant with DD#1, and still needed a cesarean. She was facing forward instead of back, her head got stuck in the canal, and I wasn't strong enough to keep up the pushing and moving to get her worked around and out. I was lucky, though, to have a very good c-section experience, and we both had no health issues afterward. DD#2 was a little different. My best friend and my SIL both are advocates of unmedicated water birth at home. The info they shared with me impacted me, and I told my OB that I wanted to try VBAC without much interference. Well, he took that as my set-in-stone birthplan. I WAS administered a very light epidural, and she broke my water when my contractions were off the chart in intensity but not making "progress." Since it was a VBAC attempt in a hospital, they made me stay in the hospital bed(not the best position for labor) with an IV line ready in case they needed to do the c-section again, and limited the pain meds drastically. I'm still not sure whether I could handle a totally unmedicated birth, since I have a high pain tolerance otherwise (I have walked on a broken leg for 2 weeks!) but I do know that the specific squatting I did in advance helped immensely during the most painful and strength-zapping part of the ordeal. Check out this website, it may help!: http://www.alignedandwell.com/?p=864&opt... Best wishes for your labor! Prayer and preparation will get you through it, all the way to the beautiful prize in your arms at the end!

Chelly - posted on 04/08/2012

We had a planned water birth so I laminated some favorite scriptures. I also made some of the scripture bold so that it would be easy to read the main parts or favorites during labor... Or have someone read them to me. Although I didn't use the scriptures in labor, I did read them regularly and during labor one in particular came to mind. I pushed through 3 contractions and on the 2nd ctx, this is the scripture that popped up...



God will fill you mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy.

Job 8:21



And when that came to mind I laughed joyfully through that ctx and I have the video footage to prove it!



If you're interested in the scriptures that I laminated, message me your email address and I'll fwd them to you :D

Nikki - posted on 04/07/2012

My daughter is 4 months old I gave birth naturally with no pain meds at all. I am not going to say it is easy beacuse it is tough however, you can defintaly do it ... I remembered that God will never give us more than we can handle and that he is always with us and helping us through everything ... I prayed at the begining of my labor and throughout my labor as this got intense I was able to have my daugher after 4 days in labor it was amazing to know that I did it myself with Gods help of corse. Hope this helps. You can defintaly do it just stay positive I also took a child birth class and took a excerise ball to sit/rock on and a jacuzi tub was my best friend with relaxing beach music.

Alyssa - posted on 04/05/2012

Thank you again everybody for taking the time to share some great advice with me! I'm very blessed to have found this forum =)

Meaghan - posted on 04/05/2012

Natural childbirth is the best way to go and keeping God in it is even better! Birth is a natural process and should never be looked at as a blessing. Keep up a healthy diet and keep moving. Meditation is great practice for when you are in labor. Try not to take drugs it adds too much extra time to your labor. The most important thing to do is relax be as calm as you can. If you go into labor at night try to go back to sleep, remember sleep is the ultimate relaxation! In the morning you will be ready to go to the hospitl. Just remember our ancestors never had drugs or the choice of drugs or c-sections and we all came out fine. You can educte yourself on the birthing process but don't get all caught up in the horror stories-stay focused stay positive and let nature take its course. I always describe labor to my students as a marathon you start off feeling great little cramps, as you progress in the marathon your breathing takes on a different feel and you begin to reserve your strength for the end. By the time the 25-26th mile comes you are really trying to breath and try to make it over the finish line. YOu worked with your body and you made it across the finish line! Drugs are like taking a taxi at the 12 mile mark and getting out at the 20 mile mark your body has a hard time catching back up and the pain is unknown. Keep moving when you are in labor try not to lay down. Let God do the work! you can do it!

Jeni - posted on 04/05/2012

Wait and do it with your second child :D

Sarah - posted on 04/04/2012

Here are some things that helped me. Around the last couple months before I was due I would lay in bed before I fell asleep and imgaine the worst pain ever and then figure out how I was going to work through it. I like soft music, but I found that when I was in pain I needed my eyes closed and someone to count or help me with the breathing. If you are able try to keep yourself out of bed and busy. The more you are up and walking around the more gravity can do its work. Keeping busy can help keep your mind off of the pain (somewhat). My last two labors were very quick and with the last I had not packed my bag yet. So determined that I was going to get my bag packed before we went to the hospital I breathed through my conctractions while putting in the things I wanted to have. The conctractions hurt BAD, but my mind was focused on packing that I did not give myself much time to focus on that pain. It did not take the pain away.....just helped me to get through the pain.

Angela - posted on 04/03/2012

I pray you have the childbirth experience you want. Never feel like a failure if you need medical or surgical intervention, and if you are fortunate enough to have a natural childbirth without difficulty, never make any other mother feel a failure because she needed help.



Doctors or midwives who scoff at newly-delivered mothers who needed some pain relief intervention are bad enough without other mothers doing so as well.



Every mother is different and every birth is different. No-one else's stories will be relevant to you so I'm not going to give you mine.



The most helpful advice on here has been when people have said to pray and trust in the Lord and also to get yourself as healthy and fit as you can.



I wish you every joy with your new baby when he/she comes along.

Molade - posted on 04/03/2012

Hi Alyssa, the book 'Supernatural Childbirth' by Jackie Mize would definitely be of help to you. The confessions and prayers really helped boost my faith when i had my son. Be blessed

Joy - posted on 04/02/2012

I would pray that it can be a natural birth. I did have a natural one with my daughter (12 hour labor -8 hours of it at home before heading to the hospital,) but as my sister points out I was lucky (or it was God's plan is what I believe.) My sister was pre-clamptic with her first child when her doctor told her she had to be induced. She was induced, the pain was too great, she got an epidural that didn't work how it was supposed to, her labor was very long (36 hours I think,) her husband didn't stay for the entire labor (needing to get some sleep) so there were several hours where she labored alone in a hospital room, she ended up with a c-section and her son in the NICU.



My sister's first child is older than mine. I listened to her birth story and read a lot of books about the possible medical procedures, their risks and different ways labor could happen & choices that are possible before talking to my ob-gen. I also hired a doula to help through the labor (there's also post-parteum doulas, but we didn't use one.) Then I prayed. And by the time I was 9 days late, I'm pretty sure a lot of people were praying. My daughter was delivered naturally (other than my ob stripping my membranes without my consent) in the very early hours of the 10th day.



The doula was also very helpful and encouraging during the 4 hours I was laboring at the hospital. I'd encourage getting one for a natural birth. While a doula supports the mother & doesn't take away from what the father's role is, she relieved a lot of stress my husband had by being able to be the one to coach me when my husband was fatigued.

Alyssa - posted on 04/02/2012

Thank you everybody. Some really good advice. I will definitely take it to heart.

Victoria - posted on 04/02/2012

My plan was for no meds, but also to God with the flow & allow God to lead.

I never had an epidural which is good as it could of been deathly for me with some of the health issues I've had.

For my oldest they gave me meds, but when we were going to start the second round it was too late & I had to delivery with nothing. With my second I held out, when I did finally get some, it was just before I had to deliver so they didn't kick in until after I had given birth & with my third & finally daughter I didn't have any.

It was funny, they broke my water & I said to the doctor the baby will be here in 4 hours, he laughed at me and said we'll see, I said my other 2 only took four hours with 10 minutes pushing time & he said all babies are different. 4 hours later he said to me I guess you called that one, and I said yes God did.

All the way through my pregnancies & deliveries we prayed for Hebrew births.

Ex 1:19 The midwives answered Pharaoh, "Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive."

For me, not before the doctor arrived although my first was, but vigorous, quickly and afterwards, I had little recovery pain.

I will keep you in prayer for this my dear.



Blessings, Pastor Victoria MacPherson

Linda - posted on 04/02/2012

I had four boys (7 1/2 lbs, 8 1/2 lbs, 9 lbs, and 10 lbs) without any pain medication whatsoever. I found the Lamaze classes to be very helpful...especially when they tell you not to focus on the pain. Focusing on pain always makes it worse; dwell on a blessing the Lord has given you when you are in labor. The classes were also helpful in knowing different pain management techniques to use. For example, I had back labor with 3 of the 4, but since my husband knew how to apply counter-pressure to my back, it relieved the pain quite well. I'm not saying I didn't have pain, but it was manageable; however, in general, I do have a high tolerance for pain.

Carla - posted on 04/02/2012

Always listen to God, Alyssa ;) He is telling you what to do, He made you, so He knows what is best. Let us know when you get close, and we will start prayin' for ya.



God bless, honey

Alyssa - posted on 04/02/2012

My birth plan is basically to go with the flow, hopfeully naturally, but I am not going to beat myself up if I feel I should take the medication. I would like to be able to have the baby naturally, because I have not always had the best reactions with pain medication in the past. I'm not doing it to try and be a super mom or prove anything, I just think that with God it is possible and would like to prepare as much as I can ("as i can" being the keywords)- mostly spiritual preparations at this point. I have looked up many techniques for breathing and positions and prepared for the physical, but now I feel that God wants me to prepare spiritually.

Rebekah - posted on 04/02/2012

I had no pain in my pregnancy, neither did my mom. I prayed the prayer my mom did asking God to forgive me of the sins of Eve - you have to remember that Eve's sin was under old covenant and so was the curse. You can be set free of it, if you believe. I had no pain and an awesome delivery - you can too. :)

Louise - posted on 04/02/2012

I think you need to go in with an open mind. Going natural is not all that it is cracked up to be! If your body tells you this is painful then take medication to help you have a wonderful birth. Trust me you will not hear the music, listen to the midwife and if she suggests a different position to help baby move down the birth canal then move. Also water is a good natural pain relief, ask to use the birthing pool.



All I can say is having a natural birth makes no difference, it does not make you a better mother, or benefit the baby in any way. Having a mother who can manage her pain without being over medicated makes mum and baby more relaxed through the process. Just keep your mind open and be willing to go with the flow. God is with you whether you have pain relief or not. I have had three 10lb babies and the last one I had a natural labour for 12 hours before being rushed into theater for a C section. This was not by choice there just was not enough staff to administer the drugs. I can tell you I was far from relaxed and it put me off having any more!



If you think you can go natural, then try but do not think you have failed if you, like millions of other women ask for some help.

Carla - posted on 04/02/2012

I would suggest getting your body in as good a physical shape as you can. You look to be young and in good shape, so this shouldn't be hard ;)



I would also walk away from women who want to tell you their horror stories, as you want to be as positive as possible. Women have been giving birth since the beginning of time, and only in the last 60 years or so has the medical field told us we have to be drugged or unconscious.



Read what you can about the Lamaze techniques, keep yourself positive, get your muscle tone up, and rejoice over your new child.



God bless, honey