top 10 things you should do to have a natural birth September 21, 2007
Posted by guinever in : birth, doula, health, labor, midwifery, pregnancy , 13comments
So you’re pregnant, and you think you might want to have a natural birth. Having helped many women have natural births in my role as a doula and having birthed 5 babies naturally myself, I’d like to offer what I feel are a few of the most important things to do in order to achieve a drug-free birth.
1. Going natural is a mindset. Make the commitment during pregnancy that drugs are not an option for labor. Believe that you can do it, and you will. If you have the feeling that you’d like to try it to see how it goes, but you’re open to getting an epidural, I guarantee you that you will have the epidural. Labor is hard work and to get through it, you can’t be wishy washy going into it. One medical intervention leads to another.
2. Surround yourself with friends and family who believe that you can have a natural birth, who assume that you can do it. Tune out the negative birth stories that some girlfriends might tell you about how awful labor was until the epidural took effect. Instead, seek out labor stories from women who have had natural birth and you’ll hear how awesome the birth was, how the baby latched on right away, how the nurses kept making comments that the baby was so alert. You’ll hear how proud her husband was, what a great help to her he was during labor, and that the birth was an empowering, amazing experience.
3. Take a private, independent childbirth class. (in other words, don’t take the birthing classes offered by the hospital.) If this isn’t possible, prepare yourself by reading several pregnancy books and learning labor coping techniques. Consider my list of recommended books.
4. Choose your doctor or midwife carefully. If you don’t know where to start looking for a care provider, ask your local childbirth educators and doulas for ideas. Ask lots of questions in your first few pre-natal visits so there aren’t any surprises later on. Be wary when the answer is always, “I only do that when its medically necessary.” You need to ask them, “How often do you feel its medically necessary?” (to do inductions, planned cesareans, episiotomies, etc) You want to find someone with a low induction, low cesarean, low episiotomy (and low tear) rate. Don’t be afraid to switch doctors or hospitals no matter how late it is in your pregnancy. Remember, it is your birth, and you are hiring them to work for you. There should be a mutual respect.
5. During labor, just take one contraction at a time. Don’t worry about the length of labor–how long it has been or how much longer it might be. Women talk about their long labors, but remember, its not as if they were in constant pain for 18 hours. Contractions only last for about a minute (longer during later labor) and you get breaks in between. Don’t let anyone tell you that your body isn’t working if your labor slows down. That is just the body’s way of giving you a rest. Be thankful for the break because labor will pick up soon enough.
6. Stay home as long as possible once labor starts. Nothing slows down labor as much as going to the hospital too soon.
7. Don’t be induced unless medically necessary. About half of all inductions done on first time mothers result in cesarean birth. This is because inductions are done too soon, before mom and baby are ready for labor. Read think twice, no think three times before being induced for labor.
8. Consider hiring a doula. Read what is a doula and should I have one?
9. Consider having a homebirth or going to a birth center. It’s so much easier to have a natural birth when you’re not in the hospital.
10. Read birth stories. Learn from the mistakes and successes of others. Be inspired from women’s birth stories. Here are a few to get you started:
- diary of a primipara
- my second labor–a lot quicker than my first
- the labor that kept on stopping–my third birth
- born in our living room-the story of my fourth birth
- 12 days overdue, but who’s counting? the diary and birth story of my fifth baby.
Birth is a natural process and women have been birthing babies for thousands of years. You can do it too. During labor, as long as you are doing alright and baby is alright, there’s no reason to intervene in the process if you don’t want to.
Please refer to my welcome page for more articles on labor and birth.
for trial of labor’s blog tag: your homebirth questions answered September 21, 2007
Posted by guinever in : birth, health, home birth, homebirth, midwifery, pregnancy , 1 comment so farDear Trial of Labor blogger: I’d love to answer your homebirth questions!
Have you considered homebirth as an option for labor and delivery with a previous/upcoming birth?
Yes, I have had 2 homebirths after having had 3 hospital births. My birth stories are linked below.
- diary of a primipara
- my second labor–a lot quicker than my first
- the labor that kept on stopping–my third birth
- born in our living room-the story of my fourth birth
- 12 days overdue, but who’s counting? the diary and birth story of my fifth baby.
Why did you (or did you not) consider homebirth?
Before ever being pregnant, I always thought I would have a birth center birth then a home birth. Well, when I was expecting my first baby, there were no birth centers around, so I opted for a hospital birth with a CNM with my first two births. For my third birth, I looked into homebirth, but ended up switching midwives and hospitals (traveling nearly an hour) instead of having a homebirth. It was a lot cheaper for us to have the hospital birth since insurance covered it and finances in the end were the deciding factor for me. After that birth, I started attending births as a doula and decided I never wanted to have a hospital birth again. So my fourth and fifth babies were born in the comfort of my living room.
What do you see as the major advantages for homebirth, and what are your justifications? I don’t know where to start. Labor and birth are so much more comfortable at home. I don’t have to worry about when to go to the birth place since I’m already there. I don’t have to experience active labor in a moving vehicle (that was always a drag for me especially for my second birth when I did transition in the car). At home, I’m in charge. No one takes my baby away to the nursery. Labor doesn’t slow down because I’m at the hospital. No paperwork (well, there’s a little, but it’s not reams). Only people I want at my birth are there. (no never ending parade of nurses and residents) I can birth my baby where ever I want–in a tub, in the kitchen, in the living room, bathroom, outside–and I can be in whatever position works at the time–standing, squatting, sitting, lying down, on all fours. Pretty much, anything goes. No stirrups. No bright lights. No threat of an episiotomy. No drug pushers disguised as labor nurses. My chosen midwife looks at me, the laboring mothering, listens to me, watches my body language for an indication of where I’m at in labor instead of looking to the EFM and pushing for constant cervical checks. No beeping machines, no IV’s. My midwife quietly and gently checks baby’s heart tones where I’m at. (I don’t have to go lie down in bed for the nurse’s convenience) No shift changes. My midwife and doula are here for me. They won’t go home because they’re off the clock.
What do you see as the major obstacles for homebirth? For me, it was the legality for the midwives. Technically, in my state, only licensed midwives can do homebirths, but the state stopped issuing licenses in the 1970s. Very lame. Legally, CNMs can do homebirths, but most don’t. Some malpractice insurance companies won’t let them or they would lose their policy. There’s only a few doctors who will backup midwives who do homebirths. So I think this is an obstacle.
Was your husband “on board?” Definitely. In fact, after our first homebirth, my husband said, “Why didn’t we do this before?”
That’s the answer to all your questions, but I did want to add that for me, part of having a safe homebirth was having a back-up plan in case transfer was required. My husband and I met with a doctor who knew our plans for birth and he was willing to take care of me if I needed to go to the hospital. He said his main concerns were shoulder dystocia and hemorrhaging after the birth. I didn’t tell him that I was prepared for either option. We would do the Gaskin maneuver (not many docs know about this, but it works everytime for getting those big shoulders out!) And for possible bleeding, I had an herb on hand to use for my first homebirth and for my second, my midwife carried pitocin. Also, my hematocrit was right where it should be so bleeding out was unlikely. I was all set! We also had oxygen.
I’d also like to address the common concern that many people have. So many who aren’t familiar with homebirth say, but what if something happens and you’re not at the hospital? Shouldn’t you be in the hospital in case something bad happens? My answer is that its not safer in the hospital. Most birth “emergencies”occur because you’re at the hospital. One intervention leads to another. If you’re at home, you’re less likely to have a mom or baby in distress. If something does happen, all you have to do is call the hospital and they can prep the OR and be ready for you. They’d have to do this even if you’re at the hospital. Maybe you’re going in because you’re just exhausted and want the pain meds.. most women have to wait about 45 minutes for an epidural, so its not like the instant a woman wants drugs, they’re being pumped into her back. So it doesn’t really save anytime if you’re already there.
