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i'm all for epidurals. i'm so pain intolerant. sucks though, because there are definitely problems, especially if the doctor doesn't administer it correctly.... sticking you a few times, hitting your spine, etc. my husband thinks i should go sans because millions of women have done it over time. but then, he's not the one giving birth!

If you want to read my birth story - http://babychin.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/our-birth-story-noelle-olivia/

I heart epidural. In fact, I got one even before I felt any contractions. My water broke 2 days before labor and I had to be induced because it just wasn't happening. So right after they hooked me up with everything, I asked for the epidural. They had to re-insert it for me when I got up to 3cm though because the person that did it the first time was too green and it didn't work. But after the 2nd try, it was just smooth sailing. I did feel intense pressure between 7cm - 9cm dilated. I don't think there is anything wrong with getting pain relief. In fact, I think I pushed for only 46 minutes because I didn't feel any pain and was able to "work". Otherwise, I don't think I could have pushed him out! I had an amazing labor and delivery experience and that's because of the epidural.

I watched the Business of Being Born and while it was really interesting I felt it was too one sided. As long as the mother and baby are safe I am for whatever makes them happy, it's another woman's birth, not mine so I don't get all the drama. I give major props to those who can go sans but I ain't to proud to beg for an epi if I feel I need it.

I'm currently set to give birth at a midwife-led birth centre where I won't even have the option of an epidural. I have to say that freaks me out if I think about it too much. I mean I want to go all natural, but it would be sort of nice to know I had the out if I wanted it... Then again, I figure my mom did it and so can I!

I never saw Business of Being Born. Prior to getting pregnant, and pretty much up to the point of about 7 months into my first pregnancy, I was the first to say I wanted an epidural the minute I walked through the door. But as I started to read about the side effects, and I considered my own desires as far as being able to BFAR (breast feeding after reduction) my mind started to change.

My son was 10lbs 5 oz but came quickly. I did not have an epidural, but i can not say that I wouldn't have if my labor had been extraordinarily long. I wrote this in my birth story to sum it up:

"The birth of our son was the most intensely amazing moment of my life. To be able to feel my child come into the world is an experience that I would never ever ever give up. Little G and I worked together for nine months to make sure he was nourished and healthy, and I couldn’t imagine having gone through that entire nine month period of closeness to ‘hand off’ the experience at the end. Although my original decision to birth him naturally was based on my desire to breastfeed him as soon as possible after birth and be assured that he not be groggy, in the end I decided I wanted to birth him naturally because I thought I could do it and I wanted to do it. Now, with the experience behind us, I can say that the most important reason why I birthed our child naturally was so that I could physically feel him enter the world. There isn’t any other experience like it and I am incredibly blessed to have been able to experience it myself."

You can read the entire birth story here: http://www.otherpiecesofme.com/2009/08/birth-story-of-our-son-07-08-09.html

FYI - there are placenta pics.

@coastinganon - you dictated your experience beautifully! that's exactly how i felt. like you, the main reason i wanted to do a natural birth too was to be able to breastfeed right away and hopefully feel that instant connection without the drugs. i was lucky my labor was only 9 hours long...

my friend tried for a natural birth but couldn't do it because her body just wasn't cooperating. after 12 hours of natural labor she ended up getting an epidural, then after another 12 hours they found the baby's head was too big so in the end she had to get a c-section. after 24 hours of labor!! so you just never know!!

Yes! I did hypnobabies...so hard and so worth it.

I'm very torn about whether or not I'll end up wanting an epidural. On the one hand, I'm looking at my mother who gave birth to four children naturally, sans epidural. The first two were twins, born vaginally. So I don't want to seem like a wuss compared to her.

But as I'm not really sure what my pain tolerance will be. Ideally, I'd like to go as long as I can without any drugs, but I don't want to end up going so long that I can't get them if I really want them. But I'd really like to be able to walk around and labor in different positions than just lying down, and I know that you can't do that with some epidurals.

But since I'm just now in my first regular cycle post MC, it's all pretty theoretical at this point.

If DH had his way, I think I'd be walking around with an epidural throughout my entire pregnancy ;). He hates to see me in any type of pain.

I did not get an epidural but I def echo bakingabug... what's w all the drama about someone else's birth? That is what's so great about this country - freedom of choice! The worst thing about not getting an epidural for me was the stitching afterwards... My dr constantly gave me local anesthetics but it was painful... More painful than labor!

The epidural was good for the pain. The only thing is i had complications where they hit something in my spine, the medicine got to me too fast and paralyzed my lungs & i stopped breathing on the operating table getting a c-section. Then a few days later i ended up with spinals headaches becuase the fluid around my brain was leaking from the pin hole they put in my spine. It was horrible! So i had a bit of a horror story, but in all honesty, i would get an epidural again and pray i dont have the oops like last time!

@babychin - I had a Bradley birth after reading The Business of Being Born. Before that, I wanted meds, but not an epi.

Honestly, I loved Wombat's birth. It brought my husband, sister, and I all closer. Honestly, I was just thinking about how much I loved the birth even though it was really hard and long.

I also gave birth without medication after learning the bradley method with midwives. So worth it.

I really want to try for a natural birth. I've seen The Business of Being Born and done lots of research even before I got pregnant, and I'm kind of terrified of getting an epidural. So many things can go wrong and there are side effects for me and baby. I know my body can do it without an epidural, so why risk the side effects. My opinion is, no thank you.

I'm planning on a hospital birth and getting an epidural. My husband is a doctor and fully supports my desire for drugs : )

My OB practice is a blend of OB and midwife care so I have options. We live in Boston and the hospital that I'm delivering at is one of the best in the nation, so I have less concern about them screwing the epidural up.

My outlook on meds/no meds is to each their own.

My birth plan was for no epidural, but I always left the option open to get one if I really felt like I needed it. I ended up not getting one, but I think that's because my labor went very quickly and my daughter was on the small side (6 lbs, 7 oz).

If she had been bigger or labor had been prolonged, I'm pretty sure I would have gotten an epidural.

This might seem like a ridiculous question, especially because I could probably google it, but...
Is an epidural one injection to the spinal area, or do they actually insert an IV? I've heard it both ways, and I think the injection I could handle, but an IV might make me flip out a little. Thoughts?

I delivered my beautiful baby girl with no meds at all. My labour pains started 2 days before I delivered, my water broke at midnight and I delivered 17 hours later. I won't lie, the pain is unmeasurable, but stay focused and stay calm, and it goes by so fast. I was open to the idea of the epi but in my heart I wanted to do it natural. In the end my delivery was great and I felt so proud of myself for being able to do it naturally; you realize the true strength of a woman in a moment like that. And to be honest, the minute I saw my little girl and held her in my arms the pain seemed lightyears behind me.

I fully intend on having an epidural and am actually a bit worried I won't be able to get one when I want it. I'm not sure exactly how it works here in Australia but I get the impression that they try to discourage epis and I do NOT want that to happen. I want to know that when I ask for an epi, I will be given one. It's making me very, very nervous. I have my first appt with the antenatal clinic next week at 12 weeks and that is the first question I plan on asking. Unfortunately for me, we live in a one hospital town so if epis aren't readily accessible, I don't really have any other options.

I fully intend on doing anything and everything I can to access pain relief; my idea of a nightmare birthing experience is doing it naturally! Kudos to those who can do it but I know it's not for me.

I wanted a natural childbirth & I had one! That being said, I went into it telling myself if I ended up needing one, that was okay too.