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I always knew I wanted a natural birth, med free and intervention free. Having lived in england for so many years this is the norm over there. And I know from research that it is best for the both mom and baby too.
The hospital I delivered at was also very pro natural birth as was my OB. and they all were telling how much easier it would be if we could keep the meds and interventions to a minimum ifnot avoid them completely.
I didnt get to have my preferred birth due to complications and after experiencing a failed induction and ultimate c-section, I am even more determined to have a natural birth next time around.

I starting researching childbirth when I was like 15 because my mom scared me so much with her horror stories, haha! I've researched/read a lot since then. I always had a feeling that something wasn't right with the usual perception of birth, and that maybe I didn't understand my own body.

My realization, ultimately, was that giving birth in the average American hospital is completely unconducive to normal birth. My best bet was to birth at home with a midwife who's trained in normal birth, where I wouldn't be subjected to unnecessary procedures. (Drugs that interfere with the labor, laboring on the back, IVs and catheters, internal fetal monitoring, and episiotomies, to name the big ones) In addition to that, home birth has some comfort/privacy aspects that I think will be extremely helpful to the process.

Baby and I are doing great, and I'm looking forward to a normal, prepared labor!

@Minnie_Girl: You are having a home birth?! Awesome! I'd love to chat with you more.

my birth plan is based mostly on my past medical experience. i have a history of kidney stones, and they are AWFUL. the pain is an out-of-body, throwing up, unbearable, shaking, cold sweats, screaming and cursing kind of pain. so, knowing how that feels, and that i can't handle that pain without IV medications, i knew i'd want a medicated birth.

i also trust that my doctors have my best interests in mind. they do not want to put me through anything more than what they believe is medically necessary. they want my baby to be healthy just like me. they are educated and experienced, and know WAY more than i will ever know about birth and medicine. i trust that this education and experience will provide me with a safe and healthy birth.

I didn't have any real plan. I wanted to deliver however was safest, and quickest for both me and baby. I trusted my OB who delivers hundreds of babies a year, and has decades of experience - whereas, I have no experience. So, I planned to do basically whatever my OB and the other professionals suggested. My OB and delivery hospital were very open to whatever the woman wants and provide lots of non-traditional laboring methods. I had no vested interest in doing things "my way" because of any particular belief system I read about, although I read about some different birthing methods.

I ended up having a c-section, and have no regrets about it. Everything went smoothly, and that's what my OB and I ultimately decided was best/safest for baby and myself.

Being in a hospital was never a question.

I have worked in NICU and have watched a ton of births. I knew I just wanted to do whatever it took to ensure a safe entry to the world for my LO.

I was induced due to PIH complications, and my LO went into distress, so I had a c-section. Sawyer couldn't tolerate even the smallest contractions, I never even dilated.

Sawyer arrived healthy, and I recovered remarkably quickly, so I achieved my goals. For my next birth, I will be having a planned c-section, as the fetal distress was quite stressful for me.

I was scared to death of labor and scared to death of the pain. I was also scared to death of the epidural. Haha. I knew deep down that I would get an epidural when I went into labor, though. My birth experience was great. I wanted the epidural and I got it. It was done properly and I was able to feel when I had to push. They used a vacuum on the baby at the end which I was also okay with then and now. I was exhausted and I trusted my OB. I got the baby as soon as I could (there was meconium in my water so, they had to take her for a few minutes). Overall - very happy with my drugged up labor and delivery.

@photojane: I had a kidney stone at 33 weeks pregnant so I know what you're talking about. I needed morphine. I also needed morphine 3 weeks ago when I had a kidney infection (same kidney). BUT I was able to have a medication-free birth. It's true what they say: kidney stone is worse than labour.

@sorrycharlie: you are not alone, That was my philosophy going in The only thing I really wanted to avoid was a C section if I could.

@highwire - do you know if any hospitals near where you live is designated a "baby friendly hospital"?

here's a map for baby friendly hospitals in the US - http://www.babyfriendlyusa.org/eng/03.html

The criteria for a hospital's Baby Friendly accreditation include:
- Have a written breastfeeding policy that is routinely communicated to all health care staff.
- Train all health care staff in skills necessary to implement this policy.
- Inform all pregnant women about the benefits and management of breastfeeding.
- Help mothers initiate breastfeeding within one half-hour of birth.
- Show mothers how to breastfeed and maintain lactation, even if they should be separated from their infants.
- Give newborn infants no food or drink other than breastmilk, not even sips of water, unless medically indicated.
- Practice rooming in - that is, allow mothers and infants to remain together 24 hours a day.
- Encourage breastfeeding on demand.
- Give no artificial teats or pacifiers (also called dummies or soothers) to breastfeeding infants.
- Foster the establishment of breastfeeding support groups and refer mothers to them on discharge from the hospital or clinic.

The program also restricts use by the hospital of free formula or other infant care aids provided by formula companies.

Since the program's inception, approximately 15,000 facilities in more than 152 countries have been inspected and accredited as "Baby-Friendly."

I took an amazing biology of women class in college that was taught b a certified doula. She taught a about how high c-sections rates are and that they shouldn't be that high. She taught tons of stuff about medical intervention births and how important a natural birth can be. It was soo intriguing as I've never heard any of that before. So when I got pregnant I researched some birth centers and found one 45 minutes from me. I totally fell in love. Additional research helped me decide the type of birth I wanted.

I got partly what I wanted. I could deliver at my birth center because I developed pre-eclampsia so I had to be induced. That meant no water birth but I still was able to do it without meds.

@sorrycharlie: that was my birth plan too. i just wanted a healthy baby

I read a few books, but it was the midwife that led our hospital birth class that gave me the confidence to desire and execute an intervention free birth.

I didn't want an episiotomy, so I did perineal massage. That helped enormously. I also didn't want a epi because I wanted to move around, so practicing positions to manage the pain beforehand was key.

I couldn't shake the feeling that childbirth is natural and that the majority of births can happen naturally if they are allowed to. I am not typically anti-medication or anti-medical intervention.

However after doing research, reading books, articles, birth stories and watching some videos (including the Business of Being Born) I started to become very fearful of the medical community. It seemed like there was an overwhelming presentation of the medical profession surrounding labor and delivery being all about convenience, speed and efficiency and I was very fearful of being coerced into procedures I didn't want or wasn't informed about ahead of time. I was more fearful of not having a choice, rather than the actual procedures and interventions themselves.

I live in a very hippie, organic, crunchy small city. I was thankful to have a local hospital that has very liberal policies. I didn't have to have an IV, I was able to eat and drink throughout labor, they encouraged me to walk and move around, and they were supportive of handing DS to me immediately after he was delivered, delaying the cord clamping, and helping to breastfeed. The hospital tour really put me at ease, as did the midwives at my obgyn practice. I also asked my stepmom, who is a 3-time mother and a registered nurse, to be with me the entire time, so she could act as a doula and help my husband and I make decisions in the moment when we might not be thinking so clearly.

I consistently measured very big and went 10 days past my due date before I was induced. I made the decision when to be induced and felt okay about it. I had to have antibiotics for strep B and needed and IV for the pitocin, but the midwife and nurses gave me a lot of say in when/how much. (I do wish I would have known more about pitocin - I gladly would have traded an extra few hours in labor while I let a lower dose of pit work in my body for the insane, never-ending contractions I had for the three hours before I started pushing resulting from an aggressive dosing of pitocin.)

No one suggested pain medication to me at all during the entire time I was in labor. I had to ask multiple times for something when the contractions were nonstop, because the midwife was trying to wait for a break in the contractions to find out if I really did want pain medication or not. I ended up with a spinal block, that I asked for, which gave me a reprieve before pushing.

I did have an episiotomy, but was informed well before it happened and trusted that it was necessary to get DS out. (It totally was!) I ended up with a 10 pound 9 ounce baby whose chest circumference was larger than his huge head was. I felt respected by the nurses and midwives and don't feel like anyone did anything to push me into doing something I didn't want.

Also, not a single person even mentioned formula, pacifiers, or supplementing with sugar water after DS was born. I had total support for breastfeeding, which was another concern I had.

I think it's best to be informed about everything that can happen during labor and delivery and when it's necessary versus when it can be avoided. There is totally a time and place for every intervention and I wanted access to those interventions if needed, which is why I gave birth in a hospital to begin with. I just didn't want anyone pushing me to deliver faster, or end up with a C-Section, because it made things more convenient for one of the doctors. (A friend of my SIL was coerced into being induced 9 days before her due date so her doctor could go on vacation - this was my worst nightmare!) I think it's important to trust your doctor or midwife, so that in the moment you can relax and know that they will follow your wishes the best they can. If you aren't trusting of your doctor or midwife, I really advise hiring a doula to help you during labor and delivery. I was so lucky to have my stepmom there, and just her being there allowed me to relax and totally focus on getting DS out rather than worrying about what other people were doing.

Given the circumstances, I was totally happy with my birth experience. I wish I didn't have to be induced and could have avoided all pain meds, but it just wasn't in the cards and I was able to make those decisions myself with the guidance of the midwives, which is ultimately what I wanted.

@Minnie_Girl: I would love to have a home birth, but we're going with a freestanding birth center for this one. Hoping for home births in the future though!