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Well, it sounds like she also had a textbook experience with no complications or necessary interventions. I am going to try for an unmedicated birth, and hopefully I will have a relatively short labor and be able to manage it. But if there are complications and I have to be induced then I will most likely get an epidural. I don't want to experience pitocin contractions without any painkillers.

Nice! 11 hours for a first labor is really great and manageable - sounds like everything went smoothly and without complication for her. I'm happy for them!

Good for her. I thought she would be pressured to have interventions "for the safety of the (royal) baby."

@MsLipGloss: ha! My immediate reaction was even if it wasn't "textbook" calm I'm sure the media is not told otherwise!

@MsLipGloss: I hate that line too. She was fortunate enough not have GBS either. I had GBS and needed IV antibiotics. Med-free labor is right for some women, but for me, it wasn't. I wanted an epidural from the instant my labor intensified.

@cascademom: Ditto. And I hemorrhaged, so bring on even more fluids for over 24 hours!

@MsLipGloss: I also had an almost-failed induction with the hormone drip on full blast and I did mine with only gas-and-air because, after taking 4 days to get to 2cm, I went from 2-10cm in less than 3 hours and my midwife didn't realise I was progressing so quickly, she just thought I was bring a drama queen!! The contractions were one on top of another from the moment they switched the drip on - it was downright brutal. Oh and i had to do the whole thing (from 2-10 and pushing) in bed on my back because monitoring baby was more important than my comfort. Intense discomfort my arse!! Id like to show him intense discomfort!

I think its wonderful she did it med free and hopefully this will raise the profile of hypnobirthing, which really does work for so many people....For me, though, next time, I'm getting the epi as soon as I see that BFP!! No messing!!

I mean, good for her, but that article is so annoying. Intense 'discomfort'. I did manage to have my unmedicated birth but I can assure you not a single person in that room was 'marveling at my composure'. But like Kate I had a relatively quick and uncomplicated labor. If I had back labor or it had taken longer I would not have done it.
I'm more impressed with how lovely she looked the day after.

@Foodnerd81: She did look wonderful afterwards. I felt a bit sorry for her though because she needed to look radiant and probably had a team of stylists to make it so. Imagine having to worry about photos less than 24 hrs after childbirth!! I was in blood stained pj bottoms (I changed them twice and bled out onto each new pair until I had none left) and washed my hair but didn't feel up to blow drying it so it was a big curly, fluffy mess! Bad times!!

@Cherrybee: I believe that she does her own makeup. As someone here mentioned, she probably had an adult diaper or very big pad on despite the pretty Jenny Packham dress.

I don't know if anyone has HBO, but they showed a great documentary last night called "First Comes Love." The filmmaker documented her pregnancy and single motherhood. Her birth scene made me cry, got nostalgic, etc. For me, that was the most accurate representation of a normal birth despite some critics calling it graphic, etc. What's funny is that when she was birthing her son, I thought to myself, wow, that's what it looked like from what my husband saw. In her postpartum scenes, she required a walker and her hair was a mess. That's close to how it was for me.

@MsLipGloss: Awe...that's honestly one of the sweetest things