Anybody here have a wife that gave birth naturally? Why did you/she do it?

[Mo0o]

I've been on my OB/GYN rotation for the last 6 weeks and have had several patients who have opted for completely natural childbirth. They usually have pretty elaborate birthing plans that forbid you from asking them about their pain and dont want you to even offer pain management.

I was just wondering whether anybody has firsthand experience with this (either yourself or your wife) and what the thinking was when you guys made the decision. Did you have this in mind before becoming pregnant or did you make a decision after taking some kind of class?

I didnt want to ask the patients about their decisions since it might come off as condescending or me disapproving of their choices.

 

[Nik]

Friend of mine's wife is a house wife. She's done quite a few at-home births using a plastic kiddie pool and no anesthetic.

 

[xSauronx]

when i was married, the wife *wanted* an epidural. got it with the first one. with the second, she gave birth too fast to get the epi, but there was something else they gave her in her IV that was supposed to "Take the edge off" as a common precursor to an epidural.

she was not happy about not getting the epi on the second one.

 

[RadiclDreamer]

My wife had that planned, but after 9 hrs the heatrate dropped and she was forced to C-Section.

She didnt want any pain meds, but about 6 hrs in (prior to surgery) she gave in and said give me what you got. Interestingly enough stadol doesnt really contol the pain for her, just made it so she didnt really care anymore. That went for her choice of words when dealing with those in the room as well.

We are now awaiting our second and she wants to try it again, I asked her why and she said it was just a "badge of honor" kinda thing. She said she thought it would make her feel more like a woman, to which I reply, fuck that they make drugs for a reason GIMME!!!

 

[Analog]

My 2nd child was born in the hospital, no pain meds of any sort, natural birth. Rather routine labor / delivery.

 

[Anubis]

not my wife but my sister did, she gave birth to her son her 2nd child at home in the bathroom, by herself

 

[RKS]

My wife was in labor for over 16 hours with our first, she tried to hold off on the epidural but you can only take so much pain. My hand started hurting from her squeezing it with every contraction. I asked she get numbed. For our second I think the epidural got there 2 mintes before the crowning. My wife was asking the nurse to hurry the hell up.

 

[bctbct]

Originally posted by: Nik
Friend of mine's wife is a house wife. She's done quite a few at-home births using a plastic kiddie pool and no anesthetic.

you talking people or puppies.....

 

[xSauronx]

Originally posted by: RKS
For our second I think the epidural got there 2 mintes before the crowning. My wife was asking the nurse to hurry the hell up.

they gave her an epi that far into having contractions? jesus, my ex wasnt even very far dilated and they said it was too late to give her the epidural. damn.

 

[Homerboy]

Originally posted by: xSauronx

Originally posted by: RKS
For our second I think the epidural got there 2 mintes before the crowning. My wife was asking the nurse to hurry the hell up.

they gave her an epi that far into having contractions? jesus, my ex wasnt even very far dilated and they said it was too late to give her the epidural. damn.

yeah that doesn't sound exactly right.

 

[StageLeft]

Mrs wanted to on first one but was surprised at the pain, in part because I think things came on so quickly. Also, the nurses in her hospital were not really on board with the idea (i.e. thought it was silly, basically) and so quickly offered pain meds, which she took.

Second time she was more determined to go without anything and did. She did it because she is badass and also because it is technically and medically superior for the child if not also the mother.

Both births were quick, the second super damn quick. Who knows if she would have held out for 18 hours without asking for something.

 

[FoBoT]

nope, two C-sections, express route

 

[TruePaige]

Originally posted by: Skoorb

Second time she was more determined to go without anything and did. She did it because she is badass and also because it is technically and medically superior for the child if not also the mother.

What?! 0.o

 

[zerocool84]

Just my personal opinion but I'd never want to have a kid anywhere but in a hospital cus if something happens you can get it taken care of right away. Natural Childbirth doesn't mean only not having any pain meds but no outside interference from anything other than the mother. I'd sure as hell want some help from a doctor incase something goes wrong.

 

[Paratus]

2 so far with a 3rd on the way.

Both were delivered in a hospital but by a registered nurse mid-wife.
My wife used no drugs each time. Her goal was to avoid having a C-Section.

She didn't want an OB-GYN because most of them seem to default to that as the primary option. Or in the lingo of my job: OBs tend to prepare for failure scenarios at the expense of Mission Success

 

[IAteYourMother]

my mom did. But she says it was because she was in so much pain she couldn't even respond to the people asking her if she needed it.

 

[Bateluer]

Originally posted by: RadiclDreamer
. . .to which I reply, fuck that they make drugs for a reason GIMME!!!

Sig worthy?

 

[djheater]

I just asked my wife who had two home births without medication.

She said, "I don't know."

 

[tranceport]

Both of our kids were natural and no meds. Second was actually at home.

 

[RKS]

Originally posted by: xSauronx

Originally posted by: RKS
For our second I think the epidural got there 2 mintes before the crowning. My wife was asking the nurse to hurry the hell up.

they gave her an epi that far into having contractions? jesus, my ex wasnt even very far dilated and they said it was too late to give her the epidural. damn.

I know they had the stirrups out right after the epi nurse got there and did something. Maybe it wasn't a full epidural? The second was a very quick labor.

 

[Mo0o]

Originally posted by: RKS

Originally posted by: xSauronx

Originally posted by: RKS
For our second I think the epidural got there 2 mintes before the crowning. My wife was asking the nurse to hurry the hell up.

they gave her an epi that far into having contractions? jesus, my ex wasnt even very far dilated and they said it was too late to give her the epidural. damn.

I know they had the stirrups out right after the epi nurse got there and did something. Maybe it wasn't a full epidural? The second was a very quick labor.

Did they stick something in her back? If they didnt, it wasnt an epidural...

 

[JulesMaximus]

My wife was induced because her water broke. She was in so much pain from the hormone they put in her body to induce that she wanted the epidural. Every contraction was like huge waves of pain...I've never seen someone in such a state of shock in my life. She was literally shaking between contractions just waiting for the next wave of pain.

I had no problem with her getting an epidural at all.

 

[SammyJr]

Originally posted by: Mo0o
I've been on my OB/GYN rotation for the last 6 weeks and have had several patients who have opted for completely natural childbirth. They usually have pretty elaborate birthing plans that forbid you from asking them about their pain and dont want you to even offer pain management.

I was just wondering whether anybody has firsthand experience with this (either yourself or your wife) and what the thinking was when you guys made the decision. Did you have this in mind before becoming pregnant or did you make a decision after taking some kind of class?

I didnt want to ask the patients about their decisions since it might come off as condescending or me disapproving of their choices.

My wife had a drug-free birth with both of our children. She doesn't like the idea of being drugged up for what is an entirely natural process. She also feels that OBs push a lot of unnecessary interventions in the name of justifying themselves over a midwife.

Our older child was born in a hospital and she had to fight with the nurses and the on-call OB to get what she wanted. The OB was extra pissy because she knew we were having a boy and she wasn't going to get a circumcision out of the deal.

Our younger child was born at home in a pool. The midwife did what my wife wanted and things were a lot more relaxed.

 

[nanette1985]

I'm female and I have four kids.

To the OP: Hey, mister doctor, childbirth has been happening without medical intervention since - well, since the beginning of humans. Is the pain fun? Heck no. But pain killers are something you have to recover from. In addition to recovering from the birth itself. Painkillers also affect breastfeeding the newborn.

There's nothing heroic about natural childbirth. It's just - well, natural, the way women have been giving birth for thousands of years. All four of mine were natural. I figured I'd wait until it was really awful before asking for painkillers, but I was pushing the baby out when it got that bad. My oldest daughter has two kids and one more due sometime this week. The first two were water births. Relaxing in water is a pretty good painkiller. Due to the insurance stupidity, the only way she can have a water delivery this time is to do it at home without help - and she's not stupid.

I'm really glad that medical science can work wonders on difficult cases. And yes, nothing wrong with painkillers for people who truly want them. As far as I'm concerned, anyone giving birth should get whatever they ask for. I have great admiration for MD's who succeed with difficult cases.

My local hospital has a FORTY PERCENT c-section rate. When a c-section is lifesaving, it's awesome. But forty percent of upscale suburban moms can't possibly need surgery just to get a baby out.

 

[RKS]

Originally posted by: Mo0o

Originally posted by: RKS

Originally posted by: xSauronx

Originally posted by: RKS
For our second I think the epidural got there 2 mintes before the crowning. My wife was asking the nurse to hurry the hell up.

they gave her an epi that far into having contractions? jesus, my ex wasnt even very far dilated and they said it was too late to give her the epidural. damn.

I know they had the stirrups out right after the epi nurse got there and did something. Maybe it wasn't a full epidural? The second was a very quick labor.

Did they stick something in her back? If they didnt, it wasnt an epidural...

Yes, they stuck something in her back and they baby was out not too much later.