Natural Childbirth/drug Free - Do the Childbirth Classes Help?

I did both types of childbirth. Quite honestly I had a better experience with the all natural childbirth. The Bradley method was great, but be careful, as a friend of mine is a doctor and some of the advice that was given during the classes was very inaccurate and misleading. But overall the class gave me some great advice. I think it is based on any person's pain tolerance. I know many that tried and could not do, and remember it is okay to do the drugs if you need too. Good luck

I did a Bradley class, and let me tell you, there is NO WAY I could have have a natural childbirth without it.

I labored for over 24 hours.

If you are interested, email me and I will give you my instructors name. She is great, and if she is too far for you, or her scheduled classes won't work for you, I'm sure she can recommended a few people that might work. I liked my instructor because she didn't really follow the 'Bradley' curriculum --it's a bit outdated, sexist, etc.

What she did do was give me the knowledge and skills to get my head in a place where I could labor naturally.

You go girl! I had my daughter without the aid of drugs and I'm so glad I did. My husband and I couldn't afford to take classes, so I rented some DVDs from our local library and screened them for the best, then he and I watched that one together. I opted for a water birth which I believe greatly reduced the pain (and I had back labor, so it was pretty bad!) You might also consider hiring a Doula to help you through. They will help provide a barrier between you and the well-intentioned nurses who keep asking you if you're sure you don't want an epidural. Just take each contraction one at a time. If you feel like giving up, ask yourself if you think you can get through one more. And remember, we women were designed to do this - we've done it without meds for thousands of years! Having said all that, don't beat yourself up if you end up feeling like you need the epidural. As much as I advocate natural childbirth, you don't need to feel guilty about your decisions.

I took a Bradley childbirth class with my second child in addition to hiring a doula who was pro natural childbirth. My first son was born via csection and I wanted to do better for my second and hopefully avoid any complications due to numerous interventions. I truly believe that a natural childbirth is better for both mother and baby. Since my husband was not really good at being supportive during labor (although better than 1st time around) I found it very important to have a WOMAN labor support person (i.e.doula). It also helped to have more than one support person there so they could relieve each other now and then. What worked for me was 1) Taking the class (our instructor was exceptional), 2) Having a committed and experienced natural childbirth doula, 3) Memories of a bad labor to inspire me, 4) Viewing positive and natural child birth videos during the Bradley class (may be able to find online on youtube or something.

The pain is real but when you have tools to help you relax and work through it in a productive way it is so much better. Once I gave birth all the pain was gone and their was a euphoric feeling. The next day I went home and my dad (who was there to help along with my mom) could not believe I was up and walking around.

Stay positive and imagine what it will be like to give birth naturally and not be confined to your back and dependent on other people. It really is empowering to do this and I guarantee you will not regret it for a second.

Best of luck!

I haven't taken any childbirth classes, but I read a lot about how my body is made to birth a child, really really talked myself (nightly) into believing that I was able and capable of going without interventions and drugs, and had a very supportive doula, certified nurse midwife group, and online friends.
It also helped that my doula was a massage therapist and knew pressure points and things to help when the labor got painful and that there was no one in the room that was discouraging. I also had a water birth and the hot water tube was against my back and that helped immensely.

I found lots of supportive friends online at the discussion boards at mothering.com

Also, for what it's worth, my labor WAS painful, but I'm very glad I did it without meds, especially without an epidural. With my first birth, I had awful back pain at the epidural site for almost 3 years, and with my natural birth I had only the pain of sore muscles afterward (ok, and sitting was uncomfortable as usual!)

Happy to talk more about books, choices, midwives, etc- just send me a line!
Congrats!!
M.

You definately will want to take a Bradley course. You will walk away so well informed and ready for anything. This makes you much more likely to be able to have a drug free birth.
Also, I recommend reading The Water Birth Book. There's a much better chance of being drug free if you can labor and birth in water..it's totally safe. Read all about it.
You might also look into midwifery. Rush/Copley in Aurora is where I went to have a midwife. They are very skilled at getting you through with minimal intervention. Karen Barr is great.
Lastly, and at the risk of sounding like a TOTAL flake, look into home birth. So much of the fear and anxiety we experience in child birth is brought on by the hospital atmosphere and attitudes of those around you in a hospital setting. You might be surprised...
Good for you!!! Good luck and God bless! You CAN do this! ;D

I was very motivated to have drugfree birthing experiences and I had 3 children. I used a self-hypnosis recording every day throughout pregnancy & during childbirth.
Learning self-hypnosis is a skill you can use for so many other issues beyond a peaceful childbirth experience.
Consider a consultation with a certified hypnotist or Hypnobirthing instructor.
I had a client call me in tears after her hospital birthing class. Unfortunately they tend to focus on what could go wrong and that can encourage fearful thoughts and feelings.

Yvette - congratulations!

Here's where I'm coming from: I've had one pregnancy & a drug-free birth. Although I don't have anything to compare it to, I really enjoyed it. I took a birth class through my hospital which wasn't particularly pro or con drug.

Once I decided I wanted to go drug free, I switched from an OB who wasn't particularly gung-ho about my birth plan to a certified nurse midwife I felt more sympatico with. I think that was the most important thing I did. She was going to support me no matter which way I decided to go. I also hired a doula to help take the pressure off me and my nervous husband so I could just focus on pushing a baby out. I'd highly recommend either one of them to you. Let me know if you're in the Evanston/North Chicago area and are interested in names.

I also read a couple of books that got me all excited about natural childbirth: "Spiritual Midwifery" and "Birthing from Within". Both are a little hippy-dippy, and I highly recommend both. "Birthing from Within" is a workbook for expectant mothers - it helps you really souse out the kind of experience you want to have, and helps you think about what you want your plan A, B, C to be as well. It helped me face a lot of fears I had about giving birth naturally _and_ about hospital interventions, it was great to get to drop a lot of my fears before labor.

Anyhoo, I'm very excited for you; best of luck!

Hi Yvette!
Congratulations on your pregnancy. I really do believe that childbirth classes do help alot if you want to have a drug free birth. I know it helped me to have a drug free birth 3 times and many of my clients who take childbirth classes also end up having a drug free birth like they wanted. One thing I always recommend to my clients that are wanting a drug free birth, is to specify in their birth plan that you do not want them to ask you if you want any pain medication, and if you want it, you will ask them. That really does help alot. Good luck.
S. Bailey CLD
Aurora
www.tendermomentsdoula.com

I tried natural child birth after taking a birthing class. The instructor was very much anti-drug & made anyone considering using drugs feel horrible (myself included). She taught us some techniques that she said would be helpful. Long story short, I tried the techniques, they didn't work for me & I ended up getting an epidural. With the 2 children I had after, I went right for the epidural.

Natural child birth did not work for me. I am sure that it has worked for others. Don't feel bad if you try natural child birth & it doesn't work for you.

I highly recommend hypnobirthing. I've also heard great things about the Bradley classes and I had a Bradley book that i thought was very helpful explaining the different phases of labor. Also a good book for your labor coach - Bradley is a good class for couples who really want to share the experience, I think.

But to me the biggest thing you can do if you really want an unmedicated childbirth is to choose a midwife practice instead of an OB. For my first pregnancy I had an OB and as it turned out, no pain relief but that was because things progressed really quickly. I definitely felt like there was "a system" that everyone falls into with that type of birht. Although everyone was very nice!

My second childbirth, we had moved and I went to a midwife practice, hypnobirth coach, and I delivered in the birthing room at West Suburban (in the tub.) It was really nice, but the nicest thing to me was that although the midwives can provide all the same services if you want them, there's not that assumption that you want the epidural if you say it hurts, you know?

Best wishes! I think the most important thing, of course, is healthy baby/healthy mom. But if you can do it, it was a really wonderful birth experience.

ps, I also meant to mention that the hospital birthing class (northwestern) I took was nice enough, but not helpful for natural childbirth. Sure, we did some lamaze breathing and watched a video, but I would not say it was a true birthing class to prepare you for natural childbirth.

I highly recommend Bradley classes. Although I don't agree with the course 100% of the time it is extemely informative and covers a lot of information (breastfeeding, baby care, c-sections, etc). I would avoid a hospital-based class as they are taught by employees of the hospital and tend to reflect the hospital's policies.

I also recommend a doula, no matter how supportive your partner is it is nice to have not only an additional person who is very informed but also a woman to support you.

I think the single stumbling block for many people is their care provider. Consider a midwife instead of a doctor and pick your birthplace carefully. Hospitals are not typically set up to be supportive of natural birth. For instance a hospital where you are "required" to stay in bad on a monitor is likely to have a very high epidural rate, it is oftem excruciating to lay on your back in labor. Also remember that as the patient you have the right to choose all procedures- ivs, monitors, etc. It is your right to decline all of that but be prepared for an uphill battle if you choose the wrong provider.

I had pain meds with my first two kids in the hospital and a homebirth with my third. What I realized with my third birth is that I got the meds with the first two because I was scared of how bad the pain would get but it was totally manageable- and it was a very long third labor, 15 hours. Good luck!

I know you have a lot of good advise and there are many suggestions that were made that I'm unfamiliar with so...looks like you have some time to research it.

My experience is that child birth classes can work - you just have to know yourself, your pain tolerance, your partner (how helpful???) I never had an epidural - however my reason for not having one had nothing to do with drug-free labor. Everybody has their own "pregnancy fears"... mine was "having to have a shot in my back" (I KNOW it's been many women's best friend during delivery!)

I had a drug free delivery for my second. I couldn't believe how good I felt when I was done... It really wasn't a decision I made - my delivery just moved along quicker than I had anticipated. I had relatively mild deliveries and I also was very good at focusing when I was having a contraction. My sister had 5 natural births (quick births - first one was 7 hours.... the rest were less than two with the last one, being 45 minutes!) She was a great inspiration for me. She always told me "Gravity is your friend, walk around or move around... if you can't walk... rock on a rocker..." so with the second one, I rocked through my contractions. When one would begin... I envisioned roller blading up a hill - when I reached the top (peak of my contraction) I came back down. My husband coached me on my breating, I reached a point where I "strongly asked" to have the nurse "check me", two pushes later.... victory! If you believe you can "focus" through the contractions, using the breathing techniques that they will teach you, you can do this or the other non-drug options that other mama's are sharing with you!

Again, you can do it but if it doesn't work out or if you need an epideral, at some point, make sure your doctor, midwife, EVERYONE supports you and your needs and decision whatever they may be. On your first two, if you got an epidural, I'm sure you needed one - and that was the right decision for you. Congratulations on #3!!!

In my opinion, doing your own research (there are some great books and websites out there) our hiring a doula would be much more effective than taking a class, or at least a hospital class. Of course, this totally depends who is teaching the class and whether it focuses on natural/drug-free childbirth or if it's just a general childbirth class. Bradley birth might be an option for you, but i personally prefered a more go-with-the-flow sort of mindset so I could let my body do what it needed and not be hung up on too many rules about how I should do it.

Our childbirth class was with a delivery nurse/doula who specialized in homebirths -- it was just us and one other couple. Most of what I learned about the birth process I already knew from reading books ("Active Birth" and Dr. Sears' "The Birth Book" were a few of my favorites and really empowered me in my decision to go natural and have confidence I could do it). We also learned some pressure points and positions to help out should there be back labor, a long labor, a malpositioned baby, etc. -- none of which we ended up using because my births were sort of fast and furious and there was simply little time to do much besides scramble to get ready. But I'm glad we actually had a few things demonstrated and got to try them out with someone so experienced helping should we have needed them, it just added more encouragement that we could handle things just fine sans drugs.

I can't encourage considering hiring a doula enough -- finding someone you click with to help with support and education and being your advocate can make all the difference in the world to help you have a wonderful birth experience.

There is a ton of research on hypnobirthing, in fact so many women choose natural and who deliver at Northwestern Hosital downtown, the nurses ask what kind of drugs she is on and the L&D nurses will say nothing, she is hypnobirthing...you can google it and find one near you and if a psychologist teaches it, you may be able to get reimbursed through your insurance. I did the Bradley Method, which is a 12-week course, I had two friends do hypnobirthing with great success, you can also see a few on YouTube along with other childbirth methods, (including a c-section). Having a doula also increases your chances for success of having a natural childbirth. Another good friend of mine had her first two with an epi and had her third natural, so it is possible. It is mind over matter.

Good Luck and congrats!
J. W. MPH
Wellness Educator/Lifestyle and Wellness Coach

Yvette,
Congratulations on your 3rd baby!

As the mother of 2, I have to say that YES! The RIGHT class will help you. My first was an emergency c/s that could not be avoided. When I got pregnant with my 2nd, I was determined to have control of my labor and delivery.

My husband and I took classes for a Bradley Birth (Husband Coached Childbirth). It was an amazing experience to learn about your body (I knew about my body, but this was different) and what the drugs do and how they work.

When it came time for labor, I was relaxed and ready to go. I had a natural, drug free labor and it was AMAZING. The first words out of my mouth after my son was born was "I could totally do that again." Now, I realize that most people won't say that. I will be honest, it was hard, but not nearly as hard as I had expected it to be.

I would highly encourage you to look into a Bradley Birth. They completely help with knowing how to take control of your body, learn how to relax (because it is totally a LEARNED response) and prepare your body for pushing.

I would be happy to share more if you have any questions.

Congrats again,
B. :-)

Let me start out by saying that I have not have an unmedicated childbirth, nor do I have any desire to do so(I don't look down on whatever decision a woman makes in the delivery of her child; it's tough no matter what you choose and no one gets a prize for doing it a certain way)...but what I want to share with you should be helpful and make a lot of sense.

Do your research and take a class/course that is focused on unmedicated delivery. If you go to a general childbirthing course or take something nonspecific offered by the hospital, you will get a lot of great 'general' information but not the specifics you will need to deliver the child in a way you hope for. I took my course at the hospital where I delivered and I highly doubt it would have been sufficient for an unmedicated delivery. Thirty minutes of puff-puff breathing practice isn't going to cut it, I don't believe...so save your money and avoid 'general childbirthing' courses.