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Why go with Natural Birth?

I have decided to have a natural birth with my baby (due in September!), as in no epidural.
I want to get some feedback from other mothers that went natural about why they decided to do it that way, or benefits they found in going natural. What do you think? Or were there downfalls that might've caused you to change your mind and go with the epidural with your next pregnancy?
For those of you that didn't go natural, where there any downfalls that you saw with doing the epidural?

P.S. - For any pregnant Mom's that are weighing that decision, here's a helpful article that I found:

http://pregnancychildbirth.suite101.com/article.cfm/natural_birth_v...

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Mia Alvarez on April 10, 2009 at 10:35pm: Wow. That's bold and strong of you. I'm glad I had the option. My contractions were so bad towards the end that I thought I was going to pass out. On the other hand I've heard that you recover a lot faster afterward. I think you know your own body so listen to it. :) happy days.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Mia Alvarez on April 10, 2009 at 10:35pm: Wow. That's bold and strong of you. I'm glad I had the option. My contractions were so bad towards the end that I thought I was going to pass out. On the other hand I've heard that you recover a lot faster afterward. I think you know your own body so listen to it. :) happy days.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Nicole Martinoff on June 23, 2009 at 8:26pm: I didn't have an epidural either and I don't regret it. I did have one shot of morphine though (early on) and some laughing gas. I am not sure how it would have been otherwise but I left within 24 hours and felt pretty good. I chose not to have the epidural because I was afraid of the possible side effects, not to mention I didn't like the thought of a huge needle in my spine. I had read a few articles about it and talked to my husband and decided that we would try to go without one and fortunately we were able to and everything worked out well. It is hard to say which is better not having experienced having one, but I am glad that I didn't and I plan to do the same when we have another child.

Hope everything goes well!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Theresa Stuesser on July 22, 2009 at 8:48am: Hi Crystal,

One of the most important decisions a mother can make...

I have had two natural births -- a natural waterbirth in a freestanding birthcenter and a natural birth in a birthcenter that was inside of a hospital.

The two were very different. With my first experience, I knew I wanted a natural birth and had read books on this and on gentle birth choices, but did not really have any idea about techniques or remedies that could assist the process. The birth surprised me and looking back, I feel I was not as prepared as I could have been. With my second, I was much more prepared -- complete with a list of care strategies and remedies for my team to use with me if needed. If I was feeling crabby, if it seemed we weren't progressing, if I was feeling tired, if sensations were strong, etc. -- my team knew what to do ahead of time, in case I felt nonverbal and was focusing. This way, I didn't need to communicate with words, yet was orchestrating the experience in partnership with the baby inside me that I was listening to.)

In my case, no downfalls. We had strong bonding, very healthy babies, I healed quickly, and I believe the natural birth experience effected my children positively physically, emotionally, mentally and so on.; ▶ Reply to This