Hey! Currently 38 weeks pregnant. At my midwife appointment today I asked about cervical checks. My midwife said they’ll perform them at my now weekly appointments if I want but there’s no need to unless I’d like to know.

On the one hand I could see knowing if I’m dilated reassuring at future appointments. On the other hand, I know dilation doesn’t really equate to much, and it could also be disheartening to learn my cervix isn’t dilated or effaced at all.

My first labor was an unmedicated induction at 37 weeks due to pre e so this never came up.

Would love input from others on this!

ETA: I had cervical checks during my first labor so I know what they feel like. For me, painful/very uncomfortable when I had zero effacement and dilation but not bad at all once things progressed.

I am considering doing an unmedicated birth but I don’t want to commit to it until I’ve done my research. I keep seeing people say that their birthing ball was very helpful during labor. I debated getting a Momcozy one because of the how to app that comes with it but I’m too short so I got a smaller ball from a different brand. My question is, what do I do with this ball? I have it. I can sit on it, but I’m at a loss as to how to make it as useful as other people describe it as. I also, debated paying for the Move Your Bump exercise app because I was hoping I could learn some labor poses/techniques from it. I just really need to know where I can go to learn how to be prepared for labor.

I’m 35+4 and saw my obstetrician today. He gave me the option of booking in an elective induction at 39+5. I never really considered induction as part of my birth plan, but I also naively imagine myself having spontaneous labour at exactly my due date 😂😅.

I know there are mixed feelings and women experience extremely varied outcomes with elective inductions.

I guess I’m just not really sure what to do or how to feel about it right now. The thought is overwhelming me at the moment. I don’t particularly want to go super far over my due date, but I just imagined myself having a spontaneous labour at home for as long as possible before heading to the hospital.

For context I’m 30, this is my first ever pregnancy and have had no complications.

Any TENs machine recommendations, specifically for labor? I’m based in the US & can only find ones from out of country when I’m googling!

I am currently trying for a first baby and i am really interested in going unmedicated. Can anyone share their stories or thoughts and suggestions

Some details:

This was my second pregnancy. First one I had an epidural, so while I did feel contractions, I never felt ring of fire, tearing, or even that downward pressure. I had a protruding water bag with first and didn't fully release the amniotic fluid until baby was birthed.

This pregnancy I managed to go med free with no interventions. I don't know when the transitional phase was, probably once I got to the hospital. Regular contractions started at around 2030. Got to hospital around 2250 birthed baby at 0016. At one point between contractions, my doula asked if I felt any downward pressure. Not really? Maybe a little? It was all bad haha. She told me to go see if I needed to pee so I sat down on the toilet, tried to pee a bit, and it basically started the fetal ejection reflex.

This broke my water and when it released, it just burned so bad. (I don't believe this was the ring of fire which I was very quickly going to experience). All of two or maybe three minutes later I birthed baby boy while on all fours on the hospital bed.

Can anyone tell me why it burned? I thought it wasn't supposed to hurt when it broke. My only assumption is because my vagina was already stretching to accommodate the baby.

If anyone has a better sub to ask this to, I'll happily ask there.

Hi,

I had my second child on May 6th with an induction at the hospital and I was able to go unmedicated! I went in at 41 weeks, and I was a stretchy 3 cm, 50% effaced, and 0 station.

Going into the induction I had a poor attitude because I was hoping to go into labor spontaneously, and I felt that with an induction I wouldn’t be able to go fully unmedicated. With my first I got to 8 cms and then asked for the epidural.

At the hospital they told me I had to stay near the bed, so I wouldn’t be able to stand in the shower, or walk around a lot, so that made me feel even more discouraged at the beginning.

Once I was all hooked up, the pitocin started at about 12:30 pm. The contractions were mild for a while, I was sitting in bed, and then on the ball for a while with nothing really picking up. Around 2-3 pmthe nurse put me into flying cowgirl and I started to feel the contractions pick up, they also increased the pitocin. I was having contractions this whole time about every two minutes, and every other contraction was something I had to breathe through.

I was checked at around 5 pm and I was only at 5 cms. At this point contractions were hard, and I felt a bit discouraged. I got up, went to the restroom, and then tried to stand for some contractions and the nurses said that baby boy was not responding well to me standing up. When I got back onto the bed, I felt baby move down into my pelvis and engage and the contractions became much worse. I was groaning through them, and started to doubt myself. I asked my nurse for the epidural, and she asked if I wanted to think about it and I said no. As they were trying to get things ready, I started dry heaving, and my second nurse said she needed to check me to make sure I wasn’t going to have the baby during the epidural, and that’s when we found out I was 10 cms, and fully dilated. I had gone from a 5 to a 10 in less than an hour. My doctor was not at the hospital and they had to call her in. As soon as I knew I was at a 10, I had the urge to push and couldn’t stop myself. I started pushing with each contraction with no doctor in the room, and after about 3 pushes my water broke. (I was trying to not push to hard because there was no doctor). Then after my water broke my son’s head was crowning and out within the next contraction or two. The head nurse then walked in while my son’s head was out, pushed my leg out of the way and told me to push one more time and my sons fully came out. My son had his cord wrapped around his neck once, so he took a second to cry. My doctor walked in literally 10 seconds later.

My son was born 20 mins after I asked for epidural, 2 mins after my water broke! My son was 8 lbs 12 oz, with a 14 inch head, and no tears!!

My total labor was about 6 hours total, and I am now grateful for how it turned out! I felt AMAZING as soon as he came out, the adrenaline rush was insane.

All of this was amazing because with my first I had a 36 hour labor and a 2nd degree tear.

I had originally planned for an unmedicated birth assuming I would go into labor spontaneously but ended up opting for an induction bc my baby was showing no signs of coming out at 41 weeks and 5 days. My induction ended up taking 39 hours and once I hit 7cm I asked for an epidural which FAILED. I was even restricted to the bed for two hours because even though it didn’t work I had still received an epidural and it was hospital policy (traumatizing tbh). I felt the ejection reflex and had the urge to push even though I had a cervical lip covering baby’s head. My daughter was sunny side up and I did not feel any contractions in my belly. I rewatched some videos and I just remember how crazy those (almost retching?) sounds were and how I didn’t feel in control of them. I was extremely hoarse after as I was pushing for almost 4 hours. Did that happen to anyone else or is this characteristic of back labor?

I’m 33 weeks pregnant and over the past couple of weeks I’ve started to have a lot of anxiety around birth, postpartum, the changes that come with being a mom for the first time, etc.

One thing I keep questioning myself on is if I should give birth at a birth center (no OB, just midwife, nurses and doula) vs. going to a hospital with my doula.

I feel my brain is shifting towards maximizing the safety of my child. Im not saying that midwives aren’t capable of maximizing safety but there are several scenarios where hospital transfers could happen.

I am healthy, baby is healthy and we are low risk.

I’m looking to hear from anyone that’s made a similar decision at this stage in pregnancy!

Just looking to make sense of my experience.

I had hoped and prepared for an unmedicated hospital birth, but unfortunately ended up with an unplanned c section.

I went into labour spontaneously, but I was GBS+ and labour started with my water breaking, so we had to head to hospital much sooner than I hoped for. Contractions started around 7:30pm as we drove to the hospital and were fairly mild to start.

Received my antibiotics in triage and was only 2cm dilated, so they gave us the option to augment with oxytocin to be admitted, or labour at home for a few hours un the next round of antibiotics. Chose to go home, contractions increased their intensity but I was getting through with the yoga ball.

12:30am back to hospital for next round of antibiotics. Still only 2cm. Shortly after the antibiotics were administered, contractions got so intense I felt I could not stand up and had to stay in the bed.

Then (and this is the part I need help understanding), my body started pushing. Not I had the urge to push, I was pushing and I couldn’t stop. I informed my midwife who recommended an epidural to stop the pushing, because yep I was still only 2cm. I agreed, because I felt at that point I was not just in pain but was suffering.

It took a few hours to finally get admitted/get the epidural, and during those hours I was having contractions every 2-3 min, each with involuntary pushing. There were maybe only 3 contractions where I successfully resisted, and it took everything in me and more. It was awful.

Long story short, after the epidural there was fetal heart distress that wasn’t resolving, and my labour was also barely progressing, so I agreed to a c section.

This is our first child, and we are hoping for another in a few years. I’d love to attempt a VBAC, but what worries me the most was that pushing experience. It was unreal, and completely unexpected. I hadn’t come across a similar experience in the birth stories I went through in preparation. And since, I have searched the internet so much and can’t find anything! I see the idea of involuntary pushing happening more at 8-10cm, but nothing as early as 2. I feel like without understanding what brought it on, I have no idea what to do if that were to happen again. Hoping someone had some kind of similar experience they can share!

Hi ladies. I’m currently in the hospital after my water broke last night at 2:30 a.m. I was really hoping for an unmedicated labor, and my midwife has been very supportive of that, but contractions have barely started.

Some contractions feel like they’re about to begin and then stop after about 10 seconds. Others become painful, last around a minute, and feel like “real” contractions, but they’re inconsistent. It’s like my body is trying to start labor but can’t fully get going.

My midwife and I agreed that if I’m not in active labor within 18 hours after my water broke, we’ll move to induction. I’m really hoping labor can start naturally and that I can avoid induction if it’s safe.

Is it safe to wait a little longer? Has anyone experienced this after their water broke?

So far I’ve been rotating between sitting on a yoga ball, lunges, walking, pumping, showering, sleeping, eating, and resting. My first labor was also slow, but in a different way — I had contractions, but I wasn’t dilating well. This time they haven’t checked my dilation yet, but the issue seems to be that my contractions aren’t becoming regular or strong enough.

Any advice or similar experiences would really help right now.

My insurance will not cover a doula. How would I find one and the cost? I have no idea where to look.

I'm due in a little over 3 weeks. From the beginning I knew I wanted to have an unmedicated birth. It's just always been a goal for myself. I'm usually super anal and overly prep for everything. But I just haven't felt the need or want to with this. I have looked up a few things like birthing ball, sent my husband some massage techniques, a friend even gave me a birthing comb, but other than that I'm just going in with a "it's gotta be done attitude." Sometimes I look at the posts on this community and I think this approached may bite me in the butt. Has anyone else gone into an unmedicated birth with just a "if there's a will, there's a way approach"? No prep? No classes?

I will add two things: 1) I am super competitive with myself. Like my main reasoning for doing this is to prove to myself I can. That attitude has gotten me pretty far in other accepts of life 2) I have a pretty high pain tolerance. I know this will be on another level, but I don't take pain medication for any reason, which has resulted in a decent endurance for pain. My dad was an addict so now I take 0 medication for pain ever, not even Tylenol (yes, I know this is insane but #trauma does that to you lol)

Hi! I am planning a homebirth in Late August/September and I am not using a tub. I have been trying to find videos of a birth without a birthing tub and still at home but they are few and far between. If you can recall any videos that sound like what I am looking for plz link below🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻 thank you!

FTM on the brink of insanity 🥲

I’ve been in early labour since Sunday afternoon. It’s now Tuesday morning. Having extremely and frequent painful contractions (every 2-5 mins) where I’m unable to sleep or rest properly at all.

Went to hospital last night and was only 2cm dilated.

I’m trying to stay optimistic but can’t believe the ‘hard part’ hasn’t even started. Im concerned about my ability to stay strong and have the birth I want when I’m so mentally and physically exhausted already.

Can anyone share positive stories or at least solidarity? I never factored this in to my thinking.

It’s almost been a year since I had my wonderful son and I’m due in the fall with my second, figured it was time to share my story! It’s a long one, but so was my labor so please excuse me 😂

Pre Labor

I knew I wanted to go unmedicated before I got pregnant. I wanted to avoid a c-section and the potential risk of interventions (however minor) to my unborn kid. If you haven’t read Natural Hospital Birth by Cynthia Gabriel, I highly highly recommend it. I knew which OB I wanted and was fortunate I got in with her. She was supportive of unmedicated births and low interventions.

She was comfortable with me going to 41 weeks, and then to 42 weeks with additional monitoring. My kiddo came at 41+1. We did two membrane sweeps. Of course I went into labor the weekend she was out of town and the OB I didn’t want was on call! I didn’t want her as my friend had delivered with her and complained she had horrible bedside manner.

Early/Active Labor

Contractions started late Friday night. I tried to sleep and got a couple hours in, by early Saturday afternoon I felt I was uncomfortable enough to want to go to the hospital (which is 40 minutes away). We get there and I’m 100% effaced, 1cm dilated. Not enough to be admitted but they decide to do an ultrasound since I was overdue. My fluids were barely low enough to warrant an induction.

OB gets there and immediately wants to start a Pitocin drip. I tell her I really want to go unmedicated and would prefer not to go on Pitocin. She proceeds to tell me most women that come in wanting to go unmedicated don’t follow through because they don’t prep enough. I ask if I can start with a Foley ballon instead (something I had read in this group that week!!). She agrees and goes to insert it, asks if I’d be okay with my water being broken in the future to speed up labor, to which I consent.

Not five minutes later, she goes “OH, you’re 4cm, too dilated for the Foley anyways.” And proceeds to take it out when I feel a gush and “Whoops, I accidentally broke your water.” I’m slightly suspicious she did it on purpose, especially after having asked a short period of time beforehand!? Anyways, she agrees to let me labor naturally.

Hubby and I watch some tv, bounce on the yoga ball, sit in the whirlpool tub. I had AWFUL back labor which I was afraid of having. I was dilating so slow, it was a little disappointing every time they came to check. At one point, I was soaked in sweat so hubby called the nurses to check on me. Turns out I was running a fever and was given IV antibiotics for chorioamnionitis.

Transition

Then I finally hit it - transition. I don’t remember the exact pain of it, I just remember turning to my husband and telling him I didn’t want to give birth anymore. Bless his heart, he tells me, “well… I’m sorry…. it’s a little too late for that.” At this point I asked for a shot of Nubain as they didn’t offer laughing gas. To my dismay, I could still feel the contractions, I was now in pain and loopy. Hubby and I laugh about this now, he remembers my disappointment. But it got me through transition.

Pushing

I finally hit 10cm and thought I could finally push this kid out of me. No one told me sometimes there’s a gap between hitting 10cm and baby being low enough to push. So I spent a couple hours pushing for no reason. If you don’t feel a violent need to push, ladies, try to relax and enjoy the little break. It was now around 6am on Sunday. I was exhausted and nodding off when I suddenly felt like I HAD to push. Probably TMI but it felt like diarrhea. There’s no holding it in. However, the OB on call had gone home since I was progressing so slow so there was no one to deliver my son. The nurse tried to tell me to breathe through the contractions and I straight up told her “NO” and “I CAN’T.” She panic called the doctor because I was crowning, thank goodness the OB had gotten curious about me and driven to the hospital when she did. Not ten minutes after she walked in the door, my son was out. I’ll never forget the instant relief. One second I was feeling the ring of fire and then plop, he was out once his head was free. I sat up to look at him and remember thinking “yuck, what a mess” on the doctor’s gown. It looked like she had been splattered by a car driving through a mud puddle. My son did poop during labor/delivery so not entirely sure of it was mine or his ha!

Postbirth

I’m so grateful we were already at the hospital because he had swallowed some meconium and needed help breathing. He also got a round of IV antibiotics, but we avoided the NICU. I had some minor tearing with minimal stitches needed. I did consent to pitocin to deliver the placenta, but it was pretty anticlimactic. I don’t even remember feeling contractions or it coming out.

I showered within two hours of giving birth - it was glorious. I loved being mobile right away and the pain and discomfort of late pregnancy/labor disappearing as soon as baby is out. My crotch and tailbone were sore, but no more heartburn and I could BREATH! Also, I didn’t think the uterus massages were as bad as some people said they were.

If you’ve made it this far… I hope this encourages and empowers you to advocate for yourself. If I hadn’t know I could “refuse” the pitocin, I probably would’ve ended up with an epidural. Know your bodies and be educated on your options! I hope you have easy labors and enjoy all the newborn snuggles. Labor is so short in the grand scheme of things and it gets you to your baby! We can do this!!

I’m so excited and grateful that I had the unmedicated birth I wanted. I gave birth at a private birth center staffed by midwives and midwife assistants.

I think I was in early labor since Friday. My feet were so swollen and nothing was helping. Saturday I spent the entire day crying and very emotional. My hands also swelled for the first time on Saturday as well.

Around 5am this morning I tried to get up to go pee. My cat was in the way so I bent my legs weird and I felt a sudden rush of a small amount of fluid. I thought I peed myself so we changed the sheets and I tried to go back to sleep. Around 6am I started feeling period-like cramps on my right side. I got up again for the toilet and instantly felt pressure in my butt. In hindsight I knew what was happening but I was definitely in denial. The cramps were 5-8 minutes apart lasting 45-60 seconds long, with not much of a relief between. At this point I emailed my midwives with an update.

As the cramps got stronger, I got into the hot shower. Now the ‘cramps’ were spreading around my hips and to my back. I started my ‘labor song’ aka groaning through them. I got in and out of the shower from 8am through 12pm, called the midwife twice and in between I tried to sit on the toilet and I also kneeled on my yoga bolster as my husband did counter pressure on my back and hip squeezes. The counter pressure made the contractions slightly more bearable, highly recommend.

Throughout my pregnancy, I had been visualizing myself in the birth tub and getting through the worst parts of active labor and transition at the birth center. This all went out the window around 11:45am. I had been walking laps around my apartment to keep moving as a distraction from the insane contractions that were staying at my hips. I started telling my husband I couldn’t do it and I wanted to tap out. I called my midwife for the final time at 12:30pm telling her I was done. She recommended to meet at the birth center at 1pm for a check.

I was 9cm dilated when she did the check! At this point the instinct to push was becoming extremely strong. It seriously felt like the worst constipation of my life, and I couldn’t stop the urge to push. I labored on the toilet for a bit while the tub was prepped. Once in the tub I continued pushing hard, but I wasn’t making any more noise. I was facing the midwives and my husband as I leaned over the side of the tub.

I started to feel a sting as I was pushing and the pressure slightly switched from my butt to my vagina, and I thought maybe I should reach down to feel or tell someone what I was feeling, but I didn’t lol. I did a couple big pushes and my baby came right out into the tub at 2:07pm!!!! My midwife dropped everything and announced “we have a baby!” then scooped him out of the water.

I was in complete shock. 8 hours of labor, 30 minutes of pushing. I was just staring at everyone and repeating “oh my god” as I held my new baby in the water. The birth of my dreams had just happened!!! He weighed in at 6 pounds 6 ounces, 18 inches long. We spent another 3-4 hours after the birth in the room while I learned to breastfeed and they did the newborn exam on the bed with me. We got home at 7pm, just six hours after arriving to the birth center.

Thank you for reading💙

Any experience with high amniotic fluid? Did it cause complications? Were you still able to deliver naturally/vaginally?

Had a high reading at 37 weeks and they didn’t tell me about what it meant but requested I come in for NST and BPP weekly so i’m just spiraling a bit and looking for positive experiences. Would love to still avoid any unnecessary interventions

I am pregnant (7w) and was so excited to dive into learning about low intervention and a natural birth process. My first scan showed baby AND a grapefruit sized cyst on my ovary. Now I’m researching the pros and cons of surgery to remove it during pregnancy vs risking leaving it if it ruptures and requires emergency surgery.

We got pregnant so easily and my periods are easy and pain free so I’m shocked to know I have an endometrioma.

Especially of that size, it’s freaking me out.

Has anyone dealt with this by chance?

There’s a chance it shrinks during pregnancy but I really hate the idea of risking emergency surgery or having it rupture during labor, etc.