r/unmedicatedbirth

I spent months reading positive induction stories in this community, so I wanted to give back and hopefully help someone who’s anxious like I was.
I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes around 24 weeks and eventually needed insulin. By the end of my pregnancy my insulin requirements were quite high:
Breakfast: 12 units
Lunch: 42 units
Dinner: 42 units
Bedtime: 32 units
Despite needing these doses, my blood sugars stayed well controlled, my baby continued doing well, and I was scheduled for induction at 38 weeks because of insulin-controlled GDM.
Like many first-time moms, I was terrified of induction. My biggest fear was that my cervix wasn’t ready, the induction would fail, and I’d end up with a C-section.
Induction Timeline
June 26 – 11:00 AM
Cervidil inserted.
Cervix was completely closed (0 cm).
Sent home.
June 26 – 11:00 PM
Returned after 12 hours.
Cervix was 1 cm dilated.
Baby looked great on the NST.
Sent home again and asked to come back the following morning at 11 AM.
Honestly, I was disappointed.
Going from completely closed to only 1 cm felt like almost no progress, and I was convinced I’d probably need another round of cervical ripening.
While I was home overnight, I started having lower back pain that came in waves along with abdominal tightening. At first I wasn’t even sure they were contractions because they were mostly in my back.
2:58 AM (June 27)
Suddenly I heard a loud POP.
Immediately afterwards I felt a gush of clear, odorless fluid.
My water had broken.
3:30 AM
We arrived back at the hospital.
4:25 AM
Cervidil removed.
I was already 3 cm dilated.
At that point I still thought I had many, many hours ahead of me.
My husband and I had prepared for a long labor.
He was waiting outside the Labor & Delivery unit because the plan was for him to come in once I was officially admitted and help me through active labor.
We had packed everything:
Birth ball
Tennis ball for back massage
TENS machine
Two hot packs (one microwavable and one refillable with hot water)
Snacks
Drinks
Massage supplies
All the comfort items we’d spent weeks preparing
We genuinely thought we’d have plenty of time to use all of it.
We couldn’t have been more wrong.
They kept me in the assessment area doing continuous NST monitoring.
They wanted me to lie flat on my back, but the contractions had become so intense that I simply couldn’t do it.
I tried lying on my side.
That hurt too.
Around 5:20 AM, the nurse gave me a hospital gown and asked me to change because they wanted one final 20–30 minute NST to make sure baby was still doing well before moving me.
By then I couldn’t stay on the bed anymore.
The contractions had become incredibly intense and I suddenly had an overwhelming urge to poop.
I kept telling the nurse:
“I need to use the washroom… I really need to poop.”
I was convinced I simply needed to have a bowel movement.
Thankfully, instead of letting me walk to the bathroom, she checked my cervix.
She immediately looked at me and said:
“You’re 10 cm. We need to get you to Labor & Delivery right now.”
She also told me there wasn’t enough time for an epidural anymore.
Everything after that happened incredibly fast.
She piled all of my belongings onto my hospital bed and rushed me straight into the Labor & Delivery room.
The team was still introducing themselves, reviewing my medical history, confirming my Group B Strep results, and getting everything organized because nobody expected labor to progress this quickly.
The Labor & Delivery nurse asked if my support person was at the hospital.
My husband was waiting outside, expecting that I still had several more hours before active labor.
I called him at 6:27 AM and simply told him to come immediately.
He came running into the room with no idea what had happened.
We never even got the chance to unpack the birth ball, TENS machine, hot packs, tennis ball, snacks, or any of the things we’d carefully prepared.
Even while everyone was still getting organized, my body had already started pushing on its own.
I literally couldn’t stop it.
The nurse asked my husband to count from 1 to 10 during each contraction while I pushed.
I think I started actively pushing around 6:35–6:37 AM.
The pushing stage was unbelievably short.
At one point they asked me to stop pushing and hold because they wanted to better control the baby’s delivery.
My body had other plans.
A few moments later…
6:43 AM
Our beautiful baby boy, DhruvDhir, was born via vaginal delivery.
❤️
I delivered without an epidural.
I did end up with a second-degree tear, but otherwise both baby and I are doing well.
What I learned
A closed cervix does NOT mean your induction will fail.
Going from 0 cm to 1 cm after Cervidil may not sound like much, but it can mean your cervix is responding.
Things can change extremely quickly after your water breaks.
If you suddenly develop an overwhelming urge to poop during labor, tell your nurse immediately. In my case, I thought I needed the bathroom, but I was actually fully dilated and ready to push.
High insulin requirements do not automatically mean you’ll need a C-section.
First-time inductions don’t always end in a long labor. Mine went from 3 cm to holding my baby in just over two hours.
Sometimes your body knows exactly what to do before you even realize what’s happening.
If you’re reading this while feeling anxious about induction because of gestational diabetes, I completely understand because I was exactly where you are just a few days ago.
Reading positive birth stories in this community gave me hope throughout my pregnancy.
I hope mine gives someone else that same hope.
Wishing every mom here a smooth delivery, healthy baby, and a positive birth experience. ❤️

Has anyone had experience with hiring a midwife as a doula for a hospital birth? Do you feel like it offered added benefit to have them present vs a normal doula?

Id love to hear stories of your experiences or thoughts! TIA

I find the information about labour pain so subjectively written that I struggle to make heads or tails from mum's experiences. I was wondering if you'd be willing to rate and describe how it actually feels like to a FTM who is really scared (and feels prepared by learning about it)

Let's say the pain scale is:

\- 0 (no pain)

\- to 10 (total agony, amputation with no pain relief kind of pain)

How painful were the following, how would you describe the pain (sharp, stubby, burning, dull), where was the pain, how often does it last and come:

1. Early labour? Did TENS machine help if you had it?

2. Active labour (4cm+)? And if you get an epidural or other pain relief, how different was the experience?

3. Transition?

4. Pushing? If you had instruments, how bad was that? How bad was the episiotomy? Do you think Aniball/Epi-No helped, if you used it?

5. Stitching?

6. Recovery?

Would love positive stories of major change of plans.

I've been planning a home birth with my midwife team this whole pregnancy, they've been incredibly supportive in spite of me having an additional risk factor (diabetes- very well managed)

I'm 38+3 and have been in prodromal labor for 9 days now.
The high risk team at the hospital want me to induce at 39, I've said unless baby is in distress I'm waiting till 40 (no known additional risk with well managed diabetes as baby hasn't really seen any additional glucose) but with the prodromal labor and reading stories of women who had PL for weeks I'm trying to accept that I might have to change my plans.

Would love to hear positive stories of unmedicated induction or just having to birth in the hospital when that wasn't the plan- especially if you had a fear of hospitals before birth, because I have an irrational fear of them lol
I've envisioned giving birth at home literally my whole life, so this is such a hard thing to accept but obviously I'll do what's best for baby and I.

I am of course doing everything to encourage labor to progress, walking, red raspberry tea, sex, pumping, considering castor oil but not sure because the evidence of uterine hyperstimulation is a bit spooky as I had that with my MC and it was hell.
Might try evening primrose oil tonight and see if that helps.

Hi guys I am wanting to make this post just to get other opinions, my wife doesnt know I am making this post cause I dont want to stress her any more than she is. I am also very stressed and honestly breaking down at seeing her in so much pain when the cramps happen. So 3 days ago she was in the kitchen and sneezed and then felt a bunch of liquid just flow out we went to the hospital and come to find the baby is still healthy and strong organs are growing normally and baby is growing great only concern is that her amniotic fluid is extremely low, for reference we did a ultra sound 4 weeks ago and it was 11cm and now its 0.7cm. They did test on her cervix and came out negative for any leaks but now what we are scared is that the fluid is just so low for the baby, she has started to get cramps coming in strong at different times as if its coming in waves. Hospital always of course telling you the most negative things saying that we should terminate but that is not something we will ever do, we just cant we have been trying to conceive for 2 1/2 years and honestly i just dont want to lose the baby i am very worried and just want to see if anyone has had anything similar and what was your experience. Thank you

38 weeks tomorrow. My ultrasound yesterday estimated baby to be about 7pds 7oz.

I went to 41w4d with my first daughter (almost exactly 4 years ago, her bday is 7/7) and she weighed 7pds 14oz.

All the numbers!

My hunger was insatiable yesterday.

I got 8hrs or more of sleep last night and yet I cannot get up for anything. I mean I cannot even describe this unusual kind of tired i feel today.

Im going through literal torment more and more, bc my Mental is like a hummingbird wanting to go 2000mph, and my Physical is feeling more like concrete than sludge every day.

It's my favorite holiday, fireworks tonight and tomorrow, and the best I can do is try to make some walking tacos (with help) and sit in the car with snacks for fireworks, Im hoping.

My RBC/hemoglobin was a bit on the low side. Anemia has always been a well known and very prevalent thing on my maternal line. A midwife I met with yesterday noticed that my thyroid levels are way off - which could explain SO MUCH. My mom had thyroid cancer, and I've dealt with mold illness in aspergillus/penicillium, which im living in again...my grandma was allergic to penicillin, and those are related obviously, and I have confirmed the MTHFR gene.

I feel like im just rambling at this point but - I just want to give all the details I can so that you all can tell me that this baby is about to fly out of me any second because I haven't even been able to stand for more than a minute or so for weeks without feeling like my legs are going to buckle.

I know my body is supporting her, so Im run down, but after yesterdays anatomy scan I feel like she is big enough and strong enough that she can come earthside any minute now and we would both be healthy and supported much better that way at this point. She has lots of hiccups and I watched her practice breathing on the scan and I do have backup if I need to go that way...

Sorry this is all jumbled, so exhausted

TL;DR Im tired and this baby at 38 weeks may be almost as big as my daughter was at birth at almost 42 weeks. Seeking manifestations/prayers/optimism that she flies out of me safely like, tomorrow.

I have given birth twice, both with epidurals.
I got the epidurals out of fear because I am terrified of the ring of fire and feeling the stitches.
I was on pitocin both times and the epidurals only worked from my vagina down both times. I ended up with 3rd degree tears but I didn’t feel it or the crowning. I still felt all of the contractions, it was extremely painful. It’s hard to know if the epidural was helping with the contractions at all.
I started crying and having a panic attack when the epidural wasn’t working all the way. I feel so weak knowing I wouldn’t have been able to handle completely unmedicated. I have been grieving not having the birth that I was hoping for.

I’m now one month postpartum and still processing my deliveries, I wish I wasn’t like this and could move on easily.

Alright ladies.

Full stop.

How do you prepare for an unmedicated birth? Tips, advice, unhinged thoughts… give it to me.

OR what helped you get through an unmedicated birth? Again, full stop & unhinged.

Background: my first birth was very traumatic, and I’m coming back with vengeance to go unmedicated. I’m tired of telling myself I’m not strong enough.

Hi everyone I got induced with my first pregnancy and want to have a natural at home birth with my next.

I got induced simply because I was 10 days past my due date. My birth was natural and healthy but lasted 15 hours.

My baby was 9 lbs and 2 oz when she came out, but was measuring small my whole pregnancy. The doctor said when I went in to get induced that my cervix was very thick and not ripe at all. And that I was barely dilated (not much at all)!

My baby was monitoring very healthy all through my pregnancy including the last days. My doctor also told me that my placenta was calcified but the baby did not seem to mind.

I also tried taking “midwives brew” (castor oil) before my induction but it did not work! I had contractions but they ended up going away.

I’m wondering if I should have waited and let my body go into labor spontaneously. But I was worried there was risks of still birth going past 42 weeks and other complications like baby being too big.

Does anyone have experience in this? I felt like my body wasn’t capable of having a natural birth and that induction was necessary. Can anyone give insight on their natural birth experience or body not going into labor before 42 weeks.

I’ve received all of my prenatal care at a birth center and have absolutely loved every second. I have really been looking forward to going into spontaneous labor and going unmedicated. I’m currently 40w 3d and incredibly miserable. I was going to get a membrane sweep on Friday but the midwife said I was only fingertip dilated so she couldn’t do it. I’ve been drinking the raspberry tea, eating the dates, doing the Miles Circuit/Spinning Babies and everything everyone has suggested with few signs of labor near (have had mild period like cramping the past three weeks and had diarrhea this morning). I’m 37, almost 38 years old and I’m starting to worry. The birth center will let me go to 41w 6d before they transfer me to the hospital for medical indication but I’m worried about going that long due to my age.

Obviously spontaneous labor and giving birth at the birth center is my preference but I’m so uncomfortable and getting pretty anxious. Would love others opinions on this.

Help , I’m 37 weeks and 6 days pregnant…I’m set to get induced next week but I’m really not trying to get induced 😭 anything natural to help her get herself here? (No sex) anything else ?

First time, and I don't know if I need advice, a pep talk, a good cry, or what. I've just hit 30 weeks and every day I'm getting more and more anxious about giving birth. Up until a couple years ago it was my biggest fear. I've been incredibly lucky this far that everything has been going according to plan. I have my glucose test in a couple days and I'm sure that will either make me feel better or worse depending on the results.

What is freaking me out now is if something changes or goes wrong and I end up needing to be induced or needing a C-section, both of which I absolutely want to avoid. I'm overweight and if I end up having gestational diabetes or developing preeclampsia later on I'm sure that will put me at higher risk. I also want to go without an epidural out of fear it could create the need for intervention. The fear of natural birth is bad enough, but the fear of needing intervention is almost paralyzing.

I'm so scared I'll make it to the end only to think that maybe I can't do this, or that something will go terribly wrong, and it's so hard not to have these thoughts. I hope I can stay strong and just remain adamant that I want to do things naturally when my baby and my body decide we're ready, as that seems like the way to go for me.

Any tips or advice are greatly appreciated, even if it's just to tell me to get a grip lol. I'd also love to hear your own experience.

Hi! I plan on an unmedicated hospital birth. I have not been doing the perineal massage because I wasn’t quite sure on how to do it and 40 weeks flew by. I tried a bit in the shower today and oh my lord it buuurns. I want to go unmedicated but after a bad OB appointment today my doctor left me with a lot of anxiety. She gave me a hard time for declining an epidural and told me all the bad things that I would be going through without it. (The office swaps the doctor/midwife you see each appointment - I have not seen this person at all except for last week and today)

Any advice to help would be appreciated or even good vibe stories. I have received a bunch or backlash for sharing I wanted to go unmedicated to friends/family and this specific OB. All of the other medical professionals in the office were super supportive of my choice except the one I have seen the past two appointments. I have never been this anxious the entire pregnancy and my due date is in a couple days now.

Mix of a vent and advice.

I had planned an unmedicated birth my whole pregnancy, but by the title you can probably guess that's not what happened. FTM, I was going to a midwife and birthing center in the hopes to specifically NOT go to the hospital. I wanted a more homey environment. I wanted the people around me to be a part of the team I was familiar with and to be confident I'd be listened to. I had a completely normal pregnancy the whole time and baby had been in position for weeks.

Fast forward to his due date, I started to go into labor at about 2am that night/the next morning. Contractions started at about 30 minutes apart, then slowly crept up to 10 later in the morning, then 7, then 4... then back to 7, then 10 again, then 7, then 4. I called my midwife that evening and she said when they're consistently 4 to call her again to come to the birthing center.

That night the pattern continued. She called me the next morning and decided to check progress. I was still at 2 cm. She said I was likely stuck in prodromal labor. She said she could manually dilate me and that could possibly kickstart normal labor. So she got me to 6cm and after that the contractions felt even more intense.

Fast forward to that night where the pattern STILL was the same. 10, 7, 4, 10, 7, 4. Nothing changed except for the intensity of the pain. I had called my midwife and couple times at this point and eventually in the middle of the night I basically begged her to see me. I had been in labor for over 40 hours with like, 4 hours of sleep since 3 days prior and needed an answer because I could NOT go through another night. I was exhausted in every sense of the word - physically, emotionally, spiritually. I could not go on.

She checked me again and said I was still at 6cm and that I had basically 2 options - continue another night like this or go to the hospital. I chose the hospital.

I got an epidural around 2am and was finally able to get some sleep. They put me on pitocin the next morning and by 6pm I was pushing. I was still so extremely exhausted from being in labor for so long I was falling asleep between contractions. It was fully reflexive, I'd just push, then pass out, then wake up to push again, then pass out again. He ended up being born after an hour of pushing (65 hours of labor) totally healthy.

The hospital staff was super supportive of my decisions. I wasn’t pushed into a c section. My whole support team was allowed in the room and allowed to help. I know it doesn't always happen this way in every hospital, that's part of the reason why I didn't want to go to one. But not every hospital birth is a battle to maintain your birth plan either. And sometimes, you NEED the hospital, even if it doesn't seem life or death. Looking back, I don't think either me or my son would have made it out unscathed if we hadn't gone when we did.

TL;DR I planned an unmedicated labor at a birthing center. Ended up needing hospital and meds after 2 days of labor. Hospital was super supportive and helpful and both baby and I ended up happy and healthy regardless.

Hello all, I am almost 27 weeks with #2 and planning a birthing center birth (unfortunately homebirth is not feasible with a midwife in my area). My birth with my first was traumatic, long and ended in a 3b tear. I want everything to go differently this time.

With my first I lived in fear all pregnancy long. I never researched almost anything because I felt paralyzed with the fear that I would never actually meet my son.

With this pregnancy I'm so much more level headed and dare I say I feel energized by the idea of having this baby. My son is only 16mo old so I am busy all day long but I'm finally getting to the point that I'm ready to do more of a deep dive to prepare for labor and birth. Something online would be great for me as I don't have much time to do stuff without my son.

I am currently reading Ina Mays Guide to Childbirth and find myself tearing up out of joy reading the positive stories.

I coped with no epidural with my son until 8cm (induced, horrible horrible back to back contractions for 48 hours and then 4 hours of pushing). I would love to learn more about ways to cope with pain during the process naturally. My midwives are very helpful and share lots of information but I'd love to spend some of my free time learning what I can do to best support my labor and delivery process.

Thanks ❤️

all of my friends have been induced so they can’t help me.

how do you actually know when labor is starting vs just braxton hicks contractions. everyone is like “you’ll know” okay well i don’t so someone tell me please 🤣😩👏

i’m having cramping, that just feels like i have to poop super bad/makes me nauseous. but they aren’t x amount of time apart. if it is it’s like an hour but i’m not timing bc it comes and goes. i’m sore from under my belly to my nipples and my legs feel like i did 10000 squats. also i’m pooping a good amount (sorry tmi but i heard that was a sign baby was coming soon bc you’re emptying out) no water breaking, no mucus plug, no discharge more than regular pregnant discharge or anything like that.

i’m 36 weeks, 37 on tuesday and if i go into labor before 37 weeks i have to go to the hospital instead of the birthing center i plan to do my unmedicated water birth at. i am DREADING having to go to the hospital so pray i hold this baby in.

okay that’s all the details! lmk what other mommas think! thank you 💗💗💗

Всем привет. У меня незапланированная беременость. Проблема в том что после пересадки почки я принимаю селлсепт что категорически противопоказан при беременночти. Врачь настаивает на прерывание. Поделитесь пожалуйста у кого был такой опыт. Что делать. Спасибо

Hi everyone, I’m currently 38 weeks and hoping for an unmedicated VBAC. I have had the worst run of sickness recently - a weekend of gastro at 36 weeks straight into a cough/cold for over a week now (which has also caused an intercostal muscle strain). I am in Australia so we are heading into winter and I also have a toddler in daycare so some sickness is inevitable but this sucks lol

Feeling pretty grateful to have made it this far (and otherwise healthy) after an emergency C section at 37+1 in my first pregnancy, but I’m also kind of sad I’m losing this time of peak nesting/labour prep to trying desperately to recover and hoping baby stays in until I’m better. I have been mentally preparing for so many situations after having severe pre-eclampsia last time but I did not expect to be taken out by the common cold.

I’m wondering if anyone has any stories/experience of unmedicated birth while recovering from/recently recovered from illness or injury?

Hello! I’m a FTM 40+6 and a little concerned that I may have to be induced. Originally I was hoping to have a spontaneous unmedicated labor but of course…nothing ever goes to plan. I’m feeling

It’s been 30+ hours of having bloody show with small amounts of my mucus plug passing. However I still have not had any consistent contractions. I went for a 45 min walk on my treadmill and took a nap afterwards. Woke up and still just some mild cramping.

I’m curious to know what other moms have experienced! Could you share what happened after bloody show? How did you know you were in labor and what were those timelines like?

I’ve been feeling a bit anxious…:

I know its a hot topic, and you can try to deter me if you want, but I came here to ask(for those of you who have done it) did you still go to the hospital afterwards for the heel prick mainly? I am thinking Id have no way of knowing if baby does have some rare genetic disease and that the test could still be useful for that knowledge. Im also wondering about time windows. I figure i can call an ambulance whenever if I feel I want to go in, but if all goes well and baby and I are chilling...how long do I wait before going in for that sort of thing? Is there likely going to be other stuff they want to do? Is there a timeframe where its been too long and they wont perform the test at all? Please and thanks.