natural pain relief?

I didn't have a homebirth, but both mine were drug free, this time with Ty I used the bath before going to the birthing unit , pressure on my back (DH rubbing it ) and I visualised myself holding the baby .
I also had a pic of Caitlyn , to remind myself that its all worth it, and one of Ty's scan pics, to remind myself that all this pain and work is to get my little man out and into my arms .
I found the pictures were the most important things in keeping me focused .

Hope that helps !

I used some of the things already mentioned above and also found affirmations to be really good. Google labour or birth affirmations and you'll see what i mean. It's a matter of keeping the goal in mind i found. I also found that i just focused on each contraction, because then when it's over you get a break. So i just thought about the 45 secs or whatever it took, not the bigger picture. In between i thought happy thoughts about how cool it was going to be to meet my baby soon and how wonderful it was to be in labour at last. Those photo ideas are good i'm going to use that this time for sure!

Probably the most important thing for me was that i had told myself the entire pregnancy that this was the plan and i'm a stubborn old cow so that was that really.

Just before it was time to push i did start to have doubts as i was worried that they'd tell me i had hours to go and it was starting to hurt like buggery but it turned out that that was transition. I wish someone had told me that at the time though as that would've kept me more positive at that point. My MW sucked though and was pretty much superflous.

Massage, hot water bottle, aromatherapy, hypnotherapy, staying active during contractions (I would stand and sway/roll my hips) all helped me survive labour!

All these ideas are great! After a hideous hospital birth with lots of intevention last time, its good to be reminded that it is possible for it not to be like that. I am planning a home water birth, and cant wait!

Aliasmum wrote: Heat packs on your back & hard massage & also ice cold flannels on your forehead. Make sure that you have 2 support people & they know they are there to support you the whole way through. I had a great team of my Mum & DH. Also make sure you stay active even now. It is very doable totally naturally, the power of your body is utterly amazing!

I totally agree. I had a super short labour and my stage 2 (pushing stage) was only about 10 minutes, if that. I didnt have any drugs, totally natural labour and birth. Dh rubbed (hard) my lower back and butt during contractions, he also put heat packs on my back for relief which worked a treat and the MW put cold facecloths on my forehead. I didnt make it to the shower but thats where I wanted to go if my labour was longer.

Your body is an amazing machine and if you put your faith and trust into it it will do amazing things.

I used a few already mentioned above, especially the pressure on my lower back.
I was in the bath for ages before we went to the hospital that helped heaps.

I was doing the slow breathing, in thru nose out thru mouth and found sitting backwards on the loo for the last hour or so amazing., with dh pushign on my back.

I had a total of 3.5 hours active labour with 15 min second stage. When pushing I focused completely on the pushing nooyelling or making noise.

I am thinking about a waterbirth this time ( at home ) let me know how your experience goes.

Go T_Rex!

I can't add anymore to what the other ladies have said but I'm quite looking forward to reading your story. Home birth is something I considered but the logistics of getting the MW to me weren't going to work.
Perhaps next time (if there is a next time ) I will try homebirth.