How do you plan to give birth?

have i scared anyone? lol

Oh phew! My comp froze when I posted that and I thought I was gonna have to type it all out again!

Busymum, experience is exactly what I am after here. I really have no idea what I want to do. I am intrigued by the water birth plan, but maybe just the bath or shower would be enough for me.

I used the bath a lot when I was labouring at home with Maya, I must have had at least 6 baths. Getting in and out was a performance, but the warm water really helped. I laboured at home from about 4pm on Wed until 11pm on Thurs when I couldn't cope with the pain anymore and got to hospital to find I was only 4cm I had an epidural which was brilliant, they let it wear off during transition which wasn't brilliant, Lil Miss Posterior turned herself around and I delivered her flat on my back with my knees pulled up.

I spent the next 3 years telling anyone who'd listen how great epidurals are and how I'd never give birth without one. I didn't have a choice with the gremlins, my midwife and OB planned an induced, medically managed delivery which meant I had an epidural put in before they'd even broken my waters. Labour didn't start spontaneously so I had to have synto to get the labour established and once I started having contractions we realised the epidural had failed. My midwife was keen to get the anaesthetist back to fix it but I felt I was coping OK and the OB was happy that the girls were stable. It took over an hour to push Sienna out as her head was on a funny angle (Mercedes was bearing down on her sideways) and I pushed on my back again with Willie on one side and the midwife (who is tiny!) on the other. I delivered them both in the same position, holding my own knees up coz the midwife was delivering the babies (obviously) and Willie was holding a mirror so I could actually see them being born.

I didn't have a choice about birth position, with Maya I had SPD which meant squatting or all-fours wasn't an option coz it could cause permanent pelvic damage, and with the gremlins I was too big to move But birthing on my back worked for me.

If I ever have another baby I'm keen to try birthing without pain relief coz I got a real sense of empowerment from birthing the gremlins and being able to feel and experience it, far more so than with Maya. But by the same token I have no regrets about having the epi with Maya coz it worked well and helped me to get thru a very long and tricky labour.

Next time around I'd be keen to try a more active birth too, walking around during labour, and maybe a different birthing position, but I guess it will depend how I feel at the time.

Do most hospitals have baths for labour? I really like the sound of a bath as I always want one if I'm feeling uncomfortable and when I used to get bad period pain I would often get up in the middle of the night to have a bath. It ALWAYS worked. About to hop in one now as I have really restless legs.

fairy tale?????? I'm deadly serious!!! Whats the point of a birth plan if you cant have EXACTLY what you want...including the behaviuor of your baby.

This first timer (if I have to come back down to earth) will use whatever means I need to to deliver a healthy baby the easiest way poss. whilst I would like to think I could do it without drugs, I dont really believe I would have the guts. I may be a virgo...but I'm really not a perfectionist....it will be "get the bloody thing out of me NOW!" kind of attitude.