I don't have experience with either method, but I agree with you, Lesley that making patients sign a contract regarding no drugs IS pushy. I prefer naturual births as well and was fortunate to have them. (I was not in labour as long as some women.) But, I would never consider signing a contract like that.

absolutely.
healthy mom + healthy baby = good birth

That's crazy, Ziah... I also did a mix of Birthing from Within and Hypnobirthing- you and I didn't even talk about that. my doula recommended the first and I found the second searching for the first online. I liked doing art projects to express and process the feelings and ideas about giving birth, as BFW suggested. (I also read Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy, which was hilarious and helpful in many ways, but you do have to ignore quite a bit if you're planning a natural birth).

My doula was especially great about handling the pushy nurse who wouldn't stop (initially) bugging me about pain medication. (after I put up the 'drug free labor in progress, please do not offer drugs or epidural, thank you for your confidence and support' sign [words directly from BFW], apparently she stopped asking. I say apparently because initially I didn''t even remember her asking... yes, your mind goes and you forget some things later. Not all, but some. My midwife and doulas (one was apprenticing and was my massage therapist through my pregnancy) called my husband a natural doula, moving quickly and silently to take care of things often before I knew I needed them.

I did a variety of things with the contractions- often, I'd move/dance (lots of circles and figure eights) through them, making whatever loud, deep noises felt like coming out of my throat. I was in a variety of different positions- had plenty of time to try them since Baby came 33 or so hours after labor started. I used the ball, a chair, the birthing chair, the bathroom counter (boy were the contrations intense when going to the bathroom!), and tried sleeping a bit between contractions after the first day. also was in the whirl pool tub a while. My doula was also my pre natal yoga teacher and she took me through some yoga series and focused breathing. one of the most amazing parts of labor was late in the process when I started chanting (also on my own, spontaneously happened) and my doulas and sister joined in. I used chants I learned from Sonia Sumar from the Yoga for the Special Child program- Om Shanti Om Shanti Om Shanti Om... repeated in several different ways; same for Hari Om Hari Om Hari Hari Hari OM... Om Joyti Om Joyti Om Joyti Om. I also had a picture of Ganesh and some of my birth art to focus on. All this was what made my doula say we freaked the staff. :) (she also said it was the most beautiful birth she'd ever been to... I felt it was an amazing, intense experience, and yes, beautiful despite all the hard work.)

I was able to get through more than 32 or so hours of labor without pain medication, so something worked somewhere. In then end, I had a spinal block with a Cesarian because he was in what the doctor described as the second worse position a baby could be in during labor- posterior, tilted to the side and he was also looking up and back over his shoulder. My husband heard the doctor say 'oh, there's no way he was coming out like that!" Goes to show you that you can plan and prepare, but can't predict or control everything. I think for me personally, that was part of the life lesson this birth experience taught me. I do recommend having a detailed birth plan for every possible situation, because even though you may not want or expect things to go a certain way, they can and often do. that's not to scare you; just be aware and let everyone know your wishes since you will not be able to think when you are in labor. It still may not go exactly as you wanted, but if your husband, midwife/OB, Doula and any other support know what you want it is more likely to happen. I am glad that we had details in the birth plan about how we would like a Cesarian birth to go since I definately couldn't have remembered all that I wanted. Have copies of the birth plan and distribute widely to the nurses (have your doula do that), since there could be a few shift changes if it goes like mine did. :) have your doula make sure they read it! the nurse that was there when I arrived kept saying she'd read it, but from the things she did, it was clear she either didn't or wasn't respecting our wishes. Did I mention that having a supportive husband and doula rocks!? while it didn't go exactly the way I wanted, it was still a good situation considering. My baby is/was wonderfully alert and strong, very healthy. I didn't take any pain medication after the Cesarian either, but did take/use Arnica Montana homeopathy tablets and gel. It was very painful the first couple of days, but not as bad a few days later when I could get out of bed with the baby. car rides were painful for weeks, though. (my husband reminded me of that recently). oh, and I recommend satin sheets so you can slide around in bed instead of using those sore muscles so much. I imagine they'd be useful for recovery from a vaginal delivery too, though can't at this time speak from experience.

If you do end up needing an epidural (and some people do because of exhaustion or other reasons), then save your energy for recovery and dealing with hormonal fluctuations instead of spending it on guilt. :)

My Doula gave some great advice to our pn yoga class- rest and conserve energy starting 2 weeks before your due date. Nap as much as possible and _resist_ the urge to clean the house. Get a cleaning service! It is worth it. If you are well rested, you have more energy and tolerance for pain when in labor. You will not be able to resist all those urges that nature puts out there, (even though by the last month I couldn't be upright for more than a half an hour without my feet looking like a cartoon and feeling like water balloons I just had to cook) but try. I'm glad I didn't resist the urge to get a pedicure the evening before I went into labor, though. :)

I tell people it was the hardest thing I've ever done and the MOST worth it. It won't be easy, but you get a BABY at the end!

Also, people will tell you over and over to get all the help you can after the birth because you will be recovering not only from labor and delivery, but from pregnancy. So, I'll tell you again- get all the help you can for laundry, cooking, cleaning,, running errands and changing diapers. screw the thank you notes until you get a _little_ brain power back- minimum of 6 weeks. I really liked the idea of not having visitors for a long long time, and it worked out to some extent for us. if people want to come by to drop off food or clean the kitchen, then fine, but you shouldn't have to entertain while adjusting to a new human who has been growing inside your body for the last 9 + months and recovering from pregnancy, labor and delivery. It is about you and your new family, not what other people want. That's hard, but I'm glad for the most part we had our privacy. If you cannot avoid visitors, stay in your pajamas. Again, you'll have to resist wanting to run around and do everything. you may feel exhausted, but there is an adrenaline rush going on and you'll think you can take on more than you should.

there are things you may want to re-read while the baby is sleeping or your doing a marathon feeding session. I'm glad I re-read the parts on recovering from the process since it helped to reinforce taking it easy and giving myself a break. It is better for us, our babies and partners if we make a complete recovering instead of glossing over this monumental, life changing event.

Also re read the parts about signs your going into labor soon near your due date when you feel you just don't want to be pregnant any more.

I agree about the annoying chit-chat! Actually, my doctor warned me about it when I wanted a larger birthing team; she said that it can mean they sometiems get distracted from focusing on the mother, which can be really irritating (this is why I loved having a doctor with four kids of her own).

I'm curious (not knowing anything about the Bradley Method except what I've read here) what the difference between "coaching" at a birth and the kind of advice/guidance that a doula or midwife offers is? I didn't have a doula, but I'm pretty sure it would have helped a lot, especially with my first birth.

I've been biting my tongue here as I have no children yet, but one is on the way. I have been seen at a birthing center here in tucson which uses certified nurse midwives and offers what they call centering classes. According to my midwife, she does not believe in coaching due to the fact that childbirth is well, a natural event and in her experience, coaching can actually hinder progress as she thinks it tends to break peoples focus by trying too hard. She also seemed to think that the bradley method and Lamaze came at a time when women wanted natural childbirth but doctors were hesitant and these methods (especially Lamaze) were intended to quiet the woman down. Since I don't have any experience giving birth yet I don't know wether or not to believe this-this is only info that has been shared with me. What I do know is that this particular birth centers statistics on C-sections is much lower than the national average...about half as much so 10% versus 20%, patients under midwifery care in general had a 19% lower infant mortality rate, a 33% lower neonatal mortality rate, and a 31% decrease in babies with a low birth weight compared to their traditional obsterics counterparts (in a study of 800,000 low risk pregnancies). I also know that when I walk into the birth center-I just feel good. Is is beautiful and oh so not clinical looking. the birth rooms look more like a hotel room and they have a really nice big tub for water births or just relaxing/pain relief while in labor. The birth center is also designed to be less intrusive during childbirth so you can walk around, make as much noise as you'ld like, eat and even have AS MANY people with you as you would like. They also highly encourage and even work with a few doulas here in Tucson on a regular basis. And they encourage you to keep trying to give birth naturally but will support your decision if you need pain relief. I have heard that often at hospitals they keep asking you if you want medication versus just allowing you to ask for it when/if you need it. I have felt so far that birthing ceneters are a nice balance of personal and medical care. Anybody else have experiences with a birthing center. Advice? Is this a good decision?

As for the centering class, it is a newish method of prenatal care, labor, newborn and breastfeeding education all rolled into a class like setting with a few other women and their spouses who share a similar due date. At this birth center, they start you off with individual care and then you have the option to either continue with individual care and take the education class seperately, or join the centering class about midway through pregnancy. I have joined the class and am very happy about it. The other women I met were like minded and extremely supportive. It is nice to talk with someone who is going through what you are going through. And of course as mentioned earlier while in the labor and birthing education they do not teach any particular methods, they do cover several relaxation techniques. Has anybody tried these cenetering classes??? So far I have been very happy with it but I'd like to hear about anybody else that has gone through them. I guess from my limited experience I wonder why anyone would want to give birth at a hospital unless they had to due to a higher risk pregnancy/birth. But since I have not experienced any of this yet, I am eager to hear more about people's experience with both. What worked/what did not work. Even if you get your prenatal care from the birth cenetr here, you still might end up giving birth at the hospital they work with (it is just 2 minutes away and your midwife will still come over and give you care) due to failure to progress, going into labor too early/late, conditions such as preeclampsia etc, etc. So, I want to be prepared for both.