During my first birth, I had an epidural! It was a labor tool that was available to me–and honestly, at that moment, I needed it to be able to continue to labor without suffering. Epidurals are tools that are available to you if you need them, but if you’re planning an unmedicated birth–we got some tips for you too!
Ready to welcome your little one with confidence and joy?
Enroll in our Childbirth Education Course today and discover how to make your birth experience extraordinary. Don’t wait, register now!
During my first birth, after 24 hours of labor and a lot of mental stress from external pressures to perform from my medical team, I opted for an epidural to help me relax and my labor did progress pretty quickly from there. I will be honest that I felt defeated–I was planning an unmedicated birth, and everyone I had mentioned that I wanted to try to give birth without an epidural told me: “oh you just wait”–so after 24 hours, I cried as I begged for an epidural after barely making any “progress”.
It wasn’t that labor was too painful–I was not in the right mental space to give birth unmedicated. I was 41+3 weeks, I had been anxious for 10 days about a scheduled induction, and felt that I didn’t have a lot of say in my birth. I didn’t know how to advocate for myself–I left my birth feeling defeated. Ultimately this birth experience was what inspired me to create MamasteFit–I wanted to help other women feel confident to advocate for themselves in their births and not be afraid of their birth options!
So, what are some reasons that an epidural could be helpful for your labor progress, and what are some ways to overcome the potential disappointment in choosing to get an epidural if your plan was an unmedicated birth?
Benefits of an Epidural
- Epidurals can help you relax if you are fighting your contractions
- Epidurals could make your labor more enjoyable
- Epidurals can ensure you stay awake if there is an emergency
Epidurals are sometimes believed to slow labor progress (probably from a lack of movement, which could contribute towards malposition of baby) or result in a c-section, as interventions can increase after getting an epidural.
But epidurals can also SPEED up labor if you are fighting your contractions or having trouble relaxing with your contractions. During my first birth, I found that the epidural sped up my labor after I was finally able to release tension and sleep. While my tension was mostly related to navigating the dynamics of my unsupportive medical birth team, once I was able to sleep, I found that I could finally relax even with the tension from the medical team.
So, if you are fighting your contractions or struggling to release tension (even if the tension is due to your birth environment), an epidural could help you relax which may speed up labor! The more we can relax with our contractions, the quicker labor tends to be. This is why introducing labor comfort measures, such as hydrotherapy or counterpressure, could speed up labor–the more relaxed you are, the more your contractions can work FOR you instead of against you.
If you have an epidural, you can still move! You should not remain completely still after getting an epidural, as movement can really help baby adjust their position and navigate through the pelvis. We can use a peanut ball to support movement with epidurals, and you can even find upright positions with an epidural if you have movement capability. If your birth team needs to physically put you into an upright position, then it is likely not a safe position for you. We break down quite a few labor positions and pushing positions for an epidural in our childbirth education course and labor position guide! We include the labor position guide in our childbirth education course as an easy-to-print reference to support your birth!
For some, the pain of labor is physically too much, and we are bordering on suffering. There is a difference between experiencing the pain of labor and suffering.
If we are suffering it will affect your birth satisfaction–and while the bare minimum is “healthy mom, healthy baby,” there is also room for happy mom. An epidural can be a tool to help you find relief to enjoy your birth experience, as well! Not everyone wants to give birth unmedicated, and that is okay!
I have had a lot of clients who preferred to give birth with an epidural because they felt they were able to enjoy the process of meeting their baby more. And I have had other clients who found that giving birth unmedicated was powerful and enjoyable for them. So it really depends on YOU! This is why we break down how to labor with and without an epidural in our childbirth education course–we want you to feel empowered with the tools to navigate your birth in either direction!
Another benefit of the epidural is there is a potential emergency–it could be that you have a higher risk pregnancy and birth, or a complication has developed during your birth–and you want to stay awake if you need a cesarean birth.
I have had clients who developed complications during their labors have opted for an epidural in case things became an emergency, and due to the complication, there was a higher likelihood of an emergency occurring during their labor.
While there is usually time to get an epidural or spinal if your birth path changes to needing a cesarean birth, in some emergency situations, there may not be time to administer one and you will need a general anesthesia cesarean birth, where you are put to sleep. So, if you have developed a complication where there is an increased risk of a c-section, you may want to opt for an epidural.
Overcoming Disappointment
But what if you were planning an unmedicated birth, and your plans changed to where you decided to get an epidural? For some of us, we may feel confident in that decision and happy with that choice! For others, we may feel disappointed that our birth didn’t go the way we had planned or that we “weren’t strong enough” to give birth without an epidural. There are so many emotions that may exist as you navigate reflecting on your birth experience.
For starters–I was there. I was disappointed in myself for “quitting” and needing an epidural. It took me a long time to accept that I was not a failure and that it was okay for me to have gotten an epidural. It was not a failure on my part–if anything it was a failure on the part of my medical birth team to support me as an individual with compassion.
I did have two unmedicated births at home for my next two births, so it was definitely not because I was “weak” or incapable of giving birth without an epidural–but I think what hurt the most was that I didn’t feel supported in general by others in my desire to have an unmedicated birth.
Every time I mentioned that I wanted to give birth without an epidural, I was told “oh you just wait,” or “there isn’t a gold star or trophy for giving birth without an epidural.”
Even in triage as I checked in, I could see the nurse and midwife practically roll their eyes when I mentioned my pain preferences. So, when I decided to get an epidural, it felt like I was proving all of the lack of support right–they were right all along and I was silly for thinking otherwise.
Had I been supported in my desire to have an unmedicated birth–if I had all of these people cheering me on–I would have felt less disappointment and given myself more grace as my plans changed (and they needed to change based on my birth environment).
It is OKAY for your birth plans to change–there is an unpredictable element of birth that we can prepare for by understanding our options and our preferences in various scenarios–but know that whatever your preferences are, they are valid! If you want an unmedicated birth–you can do it! If you want an epidural–you can be supported in that too!
We break down ways to plan for birth in our childbirth education course, and while it is unpredictable doesn’t mean it’s just chaos–we can plan for different scenarios so you can be empowered even if plans change!
Epidurals are another labor tool!
How you give birth does not put value on your birth–if you give birth with an epidural or have a cesarean birth does not mean that your birth is “less” than someone who gave birth at home without an epidural. What is more important is that you feel supported by your birth team in your preferences and that you can trust your team to help you navigate the unexpected aspect of birth. We want to educate you on your options so you can choose when you may want specific interventions, and when you would prefer to explore other options!
Not everyone NEEDS an epidural, and not everyone NEEDS to give birth without one. There isn’t a trophy for birth–but we can still leave our birth experience feeling supported, which I would call a win!
Prepare for Your Birth
There is so much involved with preparing for your birth! And so much information out there to weed through to figure out what best suits your individual needs as a family. You have one resource telling you epidurals are evil–and others telling you that you just need to do what your doctor tells you.
But what about your preference as an individual?? Your unique experience is important! We would love to support you with our childbirth education course as you navigate your individual pregnancy and birth preferences by educating you on your options, when you may want to opt in for certain interventions and when you may want to choose another option–so you can feel confident to choose the best option for YOU.
If you are feeling confused on how to navigate fitness throughout your pregnancy–because again this is another area where there is a lot of contradictory information–we got you with our prenatal fitness programs! We have trained exclusively in-person prenatal clients at our gym located in Aberdeen, North Carolina, plus thousands of online prenatal clients. You can trust our expertise with our programming to support a strong and comfortable, as you intentionally prepare for birth!