After a healthy pregnancy and a lot of birth preparation, Saskia went into spontaneous labor after weeks of intermittent prodromal labor and contractions. She labored at home with her supportive partner using breathing and coping skills. Upon arrival at the hospital after 24 hours of labor, she was 3cm dilated and continued to labor with the support of her husband and a doula. After her water broke, she tried IV pain medication and nitrous oxide before making an informed choice to receive the epidural. Although she planned for an epidural-free birth, receiving the epidural was ultimately an empowering choice for her and allowed for a peaceful birth. After just a few more hours, she was fully dilated and pushed for an hour before meeting her daughter.
Saskia
Saskia is a 29 year old first time mom and lives with her husband, daughter, and dog in Pennsylvania. She is a social worker, dog lover, runner, and triathlete. Leave a comment for Saskia here and she will respond!
Resources
- Natural Hospital Birth by Cynthia Gabriel
- Pelvic Prep School by Sam Duflo
- Birth Circle Doulas at Magee
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I want to thank you so much for sharing this story. I am pregnant with my first and due in April. I’ve been reading as much as I can and listening to many stories. I would prefer to go unmediated and very little interventions but I also get overwhelmed with all of the choices. I read of so many women who say if you want an unmediated birth you have to fully commit yourself to it – so I really appreciated you saying it is not always black and white. The choice of epidural no epidural takes up a lot of brain space for me and it’s not something I want to have shame about if it comes to that. Thank you again!