rockpaperscissors67
Shiny_Rock
- Joined
- Nov 8, 2005
- Messages
- 410
Sha, I''m so sorry that nurse scared you like that. I don''t think anyone can make a blanket statement that contractions are excruciating or severe because it varies so much from woman to woman, and one woman might find that she has different experiences between different labors.
I think a lot has to do with expectations and environment. If you go into labor expecting to be in excruciating pain, it''s likely that''s exactly what will happen. On the flip side, if you educate yourself about labor and develop coping strategies to use, you''re probably going to have a much easier time than someone who goes into it blind. If everyone around you in labor is encouraging you to get an epidural because of the pain, you''ll probably do just that...but if you surround yourself with supportive people who help you deal with contractions and believe in your abilities as a woman to handle labor, you''ll do fine.
When I was preparing for our homebirth the last time, I read some books that might be helpful to you. The best one for me was Ina May Gaskin''s "Spiritual Midwifery." It contains a bunch of stories of women that have had med-free births, but be warned -- some of these stories are kind of old and hippyish (as well as the pictures) so they''re a bit odd.
The other books were Ina May Gaskin''s "Guide to Childbirth," Pam England''s "Birthing from Within" and Henci Goer''s "Thinking Woman''s Guide to a Better Birth."
I hope that you can balance that nurse''s opinion out with some positive stuff because it''s NOT all doom and gloom and pain and suffering. Otherwise, our species would have died out long ago.
I think a lot has to do with expectations and environment. If you go into labor expecting to be in excruciating pain, it''s likely that''s exactly what will happen. On the flip side, if you educate yourself about labor and develop coping strategies to use, you''re probably going to have a much easier time than someone who goes into it blind. If everyone around you in labor is encouraging you to get an epidural because of the pain, you''ll probably do just that...but if you surround yourself with supportive people who help you deal with contractions and believe in your abilities as a woman to handle labor, you''ll do fine.
When I was preparing for our homebirth the last time, I read some books that might be helpful to you. The best one for me was Ina May Gaskin''s "Spiritual Midwifery." It contains a bunch of stories of women that have had med-free births, but be warned -- some of these stories are kind of old and hippyish (as well as the pictures) so they''re a bit odd.
The other books were Ina May Gaskin''s "Guide to Childbirth," Pam England''s "Birthing from Within" and Henci Goer''s "Thinking Woman''s Guide to a Better Birth."
I hope that you can balance that nurse''s opinion out with some positive stuff because it''s NOT all doom and gloom and pain and suffering. Otherwise, our species would have died out long ago.
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