5 Things to Consider Before You Plan a Med Free Delivery

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If your goal is to have a med free delivery, you’ll want to consider these 5 things first.

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5 Things to Consider Before You Plan a Med Free Delivery

I love to share my birth stories with both Blake and Branden, (Blakes can be found here on the blog.) as they are so incredibly different and a true testament to me that every birth story out there is so different, unique and magical. I also love hearing other people’s birth stories and it’s also borderline become an obsession of mine, especially whenever I meet new moms. With Branden I had all the drugs that were offered to me, giving me a completely different birthing experience than the med free one I planned with Blake after fully immersing myself in all the goodness of The Business Of Being Born documentaries.

I would share my birth plan with anyone and everyone who would give me the time of day. (If you sign up for my pregnancy email list HERE, you get a FREE birth plan printable for yourself.) Seriously. Chris got sick of hearing about it. I had to explain it to my Dad about ten times before he kinda understood and my whole online community was well aware and rooting me on. I used a midwife the second time around and my plan was simply to try for a med free delivery, but really listen to my body and have realistic goals about the whole thing. I really, really wanted to be able to have a med free delivery (and I did end up having one), but wasn’t going to put any pressure on myself whenever the time came. If for some reason I wasn’t feeling it, then I would have an epidural. Plan and simple.

Here’s what to think about when you plan your med free delivery:

Almost three years after giving birth, my birth story with Blake is still asked about both online and offline, so I thought I would share some tips that I’m giving out often about managing exceptions of a med free delivery.

1. It’s going to hurt. Like really effing bad.

I know. I know. You’re thinking, “well duh.” But seriously, nothing could have prepared me for the actual pain of a med free child birth and everything that I had sort of trained for ahead of time or had been planning to use to manage the pain went out the window. It all boiled down to basic survival skills at that point. For me, all roads pointed towards screaming. I know that sounds awful, but luckily I was the only one on the delivery floor at the small hospital I delivered at in NYC (rare, I know) and I screamed my head off without really bothering anyone. – except the doctor. I have very vivid memories of the on call doctor that I delivered with telling me to stop screaming and I just couldn’t – it was therapeutic for me.

You will find your own thing that works for you, but keep in mind that the pain is no joke. So much so that I demanded my epidural as soon as I got to the hospital with Blake, but I was too far along and needed to push. That was the only reason I went through with it in the end. True story.

2. Make sure you and your partner are on the same page.

You partner is a huge part of your voice during labor and will be there to advocate for you. Make sure that they are familiar with your birth plan and know what to do if things don’t go exactly according to plan, too.

3. It might not go your way.

Like I previously mentioned, just accept that you might not be able to do it, and that is TOTALLY OKAY. There is nothing wrong with saying “I want my epidural.” Nothing at all. I did. And you know that? My relationship with both my kids are both magical and wonderful and I know in my heart that has nothing to do with whether I had a med free birth or not.

4. Make your health a priority the entire time.

We tend to think about the baby we are carrying inside of us, and that’s human nature because we’re moms. However, if you aren’t healthy then that baby won’t be healthy, so that’s just as important. With that being said, make sure you really discuss your plans with your healthcare provider to decide if a med free delivery is the right choice for you.

5. Theres a good chance you might give birth with an on call doctor.

You can have the most concrete plans with your doctor or midwife, and then go into labor with the on call doctor. Things rarely worked as planned during labor. I had on-call doctors deliver both of our babies and the experience with Branden was better than my natural birth with Blake, however, I really only saw him for like 15 minutes. Just accept that your birthing experience might not be the way you envisioned it, and that’s okay.