@kirsty89 @mummagordon well done you ladies on going he natural way. I wish I had your confidence. I guess not knowing from experience what to expect makes it harder for me.

I have only ever had gas and air with last one i had nothing and plan on doing it without again i like to do things as naturally as possible as i wanted to feel the whole experience of it i want a home birth with this one with no drugs but that's just me xxx

I think we can cope with more then we think we can, i was very surprised how well i coped with all 3 of mine! Only had gas&air with my first 2 but definitely didn't want an epidural.. i didnt have anything with my 3rd as i didn't have chance as she was born before i managed to get to hospital but i was crying with the pain! But like others have said every labour is and you maybe best just going with with flow and seeing what happens... i never made a birth plan with any of mine X

I did skin to skin yeh. I didn't breast feed but that wouldn't have been an issue had I been.

@sara-lou86 Oh. Pushing stage. Makes sense. Guess it probably wouldn't even work in time in that case. Still on the fence re the epidural. Guess I'll have to see how I feel at the time I guess. Were you able to do skin to skin and breast feeding after the epidural?

I'm not sure to be honest. I guess 8/10cm as you cant have one once you get to the pushing stage. It's finding someone who can give it to you which is usually what takes forever. There's usually only 1 who can & they can often already be in surgery. I found gas & air was enough until I was pushing & they said sorry love you've got no choice now haha. I think First time you don't really know what to expect & just kinda go with it so you may find you do better than you think! I was more anxious 2nd time I think because I knew what was coming & Max kept getting distressed which made me distressed so I wanted an epidural so I wasn't stressing.

@winterbaby95 will defo ask at next appointment @unimummy 🙈 I'm hoping I suprise myself.

@sara-lou86 I feel like I'll be like you. Try to brave it out and then get to a point where I can't handle it and then not have a choice. After how many cm dilating do they not allow you the epidural. I thought it's something they'll give anytime you want it? According to the midwife at the antenatal class anyway. She said pethidine isn't given after 6/7cms though.

I managed with gas & air first time but I had an epidural 2nd time. I think it's good to be open minded about all your options. Also if you leave it too late to decide to have an epidural there's a good chance you won't get one! First time I asked when I was at the stage we all get to where we think we can't do it. But it was too late. Second time I made it quite clear I wanted one in place ready for when I needed it 😂 & yes a catheter is bloody awful. But you can get it taken out pretty quick as long as all is well.

It's surprising how well people cope in labour @ttcrainbowbaby, xx

@ttcrainbowbaby Maybe ask your midwife about it hun :) to be honest Id never really heard about it either until I.got one :) Was used because I needed a forcep delivery and if that didnt work a.csection xx

@unimummy 🙈 I hope my labour goes that quick that I don't have time to think.

Re water birth... I feel like it should be slightly more relaxing that the other ways. But what do I know. Lol.

@winterbaby95 I can only hope I has as good and experience as you. Ideally I'd like to go the entire way without anyhing but gas and air but have so many friends and family saying I'll be screaming for the epidural by the end. Never heard of the spinal block. Wasn't mention during my birthing session or antenatal classes.

I'm not allowed a water birth either because I'm high risk for hemoraging. I tried a water birth with my son and I didn't like the feeling of it I didn't feel in control but I no people that have had one and loved it @ttcrainbowbaby, xx

I surprised myself im a wimp for pain ! I think everything happened so fast I didn't have time to think about it hurting @ttcrainbowbaby, xx

I had gas and air from 8cms and pushed on nothing for an hour :) I can honestly say thats all I needed and thats all I wanted :) Labour was a great experience for me....not painful as people say. I had a back to back labour...and had pressure/tightening which was uncomfortable but not painful :) What I found painful was a.stretch and sweep which made me.cry like baby lol! But everyone is different. I would suggest being open minded about it...and also seeing what its like when you are in labour...because every experiences labour differently :) Ive see women say they'll have this and that...when it comes to it...they do it on nothing or gas and air. For me I had to have a spinal block which is similar to the epidural due to complications :) which I was not happy about...but happy I delievered my daughter safely :) As for the catheter...Its a weird feeling having it in down there and was glad to have it out :) but it wasnt really a problem :) as for the spinal.block...I experience back problems for a few months...even now I get spasms through my back...but again its fine xx

@shannonn95 I would have loved a water birth. According to my midwife it's the second most effective form of pain relief in labour after the epidural. Sadly I'm high risk and the doctor has said it's not an option for me 😔

@unimummy wow! No pain relief? Good on you. I have a feeling that I won't be able to handle the pain though.🙈 Chances are I will see how things go and decide in the moment.

I had gas and air and the birthing pool, really helped with the contractions up until pushing, I didn't want to have any other pain relief I just wanted everything done with as quick as I could, don't know if they use a different catheter to the one I had but I had to have one inserted as I couldn't go at all so it was creating more pressure and that didn't hurt you're more distracted by what's going on lol xx

I think the key to it is .. see how you go ,, with my son I didn't have any pain relief and to be honest I'm not even just saying this it didn't hurt that much because it was over so fast . This time I've had a horrible pregnancy so chances are I will go for gas n air because as soon as you stop using it you feel normal again it's like an instant pain relief it doesn't take the pain away id say it more distracts you away from the pain (I've had it in the past over a back injury ) pethidine is good aslong as they don't give it you too late on into your labour as you tend to then still feel numb and a bit whoozy afterwards . I'm a bit sceptical over the epidural because I no a few people that now suffer with their back after having one . And I've heard it can make it harder to push because your numb from the waist down xx