Labour without epidural

As a first time mother, I wanted to give birth as naturally as I could. I heard that pethidine, when given too close to the baby's delivery would enter the baby's bloodstream and leave him 'drugged'. There is a drug that would antidote it but I rather not put my child through it.

I was not comfortable with epidural either although it is said to be harmless. I just did not like the idea of a needle up my spine. I refused both methods of pain relief.

One day before my baby was due, my water bag started to leak. Immediately, I drank a jar of Brand's essence of chicken (for energy) and my husband got a cab and sent me straight to the hospital. That was around midnight.

Once at the hospital, the nurses put me on a wheel chair and I was forbidden to eat, drink or move around. Only allowed to be escorted to the toilet.

Labour started off slowly. It felt like menstrual cramps. The doctor felt the labour was going too slowly and induced me. Immediately, the pain doubled. Every now and then, the medical staff would offer me an epidural which I refused regardless of the pain level. Maybe I was cheap. Did not want to spend so much money on the procedure. I guess I was more afraid of needles than of the labour pain.

Breathing deeply alone did not help. I used the gas mask. It lessened my control over my mind. I felt a little high but the pain was still as intense as ever. I could not concentrate. I got irritated with it, but found a better use for the has mask. I screamed into it. Screaming got my mind off the pain. My husband was by my side, but everything was like a dream. The pain was all I could sense. I felt detached from the situation. Nothing but the pain. I heard myself scream as if from afar.

The pain was relentless. Labour lasted all the way until 12 noon the next day. In the last few hours, there was a change of shift. The doctor, puzzled at my screams, checked the dosage of oxytoxin given to me via the drip. He said it was too high and told them to lower the dose. The pain lessened to more manageable levels at once.

The urge to push was almost irresistible. My cervix was not sufficiently dilated so to push then would traumatize my baby, so I screamed to divert the energy away from pushing. Those few hours were the longest I've ever experienced.

Finally I was told to push. I pushed at the doctor's cue, following also the urge to push. Slowly, my baby's head was visible. 1 good hard push, his head was out of my body. 1 final good push and he was out. My darling baby.

After his vaccine, and once he was cleaned up and wrapped warmly, he was given to me. I put him to my breast. The little guy was really alert and too excited to feed properly. He'd pull away from my breast at every sound and look at who made the sound. Such a joy to hold him.

The pain of labour was quickly forgotten as I looked at me new baby.

Afternote: After seeing what I went through to give birth to our baby, my husband went out and bought me a beautiful diamond necklace.

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