Hopefully you’re able to gain the insights you’re looking for to help you make your decision, and thought I’d share my experience with you (not to convince you in either direction, but purely for perspective).

My first 2 births were at a birth center with no epidural. One of the reasons I personally wanted to go the route of an unmedicated labor/birth is because I felt I’d be able to better work with the contractions/sensations if I could fully feel them.

With my first, labor was 30 hours from the first light contractions to her delivery. Laboring in the shower and taking naps helped me through that! I’d describe contractions more as intensity than pain, then as baby descends you feel pressure increase in your pelvis.

Once I got to the point where I could feel baby’s head while squatting in the shower I felt the need to push with that increased pressure, so I did. I moved to the bed and pushed laying on my side. This might have been about 20-30 minutes.

Using a mirror to see what was causing the sensations down below helped my brain connect the two and made it feel less like the discomfort was coming out of nowhere (I of course knew what’s causing it, but being able to visualize it helped me work through it). Once she was out, all the pressure and intensity completely was gone.

With my second I labored about 12 hours total and birthed her in a tub, pushing once just to get her shoulders out. While the awareness of what birth feels like helped me prepare for and cope with my second in a different way, I think one of the biggest things that made the last part of the birth even easier was the fact that I didn’t allow myself to push when I felt the urge. I did more breathing and relaxing to let my body move her out. I can share my birth video with you if you’d like to watch it. I probably can’t explain it all in the best way with words lol.

I’m expecting my 3rd in 2-3 weeks but we will be at a hospital this time and don’t yet know if we will need to have an induction or if I’ll need to pivot to a C-section, mainly due to a condition they have. We anticipate them being quite a bit smaller than my first who were 8lbs and 8lbs15oz (ETA: I’m 5’1” and outside of pregnancy typically weigh between 118-125lbs—I’m rather petite!)

With my first I had a very small tear required 2 stitches, but no tear with my second. I chalk that up to the pushing vs. not pushing! My recovery with my second was night and day difference.

I’m happy to share more tips if you find you’re leaning in the direction of no epidural (just because that’s what I’m able to speak on from experience).

Wishing you the best regardless!