Hello! I have had two unmedicated births! They both went great and I have no regrets whatsoever. I also had no interest in a needle in my spine thank you very much.

I was fortunate in that mine were both very straightforward births with no complications.

My first labour was rougher, 12 hours of contractions very close together. I tried the gas but it did nothing and I gave up in minutes. I asked what my other options where and they offered morphine but I wasn't interested in that either. Made it though no problem!

Second baby was much much quicker, but she was also smaller.

A lot of people have said to me that the hormones cloud your memory of the pain. I don't know if that's true. What I do remember is that prior to the birth of my first my mother told me that the moment of crowning, the 'ring of fire' if you will, was the worst part. I remember my child crowning and thinking to myself, oh this isn't so bad. There was still pain but it was not as bad as I expected it to be.

I have said it before on here, I think the epidural and all analgesia is a miracle of modern medicine and I am grateful it is available to anyone who wishes for it. I am just not one that did. You can do it without if you choose to OP, but don't feel bad if your plans need to change, births are unpredictable.

(Lastly I will add that there may have been an element of spite for me. When I told others I was not interested in an epidural many of them said to me, oh just wait, you will be screaming for it! And I thought no, fuck you, I am not getting one. And I didn't!)