It's taking me a while to catch up on Lactnet, so am replying to posts dated
4/24 re: the  wonderfulness of epidurals. I have a hard time with
confrontation, but I just couldn't take it anymore when I read about the
little girl who watched a birth and amazingly, the mom was laughing and
having a great time while birthing, implication being that the intrathecal
allowed mom to be jolly bec. she wasn't having to endure pain. I'd just like
all 1000 of you to know that I had zero meds and was laughing and joking
during my labors too, excep t  for time needed to concentrate during
contractions. I tell moms that when you are in labor you are in a different
time zone, you are in a different dimension of experience, time passes in a
totally different way.
I don't think of myself as a martyr, hero, superwoman or anything like that.
Just did what I had to. I devised distraction techniques as I "went along".
One of my images (before I ever heard of "guided imagery") was Lynne Stone,
RN, Lamaze instructor, IBCLC and great friend counting out the rhythms that
she had demonstrated in a review class. She wasn't my instructor, she had
invited me as a fellow LLLL to see a new film, which I don't remember the
title of!, and I sat in on her review class. Lynne has a very peppy style and
I could see and hear her as I dealt with the contractions. I also focused on
whatever posters or sign were in the room and spelled out words during some
contractions.  With my firstborn, I felt as though I had blacked out during
crowning and had an image of an astronaut connected to the mothership by a
"lifeline", floating in slo-mo, suspended in space.  20th century images!
(back in 1977).
Last week at my prenatal WIC class, a mom asked me what natural childbirth
meant.
I talked about vaginal birth, birth by cesarean, and said that I thought all
births were natural because they all end with the birth of a baby. I would
never want a mother to feel  inadequate bec. she needed meds or surgery. But
I would also hope that mothers could find their own inner strength to avoid
meds if they arent' having surgery.
Just my .02
Pearl Shifer