I wouldn't say birth is painless. For most women, it would be dishonest to
say birth is painless. Most of us need support, skills and confidence in our
bodies to get through the rough spots. I definitely had the worst pain of my
life, but only intermittently for 2 or 3 hours of a 12 hour labor. There were
times when I definitely wanted to get in a van for a ride up the hill. For
me, it was easier to "let go" in the hospital. I knew that I would try to be
in charge at home. For me, relinquishing control of the process was the key.
Every woman and every birth is different.

Before my son was born, there was a study done at the University of Chicago
showing how much walking during labor sped up labor and decreased perception
of pain. The midwives at the clinic with my first baby stressed this over and
over. My son's footling breech toes broke my amniotic sac before I had the
chance to do that (hence my C-section), but I did walk a lot with my second
baby at another less woman-friendly hospital 3.5 years later.

With Hannah, one of the best things my Doula and my husband did was to drag
me out in the hall to walk and to keep me away from the people with the drugs
and needles.  I knew that walking would help me, but that I would not want to
walk when things got rough. We had arranged ahead of time that every time my
labor slowed, Amy would pull me up and take me out for more walking. I
complained, but it worked like a charm. My intuition was that walking during
labor would work for me. Different positions and tools work for different
people. In Bradley classes we talked a lot about the fact that the only
position that would be less physiologic for birthing than flat-on-your-back
would be dangling from the ceiling by your ankles. Almost any position is
better than the one most women are forced to assume in labor in this country.

Marie of WI LLLL & MOM