L&D nurses: Advice please!

[magn1jes]

Hello! I am a nursing student and 36 weeks pregnant. I am gearing up to have this baby, and would really appreciate some advice!!

I would really REALLY like a drug-free labor and delivery, but don't know the best way to go about it. I have read a couple of books but they all make me feel like I am going to have to "fight the system", which I DO NOT want to do (or like the idea of). What are your suggestions for achieving a natural delivery? Do you see this very often? What do you think when women want a drug-free delivery? Should I make a birth plan? I understand that most nurses will be very supportive in my decisions, but what about the physician? What if I get an unsupportive nurse? How do I best communicate my wishes? How many women say they want a natural delivery but end up getting an epidural?

Any (ANY) additional advice would be so much appreciated! Thank you!

[NurseNora, BSN, RN]

As others have said,stay upright, move around, have good supportive people around you, talk with your provider in advance. If your hospital offers a tour, take it and ask about their policies and their rate of deliveries without anesthesia. If you find your nurse is not being supportive of you, you are allowed to ask for another nurse.

We cannot do anything to you without your permission. I don't care what the doctor's orders are, I can't start an IV on you if you say "No." That would be assault. I can't keep you in bed if you insist on getting up, that would be false imprisonment. But it's not easy to have to really fight for your desires. It's easier to change to a hospital and/or doc who will work with your desires

[magn1jes]

Thank you so much for the responses! I really really appreciate them!

I will definitely consider writing a birth plan. I was kind of hesitant because, like many of you told me not to do, I didn't want it to come across as "I don't want this, I don't want that, etc." I am really pretty open and know that things most likely won't go as planned, so I also didn't want to set myself up for disappointment or seem like a hypocrite if I start begging for an epidural

Thank you all so much again. Please, keep the advice coming!

@ anurseatlast I will definitely be referring back to your post, thanks!

[sandi1743]

keep your birth plan short and to the point - do not write out long sentences - use bulletin points.

if you are looking for a drug free/holding off drugs for as long as possible put a sign on your door stating "natural labor and delivery - we will ask for pain medications if needed" to prevent being asked over and over again.

also - know that epis are not the only medications out there for pain relief, just the most common. talk to you medic about other medications that could be used before an epi is.