Should I try for a natural birth?
The first questions you may ask yourself when you are deciding whether you want a natural birth or not, is likely to be,
Can I handle the pain?
Another question is, Is the baby positioned so he/she will fit? Or, simply, Will the baby fit?
(You may be wondering, how can an entire baby fit out that little hole, and what will it do to me?)
The answer to whether you can handle childbirth pain and whether the baby will fit is often the same, single answer. A well-positioned baby leads to a do-able labor and almost always fits the mother’s pelvis.
What fetal position is good? Facing the mother’s right hip (left occiput transverse, or left occiput lateral) or her back (occiput anterior).
A baby whose chin is tucked before labor will be able to rotate into a good position during labor, if they aren’t already in one.
Most posterior babies, in which the baby faces the mother’s front (and in my opinion, her left hip, too) will rotate to the anterior during strong labor contractions and then be born vaginally. A few posterior babies will be born posterior, and a few will need medical interventions, like Pitocin or a cesarean, to finish the birth. By far, most babies who start labor in a posterior position will rotate and be born in the anterior position.
For some women with a posterior baby labor will be longer than with an anterior baby. There may be challenges in the labor, such as starts and stops in contractions, clusters of very strongs contractions followed by almost no contractions, and subsequent emotional disppointments due to the confusion such a labor pattern can cause in the parents AND the birth attendants.
See more on posterior labor.
Is that a reason to skip labor and have major abdominal surgery for the birth of your baby?
Here are some other questions to ask:
What do you want for your baby? How do you want your first minutes and hours of your life with your baby? If you knew your second birth would be do-able would you go for it again?
What do you want for yourself? When you look back, what do you want to have learned about yourself? Where do you want to have taken yourself, spiritually, emotionally and physically, with this birth? Is that the place you want to live in?
A doula (doo-la) is a trained woman who will listen to your answers, help you find the truth in your journey and if you want to go with a vaginal birth, or even a drug free birth, she will help you gain confidence and comfort in preparing for and going through labor. I highly recommend finding a calm doula for your upcoming birth.