I’ve gotten a lot of questions lately about my birth plan, and why I plan to skip the epidural this time around even though I am planning a VBAC, so I thought I’d write about it here.

First of all, I think all momma’s should choose what is best and most comfortable for them when it comes to birth plans. Whether it be epidural or not, vaginal or csection, etc. There’s no one size fit all perfect plan. I am also not a doctor or medical professional and all of the following I have found out through planning and talking with my midwife/doula and researching. None of this is medical advice – my only advice is RESEARCH.

With that said, I am not planning for an epidural during labor and delivery of my daughter. There are a few reasons why – but to explain I need to go into what happened during labor/delivery via emergency CS with my son.

I was afraid of labor during my first pregnancy. I didn’t take a child birth class or do any research, and my only plan was to head to the hospital and get an epidural and just chill until delivery. This is one thing I advise against (dont be so scared that you don’t plan! write a brith plan! know your options!). I planned on an epidural without knowing any of the risks, or things I was giving up by getting one. After the epidural, LB’s heart rate went crazy and was up and down the entire rest of labor. I was pushing, he was crowning but stuck, and I couldn’t feel to get him pushed out. The guided pushing was exhausting and I couldn’t move off my back. After a few interventions (vacuum) and a lot of scary heart rate fluctuations it was decided he needed to be delivered immediately via CS.

So here’s what I didn’t know:

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