Yvonne Garber wanted her childbirth to be a natural process. She labored at home for several hours, using water, massage and varying positions, before reporting to the hospital when she was 7 centimeters dilated. She thought about pain medication only once. What came to mind was, 'Wow. Then it went away and I didn't think of it again.
People have a range of opinions about pain relief during childbirth.
Many see benefits to each approach. Women and their partners are best served when they learn their options and are able to form a philosophy of their own. Until a century ago, women were most likely to give birth at home. Medicinal pain relief was nearly nonexistent, but midwives and other experienced women used herbal remedies and other time-worn methods to try to ease laboring women's pain. Still, childbirth was dangerous business.