The original pain: Childbirth with or without drugs?

"Everything in the birth room stays in the birth room because everybody gets a little crazy in what they say and do around 9 to 10 centimetres. If you don't swear, you will." 

During a prenatal class at the Toronto Birthing Centre, midwife Tracey Reid takes expecting parents through the process and pain of labour. While there are ways to quell that pain, giving birth is one of the few places in our culture where people are encouraged to feel, experience and wear that pain like a badge of honour.

In hospitals however, healthcare professionals can be quick to suggest an epidural to soon-to-be mothers in pain.  

That was the experience of Stefanie Antunes when she gave birth to her first child.

The second and third times around, she wanted to experience the full intensity of giving birth.

"I wanted that 'cocktail of love hormones' in that ecstatic moment after birth. I wanted to experience what that felt like. And honestly, experiencing that for myself? Unparalled in my entire life. (I) never had a moment so intense, so unbelievably amazing and filled with love and joy."

Antunes, who is a doula (someone who coaches a person before, during, and/or after childbirth) says she prefers drug-free labour but also understands and believes those who choose the epidural route can experience that same special experience.

"I tell (my clients) to trust their instincts. There's never going be a time in somebody's life that they're more in tune with their instincts than pregnancy, birth and as a new parent."