10 Steps to an Unmedicated Birth
If you’re hoping for an unmedicated birth (or a low‑intervention birth), you are not alone. And wanting that doesn’t make you “brave” or “crazy”—it just means you have a preference about how you want to experience your baby’s birth, and sis, we are here for it!
An unmedicated birth is never guaranteed, but there are lots of practical things you can do now to stack the deck in your favor. These 10 tips will help you prepare your body, your mind, and your support team for the kind of birth you’re hoping for.
1. Choose a Truly Supportive Care Provider
Your chances of an unmedicated birth go way up when your provider genuinely supports low‑intervention birth—not just “Sure, we can try that.”
Red flags:
Lots of “we’ll see…” or “we can try…” when you mention your wishes
Dismissing your questions or preferences
Heavy focus on policies instead of options
Green flags:
They genuinely want to know what you want and envision
They tell you about non-medical ways to help you cope during labor
They’re comfortable with movement, position changes, and slower labors that follow the mama and baby's lead rather than force an arbitrary timeline on the process
If your provider makes you feel small, silly, or brushed off, that’s nothing to brush off and ignore. It will be well worth the inconvenience of switching to a new provider who makes you feel safe and valued.
2. Hire a Doula
If you want an unmedicated birth, a doula is one of the best investments you can make. With my first baby, I thought nah, I'd rather spend that money on other things... but boy did I regret that. With my second baby's birth, having a doula made all the difference in the world.
Important to note: a doula does not replace a loving, supportive partner. They augment them.
Think of it this way:
Your partner knows you best.
Your doula knows birth best.
Together, they make a powerful support team.
A doula can:
Suggest positions and comfort measures during contractions
Remind you of your goals when you’re tired or overwhelmed
Pay attention to your coping and suggest adjustments
Help your partner know what to do, say, or try
Reassure your partner when they feel scared or unsure
Offer emotional support if plans need to change
Many partners actually feel more confident and less alone when a doula is present, because they have someone to quietly guide them instead of feeling like all the pressure is on them to remember everything from your birth class.
Research consistently shows that people with continuous labor support (like a doula) are more likely to have spontaneous vaginal births with fewer interventions.
3. Decide in Advance You’re Doing This (and Don’t Give Yourself an Easy “Out”)
This isn’t about being rigid or refusing help you truly need. It’s about the mindset you carry into labor.
If you go in thinking, “I’ll try, but I’ll probably end up with the epidural,” you’ve already told your brain what to do when things get intense.
Instead, try:
“I’m planning an unmedicated birth and I’m preparing for it.”
“If I need to pivot at some point, I will make that choice intentionally—not on a whim because I panicked.”
When I breastfed my babies, I didn’t set out to “see if it worked.” I assumed it would work and knew that I’d figure out how to address complications as they came. That mindset can serve you well in labor too.
Again, this is not about shaming yourself if you need medication. It’s about going in with a clear direction.
4. Reframe Labor Pain
Labor pain is intense—but it’s not the same as pain from injury or illness.
In a healthy labor, that sensation is:
Your uterus working
Your cervix opening
Your baby descending
There’s no damage being done. Your body is doing exactly what it’s designed to do.
Sometimes just remembering:
“This is powerful and purposeful, not dangerous,”
can help you ride the waves instead of fighting them.
You can also experiment with language: calling them “surges,” “waves,” or “intense sensations” instead of “pain” helps some people reframe what they’re feeling.
5. Take a Really Good Prenatal Class
If you want an unmedicated or low‑intervention birth, winging it is not a good strategy.
A solid prenatal class will help you:
Understand what’s happening in each stage of labor
Learn comfort measures, breathing, and positions
Know the pros and cons of interventions ahead of time
Communicate your wishes with your provider and nurses
This is exactly why I created my online prenatal course: to give you evidence‑based birth prep that you can take from home, at your own pace, so you’re not trying to learn everything in the heat of the moment when emotions are high.
You can learn more about my course here:
[Mother Bare's Guide to Childbirth and Beyond]
6. Read Birth‑Positive, Evidence‑Based Books
Fill your mind with stories and information that support the kind of birth you want. A few great options:
Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth – empowering birth stories + practical info
The Birth Partner – fantastic for your support person
Your Best Birth: Know All Your Options, Discover the Natural Choices, and Take Back the Birth Experience
The Circumcision Decision – if you’re expecting a boy and want to research this ahead of time
You don’t even have to read every page—skimming the parts that speak to you can still deeply influence how you think about birth.
7. Get Your Partner Involved Early
An unmedicated birth is a team sport.
Help your partner:
Understand why you want an unmedicated birth
Learn a few go‑to comfort measures (counter‑pressure, massage, position support) and let your partner practice them several times before labor begins to see what you like best
Learn what kind of words might mean the most to you (“You’re doing it,” “Thank you for doing this for our family,” etc.)
Invite them to:
Feel the baby move
Talk to the baby through your belly
Take a prenatal class with you
Read key chapters of The Birth Partner
Talk through your birth plan together
Partners usually want to help—they just need to know how.
8. Surround Yourself With Supportive Stories
If everyone around you says, “You’ll be begging for the epidural” or “Why would you put yourself through that?”—it’s going to be harder to hold onto your vision.
Seek out:
Friends or family who’ve had unmedicated or low‑intervention births
Online communities focused on physiological birth
Podcasts or birth stories that are honest but not horror‑focused
At the same time, give yourself permission to tune out:
Trauma‑dump stories that do not serve a real purpose
People who mock or belittle your goals
“You’ll see…” comments that undermine your confidence
You deserve encouragement, not sabotage.
9. Speak the Birth You Want Into Existence
As corny as it sounds, there is something powerful about picturing and speaking what you hope will happen.
Examples of phrases you can repeat:
“My baby will come at just the right time.”
“My body knows how to give birth.”
“The baby will enter the world surrounded by love and peace.”
“Each surge brings my baby closer to my arms.”
You can:
Write these phrases on notecards and put them around your home
Read and speak them aloud before bed every night and when you wake up
Have your partner read them to you in late pregnancy and even in labor
You’re training your brain to believe and see the reality you hope to create, and that is powerful.
10. Move (Gravity Is Your Friend)
One of the best things you can do to support an unmedicated birth is to keep your body moving during labor.
When you’re upright and changing positions:
Gravity helps your baby move down
Your pelvis can open and adjust
Contractions are often more effective (even if they feel more intense)
Lying flat on your back for long stretches can:
Make contractions feel sharper and harder to cope with
Slow labor down or make it harder for baby to rotate into a good position
If you’re free to move, try:
Walking the halls between contractions
Rocking or bouncing gently on a birth ball
Swaying with your partner, leaning over the bed or a counter
Hands‑and‑knees, side‑lying, lunges, or supported squats (with guidance)
Even if you’re limited by IV cords or continuous monitoring, you’re usually not stuck on your back. You can:
Get on your hands and knees in the bed
Rock forward and back on hands and knees next to the bed
Sit upright and lean forward over the tray table or birth ball
Shift from side to side frequently
If you do end up laying down an unable to walk, at least get assistance switching from side to side and propping lots of pillows between your legs. Any movement and variety is better than none! Small, frequent position changes can make a big difference in how labor progresses—and in how manageable it feels without medication.
Final Thoughts
If your unmedicated birth does not go according to plan and do end up utilizing pain meds, this does not mean your unmedicated birth failed. Your worth as a parent is not measured by how much pain you tolerate.
But if an unmedicated or low‑intervention birth is something you deeply want, your best bet is to take preparation for that seriously. With the right team, education, mindset, and movement, you can walk into labor feeling informed and as ready as possible for whatever your baby’s birth brings.
If you’d like structured, step‑by‑step preparation for labor, birth, postpartum, and newborn care, you can check out my online prenatal class here:
[Learn from home at your own pace.]
Take care and mother bare,
Hayley
