I pushed hard for five hours to deliver my first child, and it was the worst agony I’d ever experienced, so the concept of birth without pushing sounds heavenly! But is it possible?
Yes! In fact, it occurs quite often. How many times have you heard of births that happened at 
inconvenient times and places? For example: unplanned home-births, en route to the hospital, on a bus, etc. These women may have wanted their children to wait, but the babies came anyway. And you can bet these women weren’t pushing! It’s also amazing to note that unconscious women can give birth.
Really, we underestimate our bodies. They know what to do! Birthing is typically a natural process, but we’ve bought into the over-medicated, over-popularized horror stories and media depictions that birth is always a painful, grueling process that we must pant and push through in agony.
What if, instead, we tune into our bodies, reserve our energy, relax instead of tensing up with fear and pushing, and let the uterine surges do their job of moving the baby through the birth canal? If you get the urge to push, go ahead if you want to–but let’s not blindly follow someone’s constant order to “Push! Push!” How do they know what our body is ready for?
I’m currently expecting my second child, and I’m determined to give relaxation and deep breathing a try for a calm, gentle, and natural birth. No longer do I fear labor, now that I know I don’t HAVE to push.
The following links offer more information and insight on natural birth without pushing: