To answer your questions in Wyatt's birth story, DH and I did take a natural childbirth course and I also read a book on hypnobirthing. I think the classes helped more than the book since we practiced tons of laboring positions at each class so I could find out what positions I liked and which ones I didn't. In the end, with my back labor pretty much every position I was comfortable with did not help relieve any of pain during my contractions. The one thing that I think helped me get through each contraction was something our childbirth instructor told us about labor...that it was pain with a purpose. Pretty much every contraction I repeated to myself that it was pain with a purpose and I focused on the end result of getting to see my baby. I really don't think that I could have done med-free without the class but I am sure that there are tons of ladies who could.
If you are interested, I can send you my hypnobirthing book if you are interested in it. Here's the link to the book: http://tinyurl.com/3j3pcdm
Re: **jacmdb**
I took the natural childbirth classes with Vicki Langston. She is actually that Aunt of one of our friends that we hunt with. She is also a lactation consultant at Best Beginnings and was a L&D nurse at TMH before starting her childbirth class business. I can send you her phone number if you want it, just let me know!