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Oooh, thanks for that first-hand perspective, Natalie - I'll give it a miss, as I definitely do not subscribe to the 'given' of pain in labour and birth...and for this reason hated my second (first was non-pregnant) reading of Kaz Cooke's Up The Duff and So, You're Going To Be A Dad!
Always interesting to read other perspectives.
Blue Daisy - what word(s) would you use instead of "pain"?
:)
intense, overwhelming, opening, stretching :)
but I dont think pain and natural labor/birth ought to go together
if a woman expects to feel pain she will find it somewhere, if a woman does not expect pain in birth she will interpret the sensations with no preconceived notions of what she has been told she should feel
but in saying that labor can be painful it can hurt alot, but not for everyone all the time at any given birth
a frightened woman will feel pain, a relaxed woman will feel intensity of new muscular sensations
a woman who has medical intervetion feels pain, a woman who has no intervention experiences labor and birth at a rate and level that works for her and her baby
sorry dont mean to rant :)
I could go on all day ;)
Fiona, Natalie has a really good thread in another thread about 'pain' in labour and is in the process of having a book about it published :) There are some posters in there who can corroborate her 'story', myself included ;)
Funny you should post in here today Nat - I was doing some yoga stretches today and was thinking about you and thinking I haven't come across your posts recently!!!!! How weird!
I was also watching this book on ebay just recently and am wondering now if I should bother. I have New Active Birth but feel like I want something else as well but not sure what! :) Might have to have a search around for another option methinks! Are the yoga options in your book for birth similar sort of strategies??? if that makes sense! My brain isn't all that switched on tonight sorry!
Janet's other book, Waterbirth, is a good read, even if you don't plan on having one - just for her word on labour etc :)
Thanks Maya - not sure if I want to get a VBAC specific one or just birth based! They are excy so I might go to the local library on Wednesday and see what I can dig up and order.
Yep, I borrowed mine from the library :) If there is something you want and they don't have it, ask them to order it in for you (I mean, if one preggy woman wants it, how many others would, too?). Check the library catalogue (usually they have an online one) and maybe another library in the same group has a copy they can send to your branch.
hey Tan
big congrats for your impending :hug: number 2 baby :)
how exciting :hug:
my yoga book does work on the strategies I get on my soap box for ;) with a focus on breathe awareness and how yoga benefits
its on my webpage
I absolutely love this book. My husband and I used it for both my labours and I had active drug free vaginal births. This is also the book that I recommend to every single pregnant women at work and home. I love it. Keep reading and more importanly get your partner and support people to read it or give them a cheat sheet so they know what to do and what you want during labour. Best of luck and enjoy reading.
I also agree with Natalie. I read it and really you can't open a page in the book without seeing the word pain in bold print! I did calmbirth and found their techniques worked for me, I found it really helped me to not fear labour and to embrace the experience and the sensations, while focussing on breath and visualisation of the cervix opening and the baby moving down.
After having a very long, difficult birth with DD (she was fully posterior and I pushed her out with no intervention and no drugs), I wanted some strategies up my sleeve to help with DS as I had it in my head that he was going to be posterior too, so I borrowed Birth Skills at the recommendation of my midwife, as she has a whole chapter on posterior. I have to say, I did the stomping and it worked beautifully - I found once my contractions started I had to be on my feet but didn't want to pace through them - I ended up leaning on a windowsill and stomping. As they intensified, I focused on an object (a blue ofice chair I could see) and I then progressed to sending my breath towards the chair (the 'aah' breath that Juju talked about), but stomping through eash one. Once I needed something more, I ended up in the shower, still leaning on the rails and stomping, and breathing the pain down the plug hole. This all really helped until I got to the transistion stage, and I also went from 3cm to fully dilated in just over an hour. I didn't pay much attention to what Juju said about pushing, and I just went with what my body felt like doing (although, the first few bearing down urges I tried to ignore, because in my head there was no way I had dilated that quickly so again, I thought DS was posterior and I was tring to push at 6cm).:
So, for me, her techniques worked to get me through the first stage of labour. Although, I have to say, both of my births have been empowering - the first one was due to the confidence my mw had in me and my ability to deliver DD posteriorly (is that even a word?)
I love the book, but find some of it really repetitive! I loose my place (and my interest) frequently, and I'm struggling to find the motivation to pick it up again. But the repetition is hopefully what makes it stick in your mind on the day. I have also read Active Birth by janet balaskas - but as that was in the 2nd tri, I've forgotten much of it now.
That it - I'm hitting the couch with a cramming session! :D