The pain during labour

[Julie Doula]

Hi Sirenz,

Juju Sundin writes in her book, "Juju Sundin's Birth Skills", "It's only a muscle working and it's user-friendly pain!"

I think in the throes of labour you might want to strangle her for her use of the word, "only" - but still, it's true!

Birth is so unique for each woman. Universal in some ways - so unique there's no comparison in other ways. But here's some thoughts on the pain/intensity/effort of birth.

* I thought excrutiating period cramps hurt more
* I thought pain that signals serious damage to your body hurts more
* I thought severe abdominal cramps from gastro hurt more
* It's intense, but it 'feels like' a good, warm, healthy pain - the pain of muscles working really hard, not the pain of awful damage being done.
* Put a gun to my head and force me to run for 20 minutes without stopping (yes, like they made us do at school!). I'm dying. I swear I'm dying. Extremely difficult, excrutiatingly painful - but amazingly, I'm not actually dying - I'm simply doing what my body is actually quite capable of. Under a certain amount of duress! So, it's exertion pain, not trauma pain.
* Labour's nicer than forced runs at school. Because you actually get total breaks of pain-free times in between, when you can rest, relax, and breath fresh oxygen and energy in. The only time you might not get these breaks (or not very long breaks) is if you consented to induction for any reason, or sometimes just at the very end when you are in transition
* In an environment that is warm, private, with dim lighting, gentle voices and lots of loving support, the release of your natural pain-killing endorphins is able to keep in step with the demands of labour. So in early labour when you first feel pretty strong pains, you might think, "gawd if it's this bad already, I'm never gunna stick this!" but actually as it gets stronger, your endorphins step up too, in perfect sinc with the oxytocin
* Break the fear-tension-pain cycle. My Grandmother (mum of 5) used to tell us, "two third of pain is fear". I think that's pretty true for birth. If you build your confidence in your body through knowledge and exercise, and go into birth not too fearful, then you can minimize the release of the stress hormones that make labour more painful. Deep relaxation and breath work can help you avoid tensing up, and the better you can manage that, the less painful and more manageable it is. It's the same when you run (or other exertion) - once your muscles are warmed, loose and relaxed, and you've stopped fighting the "torture" in your mind, you actually run quite well. So you can work towards starting a "confidence - relaxation - manageable pain" cycle instead.
* Juju Sundin says, "Big pain needs big moves". I like that. I found that keeping moving - rocking, swaying, walking, etc really helped me feel in control like the pain was not overwhelming.
* WATER ---- ahhhhhhhh! Dr. Michel Odent writes that "labouring women are drawn to water". For me, submerging into deep warm water was as good as an epidural. Whatever helps you stay relaxed, helps you cope.
* Gravity - I found that contractions hurt much much more when I was lying down - it forced the uterus to work up-hill. Staying upright or leaning forward was much more manageable.
* I found that walking intensified contractions. And that's where mental attitude comes into play. Labour is not actually about avoiding or controlling pain. It's about not resisting it and actually welcoming it and going with it. So, I'd walk, I'd get stronger contractions and I had a choice: "Oh no I hate this, it hurts more" - or: "Cool! Walking is as good as syntocinon! Wow check out how awesome my body works. Whew, that was a real doozy - my uterus is SO strong! At this rate it will not be long until my baby is here!" It's a major battle in your mind - but if you can persuade yourslef to actually celebrate how awesomely your body is working and admire the power, rather than fearfully dread each sensation, it can actually be quite exhilarating. It's exertion - not torture. It's something to expereince and fully enter into - not something to just endure. I think what happens in our thoughts does affect the release of our hormones - and that directly affects what happens in our physical being. So I do think there's something to what they call "the mind-body connection" - as every good sports coach knows.
* Loving support and encouragement from a fully present loved one or doula can really help you win the battle in your mind.
* Does labour pain take your breath away? Not necessarily - but your breath can be a powerful ally. Same as running, singing or dancing - practice breathing (in through nose, slower out through mouth) and it really helps with optimum performance of the working body.
* Last thought: You have the power! And may the Force be with you ....