why we feel pain in labor and pain relief methods

[The[cookie]Doctor]

Woohooo!!
Can't wait!

[meow]

Did I ever come back and thank you for this thread, post-birth? I had a 17 hour drug free birth and would credit a large part of preparedness to your info in this thread Nat. Thank you and all the best with the book!!

[blue daisy]

I believe very strongly in relaxation for labor and birth and there are only benefits, but it does require practice...and me type A personality used it very effectively with Jay's labor and water birth

Research studies have shown that relaxation reduces a laboring woman?s perception of pain as it works to decrease tension and anxiety, promoting a calm and relaxed woman, therefore reducing the release of adrenaline and promoting the release of endorphins.

A relaxed woman breathes more effectively, promoting optimum oxygen levels for the uterus and baby, and reducing muscle tension.

Before you can learn to relax you must first become aware of how you breathe

Remember you need to breathe to oxygenate the uterus as it works (in labor) and also breathe to oxygenate your baby. If the breath becomes short, shallow and sharp, as it often does when we are feeling anxious or fearful, the baby is deprived of oxygen, resulting in dips in your baby?s heart rate. The uterus also suffers from a decreased blood supply, and like all muscles, the uterus will suffer as a result of decreased oxygen. The uterus will continue to rhythmically surge and retract, as it is designed to, but will do so in less than optimal conditions?resulting in discomfort as the muscle strives to do its job.

In the late stage of pregnancy, you may start to experience aches and irregular uterine tightenings (Braxton Hicks) as your uterus prepares itself for labor. Take this opportunity to visualize the tightening of the uterus, the muscle embracing your baby, and relax the body and the breath. Gentle energizing inhalation, gentle releasing exhalation.


just something I threw together

x

[blue daisy]

oh ren

thank you for your kind words, yay for you birthing your beautiful baby

[EmnM]

yes thanks Nat, any updated info would be great!


Thanks, look forward to hearing it,

Mich

[blue daisy]

I have talked about what reduces pain/discomfort/intensity etc of labor

In natural labor your oxytocin and endorpin levels increase together, meaning that as your surges increase in their intensity and frequency that your natural pain relief endorphins increases to continue to allow you to be comfortable and in control

how about what increases your pain

this is a long list if I miss any feel free to add your thoughts

being told that labor and birth will hurt
being told horrid birth stories by friends and famlilies increasing your fear
our societies perception of what birth should be
any form of medical induction
vaginal exams at any stage of labor
hastening your labor artificially with rupturing your membranes and drip
not being able to move about freely in labor and birth
a frightened and unsupported birth partner
medical care providers...midwives of doctors
medical birth

all of these things increase your fear, reducing you oxytocin and endorphin levels
and also increase your liklihood of an instrumental delivery of c/s

have i missed anything?
x

[meow]

Perhaps these things may increase your fear... in my case for example my midwife and other's horror stories didn't make me fearful.

[Smoke Jaguar]

I think she's saying they're all contributors, rather than sure-thing ingredients.
Horror-stories just made me mad cos the people telling me them knew what I was going for ('zen'!) and tried to ram them down my throat anyway, as if they were helping...not like they helped prepare me for what I wanted, or even believed I'd achieve the birth we wanted - I guess they thought it was their civic duty because of what they were regaled with when pg

[blue daisy]

Perhaps these things may increase your fear

your absolutely right ren

but anything that increases your fear increases your pain, or perception of pain

x

[meow]

Good-o... just wanted to make the distinction between will and may so that people don't become fearful of things in themselves for no reason IYKWIM

[Smoke Jaguar]

Suffice to say that there is a lot of evidence to implicate these things (I'm mainly talking about the interventions) in painful, medicalised births and their presence/incidence are statistically related to such births. I think we all agree that you are at a statistically more significant risk in these cases, not to say it happens in all cases where these conditions exist.

[meow]

I completely agree. I'm very glad I didn't have a medicalised pregnancy or birth for that reason.

[Lea79]

This is great yogababy....gives people an understanding without the complexity....good one!

[EJM]

Another thing I heard that increases pain is being asked "are you in pain?"

I am having a homebirth and we had a meeting last week (midwife, trainee doula, DH and a friend) and I told them all I want positive language only, so I hope that helps!

On the point of horror stories, I havent heard many, but the ones I hear I just think well thats your story not mine! Also most of them are what inspire me to birth at home without medical intervention.

[Curly]

I've only got about 2 weeks to go now before Number Two is due and I am wanting to avoid the epi this time...have found this enormously helpful and just wanted to bump it back up for the benefit of anyone who hasn't come across this thread yet.

[~Gee_Whizzy~]

Hi Blue Daisy

i've tried to view your the link to you website but it keeps coming up up with an error. - have you changed the name or anything?

[Beach Mama]

gill77 - Nat hasn't been around for a while, not sure why and I can't get on her site either.. Hope its up and running again soon.

This is SUCH a great thread!! So much wonderful info on here!

[Toomanytoomany]

I've really enjoyed reading this thread.

I was very young when I had my first two girls and quite uninformed. I had less than stellar birth experiences (although they were quite straightforward, really) and I was determined to do things differently six years later when I had my third.

I read every Sheila Kitsinger book I could lay my hands on and her approach, the psychosexual approach, really gelled with me. I really grooved into the whole experience and paid much, much more attention to what my body was actually doing. I learned how to welcome the sensations of contractions and listen to them as sensations, rather than calling them "pain" and feeling them as such.

Of course it gets harder to enjoy contractions the closer you are to delivery, but constantly changing positions and having strong visualisations and vocalisations designed to welcome contractions really helped. As a result, I've had three pain-relief free deliveries since then, even with my last nearly 10lb daughter, and I'm confident I can have another.