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I was told to practice birth breathing only in the last couple of weeks of pregnancy, when I would be officially 'term'...and only on the toilet. What are your thoughts on this, Yogababy?
I ended up having no issues with my pelvic floor at all, before or after the birth :)
Hey Mayaness
nice to hear from you...you always ask great Q's :)...I'm always up for a curly one
birth breathing certainly will not do you any harm at any stage of your pregnancy, but most women find it easier to visualise the pelvic floor releasing for birth when they are close to term
often we are taught how to hold the pelvic floor but not how to relax it...I have even had new mums explain the reason for their C/s was due to tight pelvic floor muscles...mmm
again with pelvic floor exercises it is pretty hard to know how it work the muscle if you are unable to relax the muscle
birth breathing helps a woman to become aware of how everything is related to the pelvic floor, and also helps mentally prepare for the work of birth...and most of the time if you are aware of your pelvic floor you will have great tone
xx yogababy
That makes sense :) Actually, my horseriding probably helped me there. The whole 'riding with your seat' concept has me using and relaxing my PF every time I ride - you really get an awareness of how strong that area is when you ONLY use your PF to get a horse to slow down or stop! And of course, as you don't want to be telling the horse to slow down or stop all the time, you need to then also learn how to relax the damn area...
I still find myself using birth breathing when I find myself 'straining' on the loo when I have a limited time to do my business and DS is getting himself into trouble somewhere in the house!
LOL at birth breathing on the loo Mayaness! Have to admit I've done the same LOL.
This is a fantastic thread - but I only just found it! Where was I?? But you know what - I'm pretty impressed with myself, that I kinda knew most of it already! I can only be eternally grateful to the articles and discussions I've read here on BB.. I didnt' buy any cds or tools or books or anything! (I have recently got the Pink Kit.. but it's still in the packaging LOL). I didn't know the exact workings of the uterus, ie that the uterus itself shouldn't feel pain.. but I knew it was the cervix that was doing the 'painful' work.. and I found during labour that knowing the pain was working for me was what got me through.
TBH - I can't imagine myself looking for actual methods of pain relief. In labour I had NO desire to be massaged, nor any desire to even look at the shower or bath! I simply went into myself, breathed, and got through each contraction - knowing that my body was working, and that each contraction would end is what got me through. (Perhaps I am naturally using some kind of technique that people read up on??) The last thing I'd be wanting to do in labour is remember how to do something LOL.. I just took each contraction as it came, swayed & breathed through it. Interesting about instinctively leaning forward. Admittedly during transition I was lying down and sleeping for 30 secs between contractions thinking I was gonna die if they told me I was only half way! LOL.
You asked of people's experience. My experience of labour was.. 1st stage up to 3cm happened at home over a few days I guess. My bowels cleaned themselves out well & truly, lost my plug at the same time, and those stomach cramps became fairly regular contractions. That all died down for.. maybe 12 hrs or so? Occassional contraction here and there. It got going a bit more, then my waters broke.. and then everything stopped! (I was going to ask the same question about adrenaline & excitement actually :) ) The fact that I sat on the loo with all that gushing was like "oh wow - this is real now!" I was eventually hooked up to the drip to get things going (am going to avoid this next time - not that anythign went wrong.. would just like to avoid it!!) so my 'established' labour ended up only about 5 hrs. It was quite intense, but my breathing got me through. Chatting to DH inbetween contractions.. and watching him eat his lunch LOL. Perhaps the normalcy of DH doing these things helped me too? If he was constantly at me how he could help me, what could he do.. I would have gone nuts at him probably! But he was very calm, and just THERE for me. (Oh and he told off the midwife for me who kept offering me pain relief! LOL)
2nd stage - LOVED 2nd stage. Had no pain whatsoever.. just felt like I was pushing out a giant poo! It was such a relief to push.. and I was cracking jokes with my OB throughout - even he was impressed! hehehe.
3rd stage - I do have the injection for my own reasons, but it's interesting that you include the breastfeeding & bonding in this 'stage'.. never thought about it before, just thought about the placenta. I know this time I'll be more than confident enough to stick bub on the boob myself.. altho would love to give the breast crawl a go too :)
I'm looking forward to my next birth - curious to see how different it can be! I wonder if I experienced quite an intense birth last time.. waters already broken, so more pressure on the cervix PLUS being on the drip! Hopefully my waters will stay in tact and no drip.. and I'll get to 9/10cm without knowing! LMAO! (one can only hope hehehehe).
Think I do need to work on my breathing skills somewhat tho - I found coz I was breathing so deeply that it ended up hurting to breathe towards the end.. and that is what was exhausting me. Perhaps I need to work on my diaphragm or something?? (this is the main reason I grabbed a Pink Kit coz it has breathing stuff in it.. plus other useful info too!) Any advice on strengthening my breathing would be great :)
Oh - I have a question! Can the pain felt in labour co-relate to the afterbirth pains? If you've worked the uterus too hard during labour causing it to feel the pain when really it shouldn't, would this make it more sensitive & painful to contract after the birth? I had NO pains whatsoever with #1, but understand afterbirth pains get worse with each baby.. are there natural pain relief methods for afterbirth pains, or do we just pop the panadol?
The premise of learning the breathing, relaxation and visualisation techniques is that you practice them before the birth so that it becomes automatic - you don't have to 'remember' anything, you just go into it with a couple of simple cues that your birth partner can give you. If you're already doing it and not having a distressed birth, then it's no issue. I have a hard time relaxing normally, so I didn't want to take any chances and did my HB course, to make it sink into my brain!
Also, I had afterbirth pains for a few days, where I was taking voltaren before each BF from the uterus contracting. I had a managed 3rd stage because there was excessive bleeing and my excellent midwife (who up till then had done NO work :) ) decided she'd seen enough blood and it was time to intervene. DS was skin on skin the whole time. I'd had a great labour, so I don't think it's related to oxygen deprivation. JMO!
hmm ok.. I think I will read up a bit more on breathing. Be interesting to see if my technique fits in with the suggestions hehe. But it hurt so much during transition... right throughout my chest like my lungs had had enough! Perhpas I just need to deep breathe more before the birth to stretch em a bit! LOL. It was ok during pushing tho. Strange.
ETA: Maybe I should just get DH to stomp on my big toe to distract me from my breathing! LOL
Hey Liz
thanks so much for sharing :)
Mayaness was right in regards to the breathing, relaxation etc for birth...it is something that needs to be practised so your unconcious mind takes over, as opposed to having to think about it
I had some vague thoughts about laying on some warm sand when I was in the bath with my 2nd labor...imagining a safe body of water, feeling the warm sand, feel the gentle surges of the water etc, was all part of some of my hypnobirthing/ relaxation scripts
afterbirth pains are experienced with greater intensity with 2nd 3rd etc babies as the uterine muscle has to work a little harder to involute (get back to prebaby size), with most mum's experiencing some serious twinges with BF as this releases oxytocin which helps contract the uterus back to size...panadol is the option that works for alot of women :)
I am not really aware in any detail about natural methods to relieve involution pains...maybe someone else? Im sure there are some homeopathics that would be helpful
xxyogababy
I found the 'wave' visualisation a bit hard to do, because I kept putting myself at the crest, ready to catch a wave to surf it (it's been a good 5 years since I actually surfed last!)...not very helpful! I WILL, however, be using the gently lapping waves visual, thanks for that!
To follow on...I thought this is interesting :)
Research of Australian Womens Birth Expectations
Positive Expectations of birth
Women expect to have a normal, spontaneous vaginal delivery
Women believe birth is
A natural event
About doing it for yourself
About control and coping
About choice
About support
Is a fulfilling experience
Is simple and straight forward
Is about going with the flow
Having a healthy baby
Negative Expectations of birth
Birth is
Scary and frightening
A medical experience
Unexpected intervention
Painful, long and hard
Influences of our childbirth expectations
What we see and hear through media
Social perceptions
Family and friends
Midwives and doctors
Antenatal education
Lifestyle and age
Own beliefs, attitudes and expectations
Childbirth fear
Wellbeing of baby
Pain
Own wellbeing
Confidence in own ability
Treatment of staff
Changes to lifestyle
c/s
Social dimension of fear
fear of unknown
horror stories
fear of babys wellbeing
Personal dimension of fear
fear of pain
losing control
previous horror birth
speed of birth
A positive birth experience enforces
self confidence
dignity
allied with midwives
respected and nurtured
safe and supported
Fear for first time mothers
High fear leads to high epidural use
Antenatal classes increase fear
High fear leads to high medical intervention
I thought this was very interesting
xx yogababy:
Antenatal classes increase fear
ooh, that is interesting yogababy, why do you think that is? Seeing as I haven't been to any I have no ideas. What on earth are they doing in those classes? And what should we do? Avoid them?
it is very interesting...and it is also why I dont work much in the 'system' anymore...
I think it may have something to do with...not everyone who teaches antenatal classes like to do it...you really have to love teaching and be passionate to first get the class to be inspired and to capture their attention
also...antenatal classes can be just a whole heap of facts...that to m/w or OB's is everyday, but can frighten the pants of everyday first time parents
I have worked with some people who talk about birth as a medical experience...that frightens me :)...
I think antenatal education is about giving confidence and allowing couples to feel empowered...I could go on ;)
xx yogababy
Natalie the only class i went to was the first class of 8 and it was about.....induction, pain relief drugs and c-section procedure. Before we even talked about labour, contractions, pelvises, normal birth or non-medical coping methods we talked about prostin, pitocin, pethidine, morphine, gas-and-air and epidural and whether or not baby could stay with us in recovery (no) and if bubs would have to go straight SCBU if the pead wasn't "happy" with the birth (yes)! I didn't go to the rest of them! No wonder women are scared when the FIRST thing they are to learn is how to be drugged up so it won't hurt as much. I was having a homebirth anyway and they had zero geared towards that in my classes, it was assumed everyone would come in and birth there.
In the few days after her birth my midwife expressed surprise at how well she did (was nealry 8oz above birthweight on day 6) because she'd passed meconium during labour and in hospital the paeds immediately take those babies to SCBU and stick needles in them every 2 hours to "monitor" them. They were stunned that simple skin to skin and breastfeeding could keep her perfectly healthy despite a little meconium. I was also told that had i been in hospital i'd have been givin a section (!) because of the mec staining, which was not even evident until she was on my tummy, still pooping and peeing away. Even the MIDWIVES are scared!
Bx
oh SaraJane dont avoid them :) just find what suits you...which may mean a private educator, or only taking what you need from the classes and not being overburdened by all the negative stuff
Hey Bec :)
I would sadly agree that fear is the major factor in that sort of teaching, plus not knowing any other way (to practise obstetric nursing as opposed to midwifery)
xx yogababy
Natalie this is a fantastic thread with so much fantastic information. I've learnt so much and have loved reading it from both a personal and professional appraoch.
So, a HUGE thank you.
so far in my birth classes the midwife has explained everythign but has made it clear that mot of them prefer you to do it yourself and stay very active to help the labour naturally
which has been very uplfting
HI and WOW thanks so much for all the information....
i am have just finished printing it all off for my 2 birth partners to read so they get a better understanding.
Both have listened to my hypnobirthing (a similar one) CD and were a bit sceptical... both agreed that it was my choice and would support me, but i could see they didnt get it totally - that was until the birthing classes.
I was extremly fortunate to have a midwife who was supportive of a natural birth and although spoke about the traditional pain relief (ie peth, epis etc etc) put a negative spin on them and leaned towards the natural stuff first. I was so suprise to hear her speak of the side effects and neg effects of the drugs... it was funny to watch both of my BP's opinion change as they listened and in the car on the way home both said - there is no way we will let you have those drugs now... we get what you have been saying!!! WOOO HOOO
Thank you for all the information, i have found over the last 4 weeks my fear has diminished (due to reading +++ on fear=tension=pain and HB and listening to the CD) and i am actually looking forward to the birth.
THis is a brilliant post and i am off to recommend it to the girls in my belly buddies group!
Thanks again
thanks guys for your wonderful, positive feedback on this post...they gave me warm fuzzies :)
cheers :)
xx yogababy