Calmbirth/Hypnobirth and TENS Machine?

Hi there,

I'm wondering if any of the Calmbirth/Hypnobirth mothers out there used a TENS machine during labour. I'm intent on having a drug-free birth, and although I feel as though I can manage the pain via Calmbirth techniques, I had thought that perhaps it might be a good idea to hire a TENS machine as a contingency plan, just in case. If I find that I am having trouble during labour (I'm hoping this won't be the case), I'd prefer to resort to the TENS than gas or any other chemical form of pain relief.

I suppose I am wondering, though, if using the TENS machine sort of...interrupts the self-induced relaxation/meditative state of Calmbirth practice? I don't want any unnecessary interruptions when I am doing the relaxations and visualisations, and I am trying to decide whether this would be useful or a complete distraction if I feel I am not coping as well as I had hoped. Does anyone else have any experiences or thoughts on this?

Thank you!

I read the hypnobirthing book alot before my 2nd child and would have done the whole thing/ classes etc if I could have. I think it helped me prepare for the birth and the baby nicely. Unfortunatley the birth didnt go as planned but the things I had learnt ceratinly helped me through what did happen. I hope whatever method you chose helps you as much.

I am starting calm birth classes soon, and used a TENS last birth, but haven't done both together. BUT I just wanted to say that the TENS is a distraction as you keep having to adjust it, so Im not sure it would go that well with what you've learnt. Saying that though, it is probably worth hiring a TENS and taking it anyway, you might want a break and they are so cheap to hire and easy to use, it wouldn't matter if it didn't work out.
Good luck xo

Hi
I did the calmbirth course and practiced the techniques during my labour and homebirth. I concentrated on breathing slowly all the time and it was really helpful. My midwife brought a tens machine and i gave it a go when the contractions were getting quite intense as I wanted to put off getting in to the pool until I really needed to. I didn't find it helped with the pain at all but i suppose it was a bit of a distraction and it passed a bit of time fiddling about with it. It was easy to get back into my breathing again so that wasn't an issue. I automatically carried on 'calm' breathing anyway. A lot of people find them helpful, even though I didn't, so probably worth getting just to arm yourself with another options (and ways to bombard the senses). I floated around in a huge paddling pool of hot water for ages and it was bliss! Highly recommend that.

Oh, yes - water! I'm still so undecided...I can imagine messing about with the machine would be a bit of a distraction in terms of 'shutting off' your rational brain. I suppose the only reason I was considering it was because it was suggested to me that perhaps I might want a contingency plan for alternative forms of pain relief, just in case I find I can't handle labour. But I kind of think I want to handle it by myself, without other forms of pain relief (chemical or not)! I suppose if I hire one, I could always just have it there, in case, and have my husband be in charge of it so I don't have to think about it. Hmm...thanks so much for your thoughts on this!

I think you have to have strategies prepared for relieving pain, otherwise you might find yourself a bit desperate and panicy and more likely to succumb to chemical pain relief, if it is available. i think it is fantastic that you are being so positive about handling it yourself but it will probably hurt, at least a wee bit! and best to be prepared otherwise you get the 'fear-tension-more pain' thing.

I'm also looking at hiring a TENS machine. But from what I have been told, for it to be effective you need to start using it from very early on in your labour so that the endorphins start building at the beginning when things aren't as painful. Apparently, if you first start using it when your contractions are painful it's not effective. HTH :D

Oh what an excellent question! I was thinking the same thing!
I'm booked into a Birthing Centre and am hoping to use a combination of Calmbirth techniques and the water bath to help me thru. But I was speaking to a lady who recently had her baby at the same centre but couldn't use the bath cos her waters had broken so she used a TENS and said it was great (she wasn't using Calmbirth tho).
This got me thinking - what will I do if I can't use the bath? Has anyone else used TENS and found it useful?

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for it to be effective you need to start using it from very early on in your labour so that the endorphins start building at the beginning when things aren't as painful. Apparently, if you first start using it when your contractions are painful it's not effective. HTH :D

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Spot on, TENS is most effective if used right from the start. Unfortunately, if you begin using it later it is not only less effective but could actually be quite annoying!(Although everyone of course is different!)

What may work better for you if you want to focus on Hypnobirthing and meditation is a non-maternity TENS.
The ones designed for Labour have a button you can press to ramp up the TENS stimulation when you are having a contraction. It is foolproof to use as a Labouring woman cannot be mucking around with dials, buttons and switches;). A regular TENS machine for pain relief is a unit which has two dials to increase intensity and frequency of stimulation. If you were to use one of these in Labour, (I did) all you need to do is set it to the intensity and frequency that suits you and let it do its thing. As things progress, you will become desensitised to the stimulation so will need to turn up the intensity, and this is as simple as turning up one dial. You would not necessarily do this for each contraction, just as you needed it over time. (Or get your support person to do it). In this way, it works as a background pain relief according to the 'pain gate' theory of pain relief - basically, flood the neural pathways with stimulation of a particular frequency and the nervous system prioritises this message over your pain messages from Labour (it can only pay attention to so many messages at once!!) hence you don't 'feel as much pain. Also, as someone alluded to earlier, it also works by stimulating the section of the brain responsible for the release of pain mediating hormones... hence, more feel good hormones floating round your body.

Every little bit helps!

If you use one this way, you can really focus on Meditation and breathing and just let the TENS do its thing in the background.
What a great idea! Any efforts to set yourself up with as much 'natural' or less invasive pain relief is a brilliant approach to your birth.

I used a sports TENS for my (loooong) Labour and made it a hell of a long way without any drugs for pain relief - as a matter of fact, the only reason I went for the gas in the end was because I was soooooooo damn tired and was falling asleep on my feet between contractions causing my midwife a big fright!

There have been a few threads from people asking for info about using TENS, I will try to locate a few recent ones for you as many people have responded.

HTH and let me know if what I have said here doesn't make any sense and you want any more details.

The most recent threads are
here
here and
here.