How to Prepare to Manage Pain During a Natural Childbirth
11 Things that Will Help you Manage Pain During a Natural Birth
*This is a guest post by Samantha Radford from Evidence Based Mommy. Samantha is a mom of four with a PhD in Public Health.
If you’re reading this, congratulations! I hope you’re getting excited for your baby’s entrance into the world.
But here’s the thing: For your baby to get here, you’re going to have to go through birth. While many moms are nervous about labor and delivery, it can be an empowering experience.
And there’s a lot of benefits to choosing an unmedicated birth (often called a “natural” birth, although technically, all births are natural!). Foregoing the epidural allows you to move throughout labor (super helpful when your baby is not in a good position). It helps you avoid the “cascade of interventions” that can lead to an induction or even an emergency Cesarean. Babies who were born without the use of labor medications are generally better able to latch and breastfeed soon after delivery.
But an unmedicated birth doesn’t come without work. To have a positive natural labor and delivery, you need to prepare for your labor, preferably months in advance. As a mom of four who did three unmedicated births, here’s my suggestions.
Figure Out Your “Why”
Why do you want to have an unmedicated birth? If it’s just because it seems like all the cool kids are doing it, dig deeper.
Maybe you’ve heard about the endorphin rush and increased oxytocin that comes from a natural labor. Or maybe you want to avoid any nausea and dizziness that can come after an epidural (from the blood pressure drop).
Or maybe you just want to feel like a total badass, and this is how you’re going to do it!
Whatever your reason is, hold onto it and use it to create some labor affirmations.
Do Prenatal Yoga
I cannot stress enough how much prenatal yoga helped me prepare for my third birth.
Yes, prenatal yoga helps you physically, because it stretches the muscle groups that need it (while strengthening the muscles that don’t get as much use during pregnancy). It is a wonderful gentle exercise.
But the best part of prenatal yoga is how it prepares you mentally for birth.
Yoga teaches you to be mindful of what’s going on inside your body and mind. As you hold more challenging poses, it teaches you to accept safe discomfort. It also gives you enough body awareness to help you realize if something is wrong.
Try to find a yoga teacher in your area who is certified in prenatal instruction. There are certain moves you should avoid when you’re pregnant, and these things can change as you move from one trimester to the next.
Use Birth Meditations (and Practice During Pregnancy)
My absolute favorite tip for an unmedicated labor is to use these Guided Pregnancy and Birth Meditations. It’s the easiest (and one of the most effective) prep ever: You just listen to a guided meditation at night before you go to bed during pregnancy.
Even if you fall asleep as you listen, the meditations will still help. Your subconscious will be receptive to the positive messages from these mediations, and you’ll learn to relax deeply when listening.
Then later, when you’re actually in labor, you can just listen to these meditations. Because you’ve trained yourself to relax when listening to them, you’ll be able to stay relaxed during labor.
In fact, I became so relaxed during my third labor that I actually “zoned out.” I was so well trained to relax during these meditations that I was basically asleep during some of my contractions. It was amazing.
Practice Relaxing
Stop for just a moment. Are you holding tension in your jaw? Are your eyebrows scrunched together? Do you have tension in your shoulders? Relax those spots.
All day, every day, we have a tendency to hold tension in our bodies, especially when we’re stressed (you know, like when you’re in labor). It takes a conscious effort to remember to relax the body and let go in these areas.
If you’re holding tension during birth or fighting contractions, you’ll experience much more pain than if you accept what’s happening in your body.
So start now. Every time you take a moment and notice tension in your body, let it go. You’ll appreciate the practice when labor comes.
Related: The Birth Affirmation Adult Coloring Book
Take a (Good) Childbirth Class
As they say, knowledge is power. But make sure you choose a class that will support your needs.
I’ll be honest, before my first child, I was terrified of birth. I went to my hospital’s labor and delivery class a few months before my daughter came, and it did nothing to alleviate my fears. Everything was taught in a very sterile, medical fashion, and it was very “this is what’s going to happen to you, and this is what the doctor is going to do to you.”
My husband said that as he looked around the room, he saw pregnant women in varying states of distress – some were turning gray, others had silent tears streaming down their face.
Don’t choose a class like that.
Instead, pick a class that’s empowering, one that explains what you can do to prepare and self-advocate. I highly recommend Birth it Up: The Natural Series to any mom who is interested in a natural childbirth. It teaches you everything you need to know about what to expect, pain management tips, information about pushing, what happens after birth, special circumstances, and more. It is a complete guide to giving birth naturally.
Find a Healthcare Provider who is Supportive
Different healthcare providers have different attitudes on birth. Some feel like birth is a medical event that they need to orchestrate, while others understand that birth will generally happen on its own terms if we just stand back and let the body do its thing.
With my first child, I was only 8ish hours into labor (and had an epidural for about half of that) when a nurse walked in and did a cervical check “so I could start on Pitocin.” Nothing was going wrong, it’s not like my labor had stalled out, the provider had just decided they were done waiting, I guess. It turned out that I was already completely dilated and it was time to push, but it bothers me that she wanted to do this intervention without even asking my opinion.
You’ll want to have a frank discussion with your provider. You can ask about their Cesarean rates, their episiotomy rates (I wish I had asked about that with my first child…), what makes them choose to do a C-section or induction, and if they’re okay with doing limited cervical checks.
And don’t just assume “Midwife good, OB bad.” The person who was going to induce me without leave (and who gave me an episiotomy without telling anyone) was a midwife. Each of my other deliveries were done by an OB, and they were all positive experiences. It depends on the person, not the degree.
Get a Birth Plan to your Provider by Week 36
A birth plan, while not binding, is a great way to let your doctor or midwife have a quick reference sheet on what you want. My fourth labor stalled out, so I was at the hospital for several hours with no food and no sleep and exhausted. When my doctor finally came in, he said, “I saw your birth plan says you prefer to do things naturally, so why don’t you go home and come back later?” I suspect if I hadn’t had a birth plan, he might have suggested an induction (as it turns out, I went home, had lunch and a nap, and within a few hours we flew back to the hospital barely in time to give birth there, no interventions needed).
Why do I say by Week 36? My third child came early at 37 weeks! My birth plan was never seen by my OB because it was stuck in my purse to give her at my next appointment.
I figure 36 weeks is a good time because it’s still close enough to your due date that you’ll remember your plan, but it’s not so close that you might miss giving it to your OB or midwife.
You can get a free birth plan template here!
Read Hypnobirthing by Marie Mongan
Hypnobirthing is such a helpful book. Yes, it’s a little hokey, but it totally transforms the mindset and language you have about birth.
(BTW, Hypnobirthing does come with some birth meditations, but many moms, including me, are put off by her voice. That’s why I much prefer the meditations I mentioned above).
Stay Home as Long as you Can During Labor
It’s much nicer to labor at home than it is at the hospital. You’re in your own environment, you don’t have nurses coming in every 20 minutes to check on you, and you can move around, eat, and nap without being hooked up to a bunch of monitors.
Leave for the hospital once your contractions are about 5 minutes apart and lasting for one minute for an hour. If it’s your second baby, you might want to leave a little sooner, because second babies tend to fly out.
Remember, Water is your Friend
A nice warm shower or a bath can help you relax during labor. Some birthing suites have birthing tubs, but if yours doesn’t, you can at least take a shower or bath at home.
Be Flexible
Remember, as much as you plan and prepare, it’s still possible that your birth doesn’t turn out like you’d hoped. Even if that happens, you are still an awesome warrior princess.
This is another reason I suggest meditations for your birth. Much of meditation is teaching you to accept the circumstances you can’t change. So if you’re disappointed to find out that you need a Caesarean, for example, it’s okay to be upset, but birth affirmations and meditations will help you handle the change of plans better.
If you have any other great suggestions for preparing for a natural birth, I’d love to hear them! Let me know in the comments below.
Related:
- Should you Take a Birth Course?
- Labor and Delivery – 20+ Women Share What They Wish They Would Have Known
- What to Pack in your Hospital Bag
How to Prepare to Manage Pain During Birth
DISCLOSURE: Coffee and Coos is not intended to replace the advice of a medical professional. Always consult your doctor for medical advice.
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