Part of my mission as a doula is to help promote empowerment in birth and counteract the message that childbirth is scary and painful. While it is true that experiencing contractions of the uterus and pushing a baby through the birth canal can be incredibly intense, hundreds of thousands of years of practice have gifted us some pretty wonderful pain relief options.
Alternative pain relief measures include:
*Breathing
*Massage
*Hydrotherapy
*Labor positions
*Movement
*Visualization
Let’s break these down a bit, shall we?
- Breathing – deep breathing during labor can reduce stress, relax the muscles, bring fresh oxygen to the uterus, allowing contractions to be more productive, and also give the laboring person something to focus on which can be a good distraction from the intensity of contractions.
- Massage – counter pressure on aching muscles or gentle relaxing massage are great ways to support a birthing person in labor. Touch releases oxytocin which can help reduce stress hormones which allows for a calmer, more relaxed birth experience.
- Hydrotherapy – immersion in warm water or resting beneath the flow of a warm shower are great stress relievers and can have significant pain relieving effects during early and active labor. Find out if your hospital or birthing center offers labor tubs. NOTE: hydrotherapy is different from a water birth, where the baby is born in the water.
- Labor positions – using different positions in labor can cause contractions to speed up or slow down, reduce pain, encourage baby to get into optimal birth position, provide relief for tired, aching muscles, and give the birthing person something purposeful to do while working with and through labor contractions.
- Movement – rhythmic motion like swaying, slow-dancing with your partner, or walking can provide relief from continuous pressure during contractions and can feel soothing and comforting.
- Visualization – when used in combination with breathing techniques, visualization can relive stress by taking the laboring person’s mind off of contractions and helping them get into a ritual or rhythm that becomes a calm, safe mental space to go to during contractions. For example, with each contraction you could visualize your cervix opening up like a flower blooming.
Pain exists in the mind as much as it is does in the body, so if we can practice these techniques during pregnancy and make it easy to flow into them in labor, they can be incredibly powerful for pain management.
“Muscles send messages to each other. Clenched fists, a tight mouth, a furrowed brow, all send signals to the birth-passage muscles, the very ones that need to be loosened. Opening up to relax these upper-body parts relaxes the lower ones.” ~William and Martha Sears
Animas Birth Doula 