Decrease Pain During Birth

It’s a piece of information that can change the course of your birthing experience. But you need to practice, practice, and practice! The secret to decreasing the pain of labor is to relax. Most techniques touch on this, but don’t go far enough. Distraction itself is not enough.

When discomfort or pain begins, it is a natural response for a person to tense up. This is what you must not do. It is this tensing of the muscles that increases pain and takes your energy away - energy that you and your baby need for the labor and delivery process. It is your partner’s and labor coach’s biggest job to make you concentrate on relaxing all your muscle groups from head to toe, especially in your lower back, abdomen and thighs. All your muscles must be limp during a contraction. Try doing this, and you will be amazed at how well it works. Those who are assisting you should verbally cue you during a contraction. A sample contraction starts: “Now, take a big breath in, and relax. Relax your head, down your neck, it’s limp, your shoulders are all mush. Relax your back, your stomach, down through your pelvis. Relax your legs. Relax, you’re limp, soft, relax.”

This is essential! If you allow yourself to get tense, you place your back under strain and cause your powerful abdominal muscles to compress against your uterus causing more pain. ALL the muscles of your body becoming tense during a contraction will waste a lot of your energy. You need that energy for labor and for the baby- let your muscles melt and relaaaax…and you will be amazed that over half the pain just goes away...melt, be limp and the pain will melt too.

(An excerpt from the book, " God Bless All Babies")