Natural Labor Pain Management

The decision to give birth naturally and without drugs doesnt HAVE to mean that you will have to deal with excruciating pain the entire time. Although all women are different and there is going to be some levels of pain, we can still try some things that will atleast stifle our labor pains to some degree.

Here are some tips for keeping the pain to a minimum during your pregnancy. And, as always, make sure you speak with your health care professional before trying ANY new techniques or methods during your pregnancy. (And if these techniques dont work – or you just decide to use some pain relief aids, its O.K. -you wont be the first, or the last

1. Exercise

Going through a pregnancy is definitely not easy- mentally or physically. And labor is not called LABOR because its a picnic. And if you do some simply exercises during your pregnancy, you will provide yourself with stronger muscles- and that is a great way to prepare your body for the rigors of labor.

Not to mention, you will actually build your endurance as well. Make sure you check with your OB or doctor first- some women are not permitted to do any exercises. Or we might have to find out our limits first.

Depending on whether or not you have given birth before or your prepregnancy fitness level, you will have to determine the fitness regiment that is right for you.

2. Bradley Technique

You may have heard of the Bradley technique- or method – before. Personally, I love this one. It is something that is done with both the wife AND the husband. What it does is concentrate on a medication free birth- BUT, it prepares women and their husbands for any complications that may arise.

And the preparation is something that ALL pregnant women should consider- even if they plan on using pain medications.

Along with preparation, there is a focus on nutrition and physical activities that will help the women prepare for a pregnancy and child birth without medication.

3. Simple Tips

Here is a quick list of some easy tips that by themselves , they may be somewhat helpful, but used together they should offer you a very good chance at experiencing as little pain as possible.

• Breathing - Of course you already know this. But by practicing your breathing before you go into labor will help you to get yourself ready- like practice makes perfect type of thing. What we want to do is practice slowing our breathing. A great way to to get yourself ready for the actual child birth, is to do some light activities (ONLY if permitted by doctor)- and then , immediately after you finish, try to practice your breathing technique. This way you get to try the slow breathing when you ARE ACTUALLY breathing hard already.
• Listen To Music - This one is great and it has been proven to work by doctors everywhere. By focusing on some relaxing music, with headphones, you will be able to take your mind off of the labor pains. Some women dont want to go through labor with headphones on -but I have found that alot of women that have already had their first child are more likely to be O.K. with listening to some soothing music.
• Meditation Or Visualization – Meditation or any form of deep concentration can be an outstanding way to mentally prepare yourself for what is going to happen during childbirth. What we want to do is visualize EXACTLY what is going to happen during our labor. Try to FEEL the labor contractions and the pain and all those feelings that go along with the birthing experience. Do this as often as possible – the more you do it, the more ready you will be when the actual time comes to give birth.
• Massage or Acupressure – What this will do is force your body into performing functions that make the entire process easier. By pressing various spots on your skin, your body will react and help the baby to descend quickly and in most cases, with alot less pain.

And of course there are the old stand by’s, like taking a bath or shower, or changing positions, taking a walk and many other things.

Not to mention, Distraction. By counting numbers or trying to think of something – or anything -else, you will be able to keep your mind from focusing solely on the pain.

In Closing

Although many of the methods described above require us to take action in advance, there are those methods that require us to deal with the pain at the time of labor. And its in these moments, that we must take our minds to other places.

So if all else fails, remember, our minds have a hard time being in 2 places at once;)

Make your mind think of something else, and it will have a tough time making YOU think of the pain. I hope that this information has been helpful- and good luck with your pregnancy!