Childbirth Pages



Techniques for Managing Pain

baby is a blessing Sadly, most of the "Lamaze" classes within the hospital environment seem like little more than "Intro to the Hospital Policies", and this is not what you need. A good instructor, like the nurse who taught my class (God bless her!), will give full instruction and insight into the birth process, breathing techniques, natural philosophy, and prepare you and your birth coach(es) to make informed decisions concerning hospital procedure. (That term lumps together birth position, fetal monitors, pitocin to `rev` up contractions, breaking the amniotic sac,etc.)There is so much more to know than how to breathe deeply and when to effleurage. If you cannot locate true natural childbirth instruction, there are so many books available! I recommend the purchase of a Bradley or Lamaze book, anyway. I used my copies, over and over, for reference and to practice the techniques described. Although, with the links I plan to include anyone with a printer should be set!

Labor is called that for a very good reason: it is work, sometimes quite hard work. It can require a great deal of effort and more of your inner resources than you normally utilize. Yet, like any effort you can prepare yourself to make it go as smoothly and effectively as possible. During pregnancy, a whole nine months is yours for eating healthily, exercising steadily, and mentally readying, and can result in an optimal birth experience. No, I can't promise anything ... but the possibilities are great.

I would like to make a couple brief comments on anesthetics. Many women opt for the epidural, since somehow the promise of pain relief is conveyed. The fact is that this type of anesthetic isn't delivered until far along into the transitional stage. The worst is usually over, dears. And, unfortunately, the addition of this type of pain killer can slow up the labor as well as affect the baby. If you are being induced with the administered pitocin, or have an enthusiastic response to it, you may well beg for an epidural. The artificially strong contractions can have little rest periods between and feel difficult to manage. In other words, never feel badly, especially in this circumstance to ask for pain medication. Just be forewarned that you will do better without it, if you have a naturally progressing labor. A local anesthetic serves fine, and nothing at all is as good since the perineum tends to naturally numb with the pressure of the emerging head. Research it yourself, and make your own choices.


Within the subject of the expulsion stage, a type of pain experienced as the baby is crowning is a burning sensation. I would compare this to the `burn` that exercise produces - with one major difference: you cannot just stop the effort producing it. It isn't a terrible type of pain,just a surprise if no one has mentioned it. Of course women who opt for anesthetics don't feel anything of this, so it isn't mentioned in their birth accounts. I forgot about it, myself, although the first time I felt this it is ingrained on my memory that I was so surprised,more than anything else. It is very short in duration, and warm olive oil compresses do alot to alleviate the feeling, as does perineum support.

Giving Birth: One of the Most Important Events of Life

Giving birth is a time of realization. It is a time when a woman reaches within herself for the resources and reserves of physical strength, spiritual connection,and emotional expression. As each woman and each birth are unique, the demands and results of bringing forth children have myriad forms. Your birth story will have likenesses to others, but many variations, too. It is a time to plan, and yet to be aware that any part of the plan may change at any time. I know this does not sound scientific, but event of the birth of a child is not purely science and cannot be explained solely in those terms. It is also an emotional highpoint, beginning and changing of relationship and roles. Please consider it a time of preparation, in your relationships and your environment; if you do, your experience will surprise you in its richness. I think we rush through this event of life, like everything else in a modern existence. It is not meant to be ingested like a breakfast bar, or fitted into a schedule on the fly. It is one of the serious and momentous times of our lives.

Helpful Things

  1. Recovery
  2. Great Links
  3. Motherhood Poems
  4. Maternity Clothes

Try These Good Books

Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way: Revised Edition
by Susan McCutcheon
The Complete Book of Pregnancy and Childbirth (Revised)
by Sheila Kitzinger