Why EVERYONE Needs More Tips for Dealing with Labor Pain
No matter what your birth plan is, whether you want to try to go all natural, plan on using morphine, or plan on getting a full-on epidural, you are going to need to learn how to manage that pain.
Of course, you will need these tips if you plan on attempting an all-natural labor. (I say attempting because your birth plan can change at any time for any reason.)
I’ve had two babies and went for the epidural both times. But what a lot of people don’t realize is epidurals are not foolproof. There are a whole bunch of reasons that might not work out, even if it is what you are planning on using to manage pain from the start.
Epidurals don’t work about 10% of the time. Epidurals fail for a number of reasons:
- either the needle placement could be incorrect
- the catheter placement might not be optimal or could migrate
- it could be your personal reaction to the medication
- The pain relief might not be total (it could come and go or be one side and not the other)
Additionally, if your labor is progressing too fast or you get to the hospital too late, an epidural won’t even be an option. If that’s the case there is a rare possibility that even other pain meds might not be an option either.
So no matter what your birth plan is, you need to prepare for dealing with the pain, just in case.
Knowing Lots of Tips for Dealing with Labor Pain is Important
Labor and delivery are unpredictable. Maybe you will get lucky and everything you wrote in your birth plan will come to fruition: your labor will go smoothly and it will be one you will look back on fondly forever.
Maybe.
It’s a lot more likely that things will be crazy, chaotic, and unpredictable.
So what do you do to plan for success when unpredictability is the most predictable thing with childbirth?
You fill your arsenal with as many tools for the big day as possible. You prepare and practice and hone the skills you might need for that big day. Imagine you are training for a race. You don’t just wait until the day of the race and give it your all and hope to win
You practice and prepare, and hopefully, all that work pays off in the end.
Think of your labor that way. You are already taking a great step by being right here. Knowledge is so important. Even dads should prepare with 5 things they should know about labor.
These 13 tips for dealing with labor pain will be a huge help should you need them once baby is almost ready to appear.
You can then take your labor pain preparation a step further and practice some of the skills you learn here for weeks or months beforehand. Things like keeping all of your facial muscles relaxed, hypnobirthing, and the different labor positions.
Practice makes perfect!
Now let’s get to those 15 priceless tips for dealing with labor pain that you may not have even heard before!
13 Life-Changing Tips for Labor Pain
Relax Your Pelvic Floor
Relax Your Face
When we are in pain everything tightens up. The more pain you have, the more everything tightens. Even down to your very small muscles. Imagine being in a lot of pain, your face tightened up into a grimace, right?
There are certain parts of your body in addition to your pelvic floor that learning to control and relax can have positive effects on your entire body– your face is one of them.
You would be surprised how difficult it is to learn to fully relax your face without a lot of practice. Keeping every single face muscle relaxed during labor will help relax everything else and give you something else to focus on as well.
Relax Your Hands
Your hands are the final piece of the relaxation puzzle that you wouldn’t expect to hear. If you can keep your pelvic floor, face, and hands relaxed during a contraction, your entire body will follow.
When your hands become tight you clench your fists, which contracts all the way up your arms, into your shoulders, neck, and even head and back. Powerful!
Focusing on keeping your hands relaxed positively affects your entire upper body. When a contraction comes, shake your hands a bit to remind yourself to keep them loose if you need to.
Focus on the Space Between Your Eyebrows
Take a Good Prenatal Class
Did you know you can now take a full-fledged prenatal class at home online and relieve any fears you have? Here’s a great Online Prenatal Class from my friend Hilary @ Pulling Curls, who just happens to be a labor and delivery nurse, so she knows what she’s talking about (she gave us tip#1 on this list!).
I didn’t make time for a prenatal and when my water broke I had no idea what to do. Should I go to the hospital? Wait for contractions to start? Try and catch some of it for looking at, maybe? Yikes.
I have (since the birth of my baby = far too late) taken Hilary’s Prenatal Class and, surprise surprise, she does in fact TELL you what to do if your water breaks. She is straightforward and not scary – which is the whole reason I avoided the classes in the first place! Use the coupon code MOP10 to get 10% off her course, and get yourself properly prepared to do the baby-having thing.
Just FYI, after you take this class you will NO LONGER BE AFRAID THAT YOU MIGHT POOP WHILE PUSHING! (Seriously.)
Try a Water Birth
Did you know not only brave crunchy moms who have their babies at home can reap the benefits of laboring in warm water? The water is soothing, relaxing, and wonderful for easing the pains of labor.
You can labor in the bathtub at home before you are ready to head into the hospital. Or you can inquire if your hospital does in fact have a large bath available in any of the labor and delivery rooms. (Some will have one for laboring but not delivering).
Lastly, consider having your baby at a birth center, where you can actually deliver in the tub too if you choose. Not only does it help ease labor pain, but it also helps to reduce or eliminate tearing. Double win!
Breathe Your Baby Out
Did you know you can have a baby without ever pushing? I know that sounds absolutely wild but it’s true! Not for every baby every time, and not if you have an epidural, but it is something you definitely should practice if you are planning on or considering having a natural and unmedicated labor and delivery.
It’s a type of breathing technique used to move your baby down and out with only your breath. There are multiple names for this technique such as the expulsion breath.
Learn how to breathe your baby down instead of pushing. This decreases pain, keeps you more in control, and minimizes screaming (which tightens your body = opposite of what you want). It also helps reduce or eliminate tearing as well.
Apply Pressure
You might have heard of applying counterpressure if you have back labor. It is when your birthing partner or doula presses down on your lower back to relieve pain during your contractions.
You can use this technique but you can also apply pressure (or have your birthing partner do it) into other areas that are tight or have pain such as into your temples if you have a headache or into your shoulders if you are having trouble keeping them relaxed.
Learn Hypnobirthing
Hypnobirthing is POWERFUL stuff. If you follow hypnobirthing methods and commit to practicing it a lot before labor comes, you can have an almost pain free labor (without the epidural.)
Pick up the Hypnobirthing Book and give it a read. There are wonderful mindfulness, relaxation, and meditation techniques in it that are so powerful to use during labor.
Learn to be in total control and have a labor and delivery unlike you could otherwise if you learn Hypnobirthing.
Stay at Home Longer
If you don’t want to be stuck in a hospital bed for a long time (labor can be long, like a day or two long sometimes) hooked up to machines or if an epidural is not in your plans, stay at home longer!
There you can move around, change positions without dancing around wires, eat freely, jump into the shower or bath, really anything you want is available. Once you are in the hospital that isn’t the case.
If you aren’t ready to get heavy pain meds or an epidural yet, staying home longer is a great way to relieve pain because of the freedom you have.
RELATED: Snacks You Should Definately Pack in Your Labor Bag
Keep Moving
On that note, just keep moving. Move between contractions to keep baby moving downward faster. Switch positions every contraction or two. Whatever you do just keep moving. Even if it’s just slow swaying while deep breathing.
If you are up for it, take a walk, and keep doing what you would normally do during early labor to help minimize pain and move labor along faster too.
Even if while walking you have to stop during a contraction and breathe through it, that’s fine. Just keep moving again after.
Moving more will also help the muscles in your back, shoulders, and hips tighten up less as you are moving them between those tough moments of contractions. When you are lying in one place or position this isn’t the case.
Listen to Music
Plan ahead of time what music you want to listen to. Make a playlist or two or three and save them on your phone. Depending on your tastes you might even want to rock out during phase 1 of labor when the contractions are quite spaced out and not nearly as intense as they are after transition.
Have different types of playlists like a loud or rockin’ one, a calm one, and maybe even one with meditation music or white noise for the last phase of labor when you really need to put all your focus into remaining relaxed.
Try the “J Breath”
You might be more familiar with the old-fashioned breathing techniques like you see women do in the movies. But the breathing techniques to use during labor have a lot more than panting and pushing these days.
The J breath comes from hypnobirthing and you take a deep breath in, hold it for a moment, then use the breathing to direct your energy down and out. Using each breath to move you closer to your goal and focusing on the breathing and sensations you are experiencing as productive instead of painful. Learn how to do a J breath here.
Visualize
Instead of focusing on your contractions, focus instead on what they are doing. Focus on your cervix softening and opening and making room for your baby to enter the world. Focus on your baby moving downward.
Focus on your baby coming to meet you. Focus on your breath bringing strength, relaxation, and oxygen to every inch of your body. Focus on a calm place like the beach or camping where you can really focus on each of your senses and what each experiences while you are in that calm location.
Giving your mind something positive or something else to focus on will distract you from your pain, or at least give it meaning and minimize it.
Using These 13 Powerful Tips for Labor Pain
You can use all of these tips if you want. Practice relaxing in the tub, practice relaxing your face, and try some visualizations. If you carve out time regularly throughout your final trimester to work on preparing for labor and delivery you will be ready when the day finally arrives.
I would start with taking an online prenatal class and then check out Hypnobirthing first because it wraps a lot of these tips all together for you. From there decide what works for you and what doesn’t (we aren’t all the same) and prepare as much as you can to really reduce your labor pain. Good luck mama!