Pain management techniques?

[NaturalMindedMomma]

SO I was coming on to post this and saw July has the same thread. HAHA

If you had a med free natural labor, how did you cope with the pain?

Please indicate if you had a home or hospital birth.

The only thing I found that worked for me was rolling on the ball for hours on end in a clockwise motion. However I made no progress. I eventually transferred and got a walking epidural after 36 hours. I just don't want a repeat.

[Pernillep]

I had a hospital birth but didn't get there until I was 8 cm and by the time I made it to the room and said I wanted to get in the tub I was at 10 and told I could start pushing if I wanted. I did take a little bit of hypnobirthing but honestly didn't take much advantage of it in the moment. I hadn't practiced enough to make it natural.

At home I spent early labor on my birthball talking to my self and humming through the contractions. I remember continuing to say thing to myself as it was progressing. Things like "you can do this, mind over matter" "Relax" "let it go". Over and over again. When that wasn't working anymore I got in the shower and spent about an hour with warm water running over my body. I tried filling the tub and sitting in that but I didn't like it. I loved the shower though.
Got out, layed on the cold bathroom floor for a while. Then went to the bedroom and spent 30 min just getting through each contraction. I don't remember much about this time but know I tried to sleep and just relax. I didn't know how long I would be in labor so I figured I better get some rest.
When I started shaking uncontrollably I knew it was time to go and I got dressed and we headed to the hospital. I didn't handle the drive well but managed with lots of noises and relaxation techniques. One of the reasons I am staying home this time.

I will say I was lucky, my labor was short. It started slowly with every 30 min contractions around 1am. I slept between them and each time a contraction hit I went to the bathroom thinking I had to go . It got heavier around 5 am and by 10am we went to the hospital so total 5 hours of heavy labor at home. less than 1 at the hospital and then 3 hours of pushing.
I will also say that the fear of an epidural was more than enough for me to suck it up and deal with whatever pain. I have an unreasonable fear of needles and was determined no matter what not to get one.

[NaturalMindedMomma]

I am thankful for the wlaking epidural, it enabled me to sleep. Had I not got it, I don't know if I could have pushed or would have even progressed.

I, am however, DETERMINED this time to relax and labor and birth at home. I have a much better birth team this time and a sweet and involved fiance and a friend who is my doula.

[jshannyn519]

My first two were born at the hospital, but without drugs or any interventions (I also refused IVs with both of them). I was most comfortable rocking in the rocking chair in my birthing suite. I stuffed pillows around me so I felt all comfy and supported and I just rocked. For hours. I refused to get up for monitoring on the machine because I was so comfortable. My labors were both fairly quick (each about 5 to 6 hours from hospital admission to birth) so I didn't have all that long of a time to deal with pain. But it never really hurt that bad either.

This time around I am planning a birth center birth with midwives and they have a rocking chair, birth ball, birthing stool, big ol' tub, and pretty gardens to walk in. I work better during labor if I'm moving in some way. Sitting still or lying down make everything hurt more.

[wombatclay]

Hmmm... dd1 I watched a Law & Order marathon during early labor, walking around our living room and swaying back and forth during contractions. I arrived at the hospital at 5cm and got into the birth tub shortly after that. However, the tub was horrible! I hated it! I ended up mostly on hands and knees or standing in the tub holding onto DH or the doula. It was non-stop back labor, double peaked contractions, until my c/s after ~19 hours "stuck" at 7cm (for a grand total of ~32 hours of unmedicated labor). And honestly, I didn't find much of anything "helpful" in terms of dealing with the pain. I just kind of tried to flow with it.

With dd2 I was really worried about a repeat of the never ending back labor scenario so I paid a lot of attention to fetal positioning during the pregnancy and studied HypnoBabies. I labored at home on the birth ball and although my contractsions felt strong/regular/close togther... I was only 3cm when I got to the hospital. However, things moved really quickly (the whole thing was 12 hours from "maybe contraction?" to "baby in arms", so about 9 hours in the hospital). The HypnoBabies helped a lot at first, then I got into the shower and then the tub... and this time the tub was wonderful! I combined a sort of mantra ("just pressure, just pressure, just pressure") with the HypnoBabies relaxation ideas and felt fine. During pushing I changed positions a lot, the hospital staff were amazingly supportive (rubbing my lower back, sending me "energy", helping me with supported positions, etc), and the vibe of the birth room was really reassuring.

I'm doing HypnoBabies again this time but plan on laboring in a hotel for as long as possible (I'm at a different hospital this time and their vbac guidelines are a lot sillier than my old hospital... so I'd like to show up as close to pushing as possible). Same doula as my vbac same hypnobabies, hopefully a nice peaceful birth!

[Mamatoabunch]

Home w/ the last 7, obviously unmedicated. Water!!!!!!!!! I labor and birth in kiddie pool, would not want to manage any other way. When I feel desire I get in the pool, it really helps me to cope, especially transition.

[Mamabeakley]

Do you have a feeling for why you had such a prolonged labor with no progress, NaturalMindedMomma?

Because there're some "reasons" that are unlikely to repeat, and many that have nothing to do with how well your pain coping technique was working or not working. It sounds from your brief OP like you did have something that was working for you - but after that long, any ONE technique is unlikely to feel like enough (or BE enough).

My personal experience: what's worked for me was freedom to choose my positions, counter pressure, and singing/vocalizing. My first labor was about 22 hours total, with a lot of it back labor. I would move into a forward leaning position with each contraction, DH would push hard on my lower back, and I sang/vocalized (it got less pretty as things got more intense!). I think singing/vocalizing works for me because it's a good combination of a) something to focus on b) breath control and c) channeling all that energy. My second labor was 6.5 hours, ALL back labor (DS2 was born posterior) and I did pretty much the same things. Except at the very end, I had a cervical lip and MW suggested reclining through a few contractions to help it reduce, which sucked as far as pain-coping, but worked physiologically.

Professionally, I'm a Birthing From Within doula and mentor and a big part of what I do is help people build a pain-coping mindset. We do some specific techniques and stuff in class, and it's great if people practice and remember them in labor, but even if they don't, our goal is to help moms and their partners know a bit about what kinds of things work for them in coping with pain and intensity. We experiment with breath awareness, non-focused awareness, centering, and vocalization. We also talk about when pharmaceutical pain relief is appropriate and how to remain fully present to the birth when you're using medication. There's a book by the title Birthing From Within that goes thorugh a lot of this stuff if you're curious to learn more.

[NaturalMindedMomma]

Mamabeakly- A lot of it was a huge mental block. The last part of my pregnancy felt very negative. I had Bacterial Vaginosis 6 times which caused 6 bouts of preterm labor. I was also in a horrible marriage and my child was a result of our earlier breakup (she was not exh's and he knew this, but we got back together because he "loved" me). My ex H was also not supportive of HB. I felt very alone and while my doula and midwife and mother tried to support me, it just felt WRONG. I was angry that I was so sore the last part of my pregnancy because she was at a 0 station for 11 weeks and that I worked 10 of those weeks when I should have been on bedrest. My husband was emotionally and verbally abusive and I felt guilty and dirty eventhough he and I were not together when I concieved my daughter.

Also our home had burned down 2 years earlier and we were still in the middle of construction and a HUGE fight with the insurance company. My husband was losing his business. We moved into our house 4 weeks prior to the birth and it was totally unfinished. I could not nest or be comfortable.

I guess it was just really bad all around for me psychologically. WOW... I have never actually written all that out. NO WONDER.

[wombatclay]

There's a book by Penny Simkin called "The Labor Progress Handbook". It's a small book (though not inexpensive) and available through amazon. I really really really like this book and suggest it a lot to mamas who have had a birth that "didn't work" as expected. The book sort of walks through the whole birth process and takes a look at reasons "why" certain things may happen and things to try in each case (along with probable outcomes for each intervention).

What I especially like is that she acknowledges emotional/social/spiritual reasons for things as well as the physical ones. And her suggestions for addressing a problem/situation include focusing on those emotional/social elements as well as the strictly physical. So she covers things like anger and fear, a history of sexual abuse, cultural misunderstandings or expectations, disconnects between the mother and the birth environment, etc.

With my first birth all progress stopped at 7cm (despite those massive non-stop contractions and all our efforts) and we eventually learned that dd1 was posterior and asynclitic... her position meant she just couldn't get out vaginally. She was my first, she was big, my water broke on it's own a day before contractions began... she got well and truly wedged into my pelvis. So I focused a lot of positioning techniques to help prevent that aspect, and made sure my vbac support team were familiar with all the tricks to move a babe during the birth (included in the Labor Progress Handbook, which came to the hospital with us ).

But I also used HypnoBabies, journaling, meditative walks, and yoga to help work through the emotional concerns that came from that first birth. And I found a doula and an OB team that was very much on the same page (my OBs no longer deliver babes, but one of them trained on the Farm with Ina May and they had their own first born at the Farm... their birth story is in Ina's book.) In fact, my OBs wrote an Rx for me that included things like playing in the dirt and being very vocal/physical during the pregnancy as one means of releasing the negative energy/fears from my first birth and sort of get comfy in my body to prepare for the second birth.

I know I'm rambling, but basically... it sounds like there was a lot of negativity and unhappiness surrounding your birth experience and it's not surprising that that would have an impact on you! You might want to see if your library has the Labor Progress Handbook (or can get it through interlibrary loan) and explore different techniques for processing your birth experience as well as all the stuff that has been going on during this pregnancy! (Birthing from Within, journaling, crafting, yoga, walking, meditation, birth art, etc)

[mrsrayray]

i always have lousy back labor, so this time i'm getting a birth pool, just in case that helps. i'm also going to have my midwife show my DH how to do counter pressure or SOMETHING to my back. anything that will help, i'm trying.

contractions hurt less when i sat on the toilet by the way.

(homebirth for my last birth, and for my next one)

[Mamabeakley]

Yeah. NO WONDER! That sounds like a huge load of garbage to be dealing with in labor, NaturalMindedMomma!

I second the Labor Progress Handbook. It is excellent. Your doula or midwife also might have a copy you could borrow to read/they could bring to your labor. One thing I actually like about it is that it's written for a medical audience, so while it's primary focus is on how to use low-tech emotional & physical interventions to help labor progress, it does include likely medical approaches, too, which I find helpful because I like to know what's coming next . . . but I digress.

[mamadelbosque]

I had a hospital birth that was overall, WONDERFUL - I birthed at Dunlap Memorial Hospital in Orrville, OH, and would go back in a heartbeat if I could. But my midwife this time around (different than last, due to insurance) doesn't go there, so yeah.

Anyhow. I walked. Or I should say, we walked - DH & I, up and down the halls for HOURS (my water broke at 6:30 literally as I sat down to eat dinner - DS was born ~9am the next morning). I used a birthing ball a little, and slept/dozed a little, but mostly I walked. And walked. And walked some more. And then ~ 6ish the finally let me into the water tub (despite still only being like 4.5-5cm dialated), and I rocked back and forth in there for a couple hours, and dialated to 10cm, then got out, got checked, and chose to give birth on a table due to being too hot from being in the tub for 2 hours.. about an hour later, DS was born.

It was a wonderful birth - DS came out, they put him on my stomach, let the cord stop pulsing and then let DH cut it It was amazing. Like I said, I'd love to go back to that hospital, and have that midwife again (though she's since moved... I think to arizona?). Here's hoping Pomerene is just as nice!!

ETA: Oh and it was virtually all back labor, up until I got out of the tub (while in the tub he finally flipped over and was born normal)

[Jilian]

Birth tub. That is all. The warm water was fabulous. DS2 was born at home and I pretty much stayed in the fishy pool for the entire 5 hours that labor lasted for.

[Care Lee]

I always have really bad back labor, no matter what position the baby is in. We think it's connected to a bad car accident, but anyway, the pain doesn't stop in between contractions, it just intensifies during contractions.

I have found that I deal with pain the best through focusing on relaxing and accepting it. I just try to go with it, and think to myself that the only way out is through it. And epidural is not an option. No one is allowed to talk to me or touch me. Complete focus on accepting and relaxing into the experience.

Also, I don't really push. I let my body push with the contractions and move the baby down by itself. My babies (this is my fourth) have come out with 1-3 active pushes from me. My last baby came out with 1 push. This is a lot easier for me.

It works for me.