Labor techniques

[Cian'sMama]

Hi Mamas,

I am interested in finding out what strategies you used to get through labor. I am 30 weeks pregnant with my third child and will be having a vba2c. We have a doula whom we feel very comfortable with and I plan to labor at home as long as possible. I have read several great books on birthing and feel much more informed and confident in my abilitiy to not only get through labor, but to take the journey of birth for all that it is.

My last two labors were long and slow. First time my baby was posterior and I had terrible back labor. At the time, we had no idea what back labor was and no strategies for dealing with it. No one at the hospital gave us any help at all and we were clueless. I stalled at 4cm and the OB told us he recommended a cesarean due to FTP; we didn't even question him. Since things were going so badly we assumed something just wasn't going right. Second labor was a vbac attempt and again I never got past 4cm. OB encouraged us to get baby out before something went wrong and we conceded that at least we had tried. I know now that we really were just very unprepared for the rigors of labor. My husband froze and was semi-panicked through both labors. He really wants to be more prepared with actual things to do this time to help me through labor. I am super healthy and getting in tons of swimming. I start yoga next week. We are taking a labor prep class in a few weeks and reading and watching as much about labor as we can. However, we want to know what worked in real life for other mamas. Any suggestions? What worked for you?

Thanks!

[phathui5]

I would really recommend hiring a doula. I didn't have one with my first three births, but I had two with my fourth baby (midwifery students) and they were awesome. That's part of why I became a doula myself.

[Sudonk]

Hypnobabies hypnosis for childbirth worked wonders for me. My husband loved it, because he was given very simple but highly effective techniques he could use to help me stay completely comfortable during my births. The fact that I stayed calm and interactive the whole time made it especially easy for him, because I was able to easily tell him what I'd like him to do. And he loved that he never had to see me in pain, even though the births were unmedicated.

I didn't need it, because I was lucky to give birth vaginally (despite complications that usually lead to a c-section, so I know I was very lucky!) but Hypnobabies has a CD set specifically for women preparing for a VBAC, which you may find helpful.

[Veritaserum]

I also used Hypnobabies Childbirth Hypnosis. It allowed me to stay calm, focused, and rested despite one birth with complications and two that were long. Out of the four births using hypnosis, three of them (the not complicated ones) were really comfortable and easy (despite two of them being long). I easily combined my Hypnobabies tools with walking, sitting on my birth ball, massage, shower, tub, vocalization, etc.

[Kelly1101]

I'm a huge huge huge fan of lamaze. It got me through a pitocin labor with a posterior baby, and worked great for me. I liked it because it is more "active" than passive, I felt like I was actively working and helping the baby come out.

You're already doing good by having gotten a doula, that should help big-time!

Good luck!

[kltroy]

I agree it sounds like a doula would be helpful to you. If your husband seems hesitant, give him this analogy: you need to be physically fit and experienced to climb Mt. Everest. But even the most experienced, prepared folks still want a Sherpa by their side. A doula is not to replace him, but someone who has been there/done that and knows the path that you must follow.

Aside from that, I found that The Birth Partner, by Penny Simkin was very helpful in helping me identify some techniques that would potentially work for me to cope with labor. IMHO, what you need isn't necessarily a method or a program, but a toolbox. You can't guarantee that any particular tool will work in your box at any particular time, so having a good variety is helpful. For example, for my labor, I did do all of the hypnobabies preparation. I ended up not using it because my mom was by my side, and she did some guided imagery for me that was working well. At some point during my labor I stopped paying attention to what she said and isntead began counting my breaths during contractions. The other thing that worked for me was envisioning my baby's head pushing on my cervix, sort of like when you push on the top of a tupperware container (sounds silly now, but that is literally what it felt like to me). This helped me remember what the source of the discomfort was. And I always knew that I had the hypnobabies on my ipod to fall back on, but never ended up using them.

Anyway, aside from that I think it's good to be 100% confident that you CAN DO IT. (more difficult for a VBAC, I know -- I had one myself with my last birth). It's also helpful to not have any illusions that labor is WORK. It takes concentration and effort. The feelings are intense. You will need to pay attention and work with your body. I think it's important to have realistic expectations about labor, because it will help you realize that you don't need to cope forever, but it will be for some amount of time. I can honestly say that I never once thought "I can't do this" during my labor -- but I *did* ask "how much longer do I have to do this" a few times. Remember, you can deal with ANYTHING for a minute. And that's all a contraction lasts. 15 breaths. One minute. Then you get a break. Take it one at a time.

best of luck,
Karen

[Kelly1101]

Originally Posted by kltroy

Remember, you can deal with ANYTHING for a minute. And that's all a contraction lasts. 15 breaths. One minute. Then you get a break. Take it one at a time.

ROTFL, if you're lucky. Last time I had a 15-minute contraction. BUT then I could push and that was heaven.

[EnchantedMamma]

Yeah, don't think that every other woman who's done labor is somehow 'stronger' or better than you.

I'm sure some are, but then there's me I'm a big wuss, but I survived. It wasn't easy. I didn't exactly overcome it. I just hung in till the ride stopped

And you will survive too. But you really need a care provider who believes you'll survive too. I think that helps.

A traditional OB would have easily let me have pain meds or more. And I'm sure I would have gotten early interventions. And an episiotomy. But my midwives knew I didn't necessarily need that.

So while I wasn't sure (at the worst part) how I would make it, I also knew that I really didn't have a choice. I was through the majority of the work, I just had to bear down and tough it out.

Hydratherapy was wonderful in the beginning, but when I started to have trouble I wish I'd gone for gravity assistance earlier. The stool didn't work, but a ball or some other options would have been good to have practiced before hand.

I also enjoyed vocalization during crowning. After a few outbursts my midwife reminded me to channel it to avoid losing to much energy. That was a very useful technique to focus my last big pushes.

Yelling out is just venting, but grunting and pushing helps a LOT

YOU CAN DO IT!!