pain positive
Filed Under Pregnancy and Birthing, Tips & Tricks | September 24, 2009
We asked the birth experts behind Dancing Star Birth for some tips on managing the intimidating pain of labour:
“It hurts. There’s a reason they call it labour – it’s hard work!”
“It can be pain-free, even orgasmic.”
“You don’t need to feel the pain. Get the epidural.”
Who to believe? It is hard to imagine the sensations of labour until we experience them firsthand. At the core is the question: “How painful is birth, really?” And just behind is the second question: “Am I strong enough?”
The answer rests in the understanding that pain in labour is different from any other kind of pain. It is pain with a purpose, serving as a guide showing us how to breathe and move. This core difference creates an opportunity for us to cultivate new resources to support us through the intensity of labour.
A Birthing From Within prenatal class offers a wide range of pain-coping resources. Breathing, non-focused awareness, vocalization, massage, positions, TENS, medications, and more. Our experience of labour is unique to us, and we each need something different to guide us through.
Here are a few practical ideas to help you cultivate a positive pain-coping mindset:
- Practice. If there are pain-coping exercises you find helpful, practice them in your daily life so they will come easily in labour.
- Talk. With friends, your mother, your care provider. Allow yourself to be open to their perspectives on pain-coping. Even if their beliefs or choices are different, they represent a wealth of experience for you to draw from.
- Research. Understand your options, including the ones you don’t think you’ll want…
- Support. Surround yourself with a positive care team, and consider doula care for valuable extra support.
You’re presented with myriad prenatal class options when you’re expecting, each with a distinct approach to pain in labour. We encourage you to find a class that supports you in cultivating a positive pain-coping mindset and the confidence that you have resources to draw on through the unknown of birth.
Dancing Star Birth offers Birthing From Within prenatal classes, Birthing Again workshops, and Birthing by Cesarean workshops. To learn more visit www.DancingStarBirth.ca or email info@dancingstarbirth.ca.
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Before I gave birth I was a maternity RN watching and helping other mum’s labor. The biggest thing I learned, and something that I will bring into my practice, is the concept of: this is going to pass. The all encompassing pain will pass. It is a moment and there will be another moment…but it will pass. That thought kept me strong during my long labor and through the endless coping through “you’re still 9.5 cm. Yep still”.