Labor and Birth
Congratulations, you are having a baby! Now all the necessary planning begins: choosing a doctor or midwife, choosing a hospital, choosing childbirth classes, etc. As you run through the aspects of birth to consider, don’t forget labor. In 39 years of teaching Lamaze childbirth classes, one of the most common comments I hear from expectant parents is, “we want the baby, but not the labor!”
The Female Body and Labor
One very important fact for women to keep in mind is that labor is a normal and natural physiological event in the female body. Your body is designed to handle labor and birth physically, mentally, and yes, emotionally. Labor has been a part of the female experience for centuries, and now it is your turn to experience this dynamic life event.
Learn to have faith and trust in your body. Your body knows what to do, for the physiological processes are innate; now let your mind join this team. Humans are of both mind and body, a deep connection necessary to observe when giving birth.
Support and Education
Working with a support person or labor coach is extremely important. I cannot emphasize enough the value of the caring support that will help allay your natural fears and anxieties. Remember, the definition of a labor coach is a trusted person in your life. Understanding that you will not be alone throughout this process can decrease your fear and tension tremendously.
Education also helps to decrease your fears and anxieties about labor. Today many mothers and their coaches attend childbirth education classes. These classes provide you both with very necessary information concerning labor and birth. These tools include relaxation techniques, breathing techniques for the various phases of labor, positioning for labor, coaching tips, and anatomy lessons.
The classes generally include information on the choices available to you during labor. These include meditation, epidurals, and hydrotherapy for labor and/or birth. Jacuzzi birth tubs are becoming increasingly popular, for they have been found to increase relaxation and therefore decrease labor time.
Relaxation
In any labor, the key is relaxation. The body works best when mom relaxes her mind so that her body can work the way it needs. There are techniques given in prepared childbirth classes to help utilize the mind/body connection. Some people relax more effectively with external focal points, some with internal visualization.
Music is an interesting addition to your relaxation techniques. We adapt very quickly to relaxing strains of our favorite tunes. Play music often throughout your pregnancy, conditioning yourself to this relaxation technique. Then, bring your music with you to your birthing room when labor begins.
About Pain
I ask in my orientation class, “What does labor mean to you?” I often hear variations of the words “work,” “pushing long,” and invariably, “pain.” Of course there is pain, and the degree varies from person to person.
For instance, think about your background and what you were told or observed about labor when growing up. If you were told labor is tremendously painful, then you bring that belief to your labor. You must recondition your thinking and change your definition of labor to be objective, seeing labor as merely contractions that should produce changes on the cervix of the uterus.
The amount of pain you experience during labor is related to your willingness to work with your body and to accept the work at hand. Once again, you will achieve a deeper relaxation with the more faith and trust you have in your body.
Pain is your body telling you something is occurring. Pain is a sign your body is “talking” to you, telling you to investigate the source. Do not ever discount it. In some cases it could be life saving.
Choices in a normal labor and birthing situation are important to make. Through education, these decisions can become informed choices. After all, this is your body and your baby.