Painless Childbirth...Really? How was your birth, what techniques did you use?
Have you ever heard of a painless childbirth?
Did you know that some lucky women experience an orgasm during their
delivery? Famous Midwife Ina May Gaskin took a poll and reported 21
percent of women claimed they had an orgasm with at least one of their
natural childbirths. Imagine yourself in such bliss!
The Truths Of A Painless Childbirth
Hundreds of women have a painless childbirth everyday. If this is new
news to you, don’t worry as our culture has been doing its best to
destroy the safety and beauty of normal childbirth for many
generations. Thus you may wonder if a painless childbirth really is
possible?
If you are you excited to learn and prepare for an un-medicated natural childbirth with a labor that is dignified and
empowering continue reading! Secrets for a painless natural childbirth
teaches you how listening to your body, applying abdominal breathing,
and being physically and mentally prepared ensures you a calm, quiet
and relaxed labor. According to Susan McCutcheon (Natural Childbirth
the Bradley Way), “Relaxation not only diminishes our responses to pain
but reduces and eliminates the sensation itself”.
But by far, the largest obstacle inhibiting your painless childbirth is Fear, fear
of the pain in labor and delivery, fear of possible complications, and
fear of the unknown. Fear that has been taught to you from family,
friends, your partner, doctors or midwives, books, television shows,
movies, the news, and even the Bible. So how can you re-program years
of fear and doubt?
How Can You Eliminate the Fear of Pain in Childbirth?
If you are to deliver pain-free you must prepare in advance, ideally
months in advance. Ignorance of pregnancy, labor and delivery will not
guide you through a pain-free birth in the hospital, birth center or at
home. But understanding and confidence in your magical body can replace
your inhibiting influence of fear. Learn how to prepare yourself for
the birth of your baby in a way that enables you to relax. Dr.
Dick-Read author of Childbirth Without Fear, explains without
relaxation there is tension that causes resistance and then pain,
particularly during the first stage of labor. It is a scientific fact
that a completely relaxed person cannot experience pain.
Knowledge and confidence are two of the major roles in eliminating fear of
childbirth as Dr. Dick-Read states, pain can be eliminated in over 90
percent of laboring women by substituting understanding for fear, but
other contributing factors include proper breathing, exercise, choosing
your right care-taker, educating your partner, and eliminating any
influences that can drag you back to the “fear zone”.
So What Makes Labor Painless?
If there were only one answer it would be eliminating fear and
substituting knowledge, but there are many other contributing factors
that greatly ease your labor and delivery. In Natural Childbirth the
Bradley Way, Susan McCutheon states “In order to insure relaxation, the
laboring woman should use abdominal breathing” and Janet Balaskas,
author of Active birth adds if during labor you feel tense, anxious, or
fearful, you can use deep breathing to calm and center yourself. Deep
abdominal breathing is a proven method to relax the body that breaks
the fear-tension-pain relationship.
According to Dr. Clapp author of Exercising Through Your Pregnancy, women who exercised during their
pregnancy had a 35 percent decrease in the need of pain medication and
a 75 percent decrease in maternal exhaustion. Exercising not only
increases your mind body relationship, it creates natural pain relief,
called endorphins, and it is a scientific fact the more you exercise
the more endorphins you release, and it becomes easier for your body to
release these natural pain-killers, which by the way are 200 times
stronger than any synthetic pain reliever. These endorphins are
released in labor. So would you want more endorphins or less?
Mentally an physically preparing yourself for long hours of hard work, for
powerful sensations, and an understanding of exactly what your body is
going to go through during each stage of labor will reward you with the
most empowering moment of your life. If you believe you can have a
painless birth, you are already one step ahead. As you may already
know: If you believe labor will be painful it will be and if you
believe it is an amazing natural phenomena, that only you as a woman
can do painlessly, it will be. So what do you want to believe?
My Birth Story
It was June 2nd , around 3 am I was awakened by mild contractions. This was new to
me as I never felt Braxton Hicks contractions during my pregnancy. My
intuition told me, today was the day, I was in labor. I went back to
bed, knowing I needed rest for the long day ahead of me. At 7 am I got
a call from the birth center, calling me in to coach a laboring mom and
I proudly replied, I will be there soon, but not to coach today, I too
am going to have my baby. Around 10 am I went to the birth center to be
checked, and sure enough I was in labor. I was 3 centimeter, effacing
nicely, and the baby was engaged in the pelvis.
I left the center to get some lunch and rented a few movies, knowing a first time
labor can take many hours. To my surprise, my contractions stopped as I
watched the movies. It seemed so weird at the time, but when I look
back, it is just another example of the natural course of labor,
unpredictable and uncontrollable. The baby comes when it is ready.
Eventually, James asked me, “Do you want to have your baby today, or do
you want to watch another movie?” Well we opted for the baby, so we
turned off the television and just hung out like two little love birds,
and sure enough the contractions resumed. We swayed together and rested
together for a few more hours. Around 10 p.m. I decided it was time to
go to the birth center, I could feel the changes occurring in my body,
the contractions were becoming more intense, and I could only think
about climbing into a warm tub of water.
When I arrived I was 7 centimeters (10 is complete). I climbed right into the warm water and completely relaxed for an hour. What a great
recovery period. I then decided I was ready to meet my little baby, so
I started squatting in the tub and in a way dancing with the
contractions, allowing my little baby to work his way down the birth
canal.
By 2:15 I was complete and Kaden was delivered 15 minutes later, pain-free!
Kim
Did you know that some lucky women experience an orgasm during their
delivery? Famous Midwife Ina May Gaskin took a poll and reported 21
percent of women claimed they had an orgasm with at least one of their
natural childbirths. Imagine yourself in such bliss!
The Truths Of A Painless Childbirth
Hundreds of women have a painless childbirth everyday. If this is new
news to you, don’t worry as our culture has been doing its best to
destroy the safety and beauty of normal childbirth for many
generations. Thus you may wonder if a painless childbirth really is
possible?
If you are you excited to learn and prepare for an un-medicated natural childbirth with a labor that is dignified and
empowering continue reading! Secrets for a painless natural childbirth
teaches you how listening to your body, applying abdominal breathing,
and being physically and mentally prepared ensures you a calm, quiet
and relaxed labor. According to Susan McCutcheon (Natural Childbirth
the Bradley Way), “Relaxation not only diminishes our responses to pain
but reduces and eliminates the sensation itself”.
But by far, the largest obstacle inhibiting your painless childbirth is Fear, fear
of the pain in labor and delivery, fear of possible complications, and
fear of the unknown. Fear that has been taught to you from family,
friends, your partner, doctors or midwives, books, television shows,
movies, the news, and even the Bible. So how can you re-program years
of fear and doubt?
How Can You Eliminate the Fear of Pain in Childbirth?
If you are to deliver pain-free you must prepare in advance, ideally
months in advance. Ignorance of pregnancy, labor and delivery will not
guide you through a pain-free birth in the hospital, birth center or at
home. But understanding and confidence in your magical body can replace
your inhibiting influence of fear. Learn how to prepare yourself for
the birth of your baby in a way that enables you to relax. Dr.
Dick-Read author of Childbirth Without Fear, explains without
relaxation there is tension that causes resistance and then pain,
particularly during the first stage of labor. It is a scientific fact
that a completely relaxed person cannot experience pain.
Knowledge and confidence are two of the major roles in eliminating fear of
childbirth as Dr. Dick-Read states, pain can be eliminated in over 90
percent of laboring women by substituting understanding for fear, but
other contributing factors include proper breathing, exercise, choosing
your right care-taker, educating your partner, and eliminating any
influences that can drag you back to the “fear zone”.
So What Makes Labor Painless?
If there were only one answer it would be eliminating fear and
substituting knowledge, but there are many other contributing factors
that greatly ease your labor and delivery. In Natural Childbirth the
Bradley Way, Susan McCutheon states “In order to insure relaxation, the
laboring woman should use abdominal breathing” and Janet Balaskas,
author of Active birth adds if during labor you feel tense, anxious, or
fearful, you can use deep breathing to calm and center yourself. Deep
abdominal breathing is a proven method to relax the body that breaks
the fear-tension-pain relationship.
According to Dr. Clapp author of Exercising Through Your Pregnancy, women who exercised during their
pregnancy had a 35 percent decrease in the need of pain medication and
a 75 percent decrease in maternal exhaustion. Exercising not only
increases your mind body relationship, it creates natural pain relief,
called endorphins, and it is a scientific fact the more you exercise
the more endorphins you release, and it becomes easier for your body to
release these natural pain-killers, which by the way are 200 times
stronger than any synthetic pain reliever. These endorphins are
released in labor. So would you want more endorphins or less?
Mentally an physically preparing yourself for long hours of hard work, for
powerful sensations, and an understanding of exactly what your body is
going to go through during each stage of labor will reward you with the
most empowering moment of your life. If you believe you can have a
painless birth, you are already one step ahead. As you may already
know: If you believe labor will be painful it will be and if you
believe it is an amazing natural phenomena, that only you as a woman
can do painlessly, it will be. So what do you want to believe?
My Birth Story
It was June 2nd , around 3 am I was awakened by mild contractions. This was new to
me as I never felt Braxton Hicks contractions during my pregnancy. My
intuition told me, today was the day, I was in labor. I went back to
bed, knowing I needed rest for the long day ahead of me. At 7 am I got
a call from the birth center, calling me in to coach a laboring mom and
I proudly replied, I will be there soon, but not to coach today, I too
am going to have my baby. Around 10 am I went to the birth center to be
checked, and sure enough I was in labor. I was 3 centimeter, effacing
nicely, and the baby was engaged in the pelvis.
I left the center to get some lunch and rented a few movies, knowing a first time
labor can take many hours. To my surprise, my contractions stopped as I
watched the movies. It seemed so weird at the time, but when I look
back, it is just another example of the natural course of labor,
unpredictable and uncontrollable. The baby comes when it is ready.
Eventually, James asked me, “Do you want to have your baby today, or do
you want to watch another movie?” Well we opted for the baby, so we
turned off the television and just hung out like two little love birds,
and sure enough the contractions resumed. We swayed together and rested
together for a few more hours. Around 10 p.m. I decided it was time to
go to the birth center, I could feel the changes occurring in my body,
the contractions were becoming more intense, and I could only think
about climbing into a warm tub of water.
When I arrived I was 7 centimeters (10 is complete). I climbed right into the warm water and completely relaxed for an hour. What a great
recovery period. I then decided I was ready to meet my little baby, so
I started squatting in the tub and in a way dancing with the
contractions, allowing my little baby to work his way down the birth
canal.
By 2:15 I was complete and Kaden was delivered 15 minutes later, pain-free!
Kim
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Susan McClutchey on -
Excellent story, Kim!
Painless Childbirth...Really? How was your birth, what techniques did you use?
I have had three unmedicated, completely comfortable births. They were intense at times, but quite enjoyable and totally comfortable. I'm a very analytical person, and at the time of my first birth, wasn't at all naturally "in tune" with myself or my body. I needed plenty of guidance to overcome the fear and trust my body.
With my first, I took a HypnoBirthing class, but didn't get anything of substance out of it and knew it wasn't adequate preparation for me. Luckily, I was able to find some additional materials from Hypnobabies that filled in some of the gaps in the class information and gave me some stronger techniques to use to accomplish the birth I wanted. It was challenging because although I had been reading about birth for years and thought I was well-educated, I simply didn't know nearly as much as I should have about basic childbirth techniques. But in the end, I was able to relax deeply enough to remain comfortable and let my body make slow progress. I had my unmedicated birth and did it in comfort all the way!
With my second and third births, I prepared using the Hypnobabies Home Study materials, and that was how I learned to work with my body and understand the process of birth. Using the techniques I learned from Hypnobabies, I was able to feel totally present and connected to my body and my baby in a way I didn't even know existed. I found using the Hypnobabies techniques to be like second-nature by the time I gave birth, and things went very smoothly, despite some complications that could have gotten me a c-section if I hadn't been able to remain relaxed and comfortable. I was able to trust my intuition and know what my baby and I needed every step of the way. I was smiling and chatting and moving so easily, which I never could have imagined during my first birth. One of my first thoughts after pulling my baby up to my chest was, "Really? That's it? But it was so easy!" I couldn't believe giving birth could be that wonderful.
For me, having the guidance and information from Hypnobabies allowed me to have absolutely ideal births. After years of reading this book and that book and every blog or on-line article I could find, trying to learn what I needed to know to have a safe, healthy, comfortable birth, I was so grateful to find all the information condensed into one place and explained so well. I'm sure some people have that trust and mind-body connection naturally, but I just wasn't one of them. So I'm so glad there is a way to learn that, and use it during the birth. The added bonus is that my knowledge and new-found understanding of my body has allowed me to take better care of myself and my family beyond the birth.
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Permalink Reply by Laura Lund on -
That's wonderful, Kim!
Yes, I have given birth painlessly (without medication) as well. My first birth was very painful. I had no education, no support for anything other than a very medical birth experience, and no tools other than drugs to make me more comfortable. I had an elective induction before my due date, which only made things worse.
Not surprisingly, I made different choices for my second baby's birth. Like you, I read Susan McCutcheon and Dr. Grantley Dick-Read. The concept of comfortable birth without drugs was definitely something that intrigued me! I took a HypnoBirthing class, but used a supplemental set of materials from Hypnobabies for the majority of my practicing. I had a lovely, easy, completely comfortable birth. It was amazing!
I used Hypnobabies with my later babies as well and I know that the hypnosis training, particularly the fear clearing and hypno-anesthesia techniques, was essential to my ability to experience comfortable birth without drugs. :-)
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Permalink Reply by Usha Tunnell on -
I used HypnoBirthing and had an epidural with my first. I love being able to say that my most painful birth was in a hospital with an epidural! lol That gets funny looks. I then had two wonderful out of hospital painless Hypnobabies births! Wouldn't go back into a hospital or get an epidural for a million dollars!
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Permalink Reply by Ashley on -
Thanks for sharing this! I think it's great to share these things so that women who are looking at options for birth know what can be possible. But personally, I think it's important to add that while many women can have painless childbirth, or experience little pain, it is still probably going to be hard work, and can get very intense at times.
I read several books and tons of birth stories and did research on the web about natural birth (I never really chose and stuck with one approach). Because I was so focused on what I was hearing about "painless childbirth", I don't think I was prepared for the intensity of the experience...so much more is happening than just "pain". I really did tune in with my body very early in the process and didn't experience much pain until transition, which is when I would describe it as a very painful experience. I also found the pushing contractions very painful unless I was pushing perfectly with the contractions. I definitely believe that the emotional and mental components of birth are extremely important, and I can see how some would perceive as "pressure" what I perceived as "pain".
Ultimately, I had a completely unmedicated, uncomplicated birth, for which I am very grateful. It was an incredible, beautiful experience which, 7 months later, I still think of very often, and relive in my mind. So, I guess it couldn't have been too bad!! ;)
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Permalink Reply by Usha Tunnell on
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Thank you for this, Ashley. You bring up a good point. I think women often hear pain-free and assume feeling free. This is not the case. I felt everything my body did, I just never crossed the line into pain. It was intense and magical and empowering. I felt stronger for having done it. I had the life-changing rite of passage experience I needed - just no pain.
This leads me to another point. I don't see the goal of Hypnobabies as pain-free birth. I see it as calm, in control, enjoyment of birth. Stripping the fear caused by media, stories or previous births and being able to be confident going in to your birth. That is worth all the work itself. The relaxation taught in other classes can't be better than this - so there's nothing to lose!
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