Dealing with Pain During Childbirth

Childbirth is accompanied by pain, expectation of which can evoke fear and anxiety in a mother to be. If you are concerned about pain and how you'll handle it, the best way to deal with it is to be aware about it.

There are various ways of dealing with pain during childbirth. Listed below are a few!

Dependence on natural methods dates back to old civilisations. Women have been giving birth forever, without the use of pharmaceuticals in the days of the old. Often, they bore the pain sans treatment and sometimes, relied on local herbs. For example, the women of South Africa, smoked wild dagga plant or the lion's ear plant, to ‘alleviate’ their labour pains (since, the plant helped them lose consciousness). In the Middle Ages, women took herbal tinctures made of poppy, henbane, mandragora and hemp.

Today, natural childbirth mainly focuses on relaxation and comfort techniques. For example, it is believed that when a woman is nervous during labour, her body becomes tense and the uterus closes up. This prolongs the childbirth, thus making labour more painful. Engaging in relaxation techniques is sure to make your delivery more enjoyable.

Here, hypnosis can be an excellent tool to treat physical pain during childbirth as well as emotional fear and anxiety. When combined with the various relaxation exercises, it acts as a powerful tool for getting through labour. It entails visualizing yourself in a serene and calming place to distract your body from the pressure and pain of labour.

The basic theory behind relaxation is that as you focus on breathing and calm thoughts, your uterus becomes less tense and opens up. There are also visualization tapes one may listen to specifically designed for each stage of labour. A common visualization technique is to imagine a flower slowly opening. This is meant to mimic the opening of your uterus. Another common image is the pull of the ocean and the waves of your contractions. A frequent visualization practice can help focus on these images and distract and alleviate labour pain.

In order to keep in mind the various nuances of hypnosis, there are many books and classes available.

• Another simple pain reliever is warm water. Standing under the a warm water shower allowing warm water splash on your back can temporarily alleviate back pain due to labour.

• Some women even find gently sucking on small ice chips soothing.

• Application of warm compresses might also help sooth the pain.

• In some cases, rice socks may be placed on different parts of the body to relieve the tension and pain.

These are some ways of dealing with pain during childbirth.

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