natural labor management techniques

[nem]

hi! i just found out two days ago that i am pregnant!! very excited!! i am 40 y.o. and have a 14 month old daughter who was born at home in sept 2001. it was a wonderful home birth experience, i loved that we were able to have the lights low, and have music on, and there were no drugs, and that we were able to bond afterward. the entire labor was 3.5 hours from start to finish, no tearing or stitches, but the truth is really hated the pain part of it. i am already spending way too much time being fearful of the labor. from the get go i was unable to utilize any of the pain management techniques we had discussed, and i found myself resisting every contraction, which i know only added to their intensity. i have heard woman talk about surrendering into it, and would love to hear from women who used pain management techniques that felt succesful.
thank in advance
nancy

[BrandiL]

Experiment and find something that helps you to relax. And then use that something to sort of condition yourself into a relaxed state. For example, it might be music or a warm bath - if you can get yourself used to getting into a relaxed state now it will help when you are in labour. Gather lots of tools to help you as well - like a birth ball, a hot water bottle etc. You will need to have lots of options at your disposal because one thing isn't going to work the whole time you are in labour.

Read as much as you can about childbirth. A great book to help you face your fear of pain is "Birthing From Within." There are lots of techniques in there to help you face it and move past the fear.

And most importantly beleive that you can do it! You've already been through it once so you CAN do it again. Remeber the reward at the end - a beautiful baby!

[nem]

thanks for your replies, ladies. i have to say, i DID do a ton of reading with my daughter, including, birthing from within,and we set up a birthing tub, i just ended up feeling so overpowered by the contractions and my arsenal of techniques seemed pretty ineffective.
i dilated from 0-10 in 2.5 hours, and i think that contributed to the intensity, not much time to integrate things.
i will check out grant dickley-read, and also hypnobirthing. i know that worse case scenario, i can white-knuckle my way thru it again, but i'd like figure out if i can flow with things a bit more this time.
thanks
nancy

[Benny's Mom]

Hi Nem,

I can RELATE!! While I was in prodromal labor for almost two days, when my labor kicked in, I went from 2 1/2 centemeters to 10 in just 3 hours. This was the most intense experience of my life. I can also relate to my body being resistent to the contractions. I bore up under the pain of prodromal labor with the help of a doula doing acupressure and with me changing positions often to ease my back labor.

What "sped" my labor, i'll never know for sure, but I instictively feel that it was my body responding to the homeopathic remedy I took. At 2 1/2 centemeters I took a homeopathic remedy. My body was ready, I was ready and with this remedy my body relaxed, my mind floated above my body and I bore the wave of every contraction feeling pressure and intensity, sensations that were not pleasant but wouldn't qualify as pain. When I jumped out of bed, sure I couldn't stand any more of this, I ran to the shower for relief, and I actually needed to push. Two and a half hours had gone by in what seemed like the blink of an eye. My doula and my husband were sure that I had been asleep!

A fast labor is not always an easy labor and I had a little of both. It can also me shocking and a bit disorienting to think it can happen so fast. At least this time, you can prepare for that. Really, try homeopathy. It is also really interesting to learn what homeopathy is and how it works...It is actually the opposite of western "medicines" in that the most effective dose is the smallest possible amount of substance. If you have a midwife, she may suggest someone who can prepare a remedy or you can hire a doula who is trained in this as mine was. Good luck and congratulations on your pregnancy.

[hedra]

if your only concern is pain management, then I'd go for Hypnosis. It does work, and it also helps release the fears that you have about it hurting 'like that' again.

Good luck! In person classes: Hypnobirthing. On tape (can't deal with your individual issues, but also works for most women): New Way Childbirth or HypnoBabies tapes. Look them up on the Web!

[catkrazy99]

I'd second trying hypnosis. I was really really fearful when I was pregnant. After my first hypnosis session, I was actually relaxed and looking forward to going into labor. It also helped me to enjoy those last few weeks of pregnancy. I never reached the point of "just want this baby out of me." I won't say I didn't feel anything during labor, but I certainly didn't feel pain.

When I first went into labor, I panicked (I was over 2 weeks early) and I did feel pain, but as soon as I gained control over my body thru hypnosis, my feelings of pain quickly started feeling more like pressure and not pain.