Natural pain relief during labour

A real challenge:

Most of us will feel pain during labour, and for most of us this can be very intense. Being in labour will be an extreme challenge. There are some women out there who have wonderful, short and almost pain free experiences, but these are exceptions.

That’s why I’m always very honest about the intensity of labour and that it can be a real challenge.

Your responsibility:

I also believe it’s your responsibility towards yourself and your baby to prepare yourself for this. As with everything in life, if you prepare yourself and understand what is coming you will have a very different experience than when you don’t have a clue and are unprepared. It’s such a special day in your life, one you will remember forever, it is definitely worth investing in and preparing for.

Being prepared and trusting your body:

For me the 2 most important things are: being prepared and trusting your inner wisdom and your body. A Doula can help you with both.

• First she will help you prepare for labour.
• She will inform you, take worries away and make you understand what will happen during birth.
• She will also explain you and your birth-partner what you can do to make the birth process more smoothly.
• And most importantly a doula will help you find that inner strength and wisdom we all posses. Women are made to have children, it’s all about trusting yourself, your body and your baby.

Keeping the oxytocin high:

During labour lots of different hormones are working together and it’s important to make sure this train of hormones keeps going. Oxytocin and endorphins, are key in the process. So it’s important to keep these hormones high.

How can you do this?

The most important thing is that you need to feel safe. We are all animals and when it comes to giving birth, our brain is in animal modus, or so it should be. It’s all about letting go and not staying in your intellectual brain. Like an animal, if there is danger, we will create stress hormones that help us run from danger. It’s these stress hormones we need to avoid when labour start.

Once we feel safe and comfortable, labour will start at the right time. Usually in the evening or early morning when we are most relaxed.

In my next blog I will give you 6 practical tips to help you cope with the intensity of your contractions.