How to breathe properly during contractions and childbirth

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

Today we invite you to discuss how to breathe properly during contractions and attempts. In addition, in this article we focus on preparing for the birth process and exercises that will help get rid of pain during contractions.

Of course, the focus will be on the breathing techniques used in the process of the birth of a child. They will become indispensable assistants in this difficult task. It is very important to know that at different stages of childbirth, their own special technique is needed. For example:

1. Deep breathing during the first contractions helps to avoid panic and save energy before childbirth.
2. Frequently interrupted breathing acts as an analgesic, it will help during the period when the contractions become stronger.
3. Special attention should be paid to breathing during the pushing period, because seventy percent of the effectiveness of an attempt depends on proper breathing (take air in time, exhale in time).

This is what you can learn if you carefully read the article and follow everythingrecommendations. It is also worth doing a good workout at home before going to the hospital.

Why you need proper breathing

We will start our fascinating and useful article by finding out why proper breathing is needed at all. To understand how to breathe properly during contractions, you need to know the benefits of each type of breathing.

Absolutely all women should know how to give birth without pain. Breathing techniques will help us with this. What is correct breathing? This is a whole range of exercises that help relax the muscles and reduce pain (including during childbirth). In this matter, the pain threshold does not matter at all. All women, even during strong contractions, can control muscle relaxation.

So, the benefits of proper breathing in the birth process:

• well-being of the woman in labor;
• baby he alth;
• quick delivery;
• relaxation opportunity;
• distraction from pain;
• avoiding medication.

Get rid of fear

So, from time immemorial, mothers passed on parting words to their daughters on how to behave during childbirth. These were just two pieces of advice:

1. Listen to your body and its desires.
2. Breathe properly.

About how to breathe correctly during contractions, you should be told and shown in detail by specialists in the lessons of the school of motherhood. Best of all, the complexes of breathing exercises are mastered by vocalists. For everyone who does not belong to this area, it is important to remember that when exhaling, the stomach should be drawn in, and when inhaling -stick out. Be careful not to mix it up.

So this breath has many benefits:

• calming the nerves;
• energy saving;
• relaxation of body muscles;
• helping to push the fetus out correctly (to avoid tearing).

Frequent deep breathing promotes hyperventilation of the lungs, it helps:

• wash CO2 out of the blood;
• narrow the blood vessels of the brain;
• activate the subcortex.

As a result, panic and worries are forced out of consciousness.

It should be noted right away that in everyday life this technique should not be used, because it is necessary precisely in stressful situations (birth is also included here). If you have completed all the exercises, remember how to breathe correctly, but you have doubts, sign up for courses for pregnant women. They are practiced all over the world, they will help you with breathing and postures that will be useful in the process of childbirth.

If you are planning a pair birth, then you should worry about this in advance. Your partner must also take courses. What is it for? Pair birth is a good example of how to breathe properly. The partner will help the woman in labor to restore proper breathing, because childbirth is a stress for the body, and, as you know, at such moments everything “flies” out of your head. If you do not have a partner, then try to focus on breathing as much as possible, this will significantly reduce the pain during contractions.

Helping a baby to be born

What do they think aboutcorrect breathing experienced obstetrician-gynecologists? They claim that this not only simplifies the birth process, but also creates more comfortable conditions for the baby. After all, the baby is now under a lot of stress. You will learn how to breathe correctly during contractions and pushing very soon, and now a little parting word. If you do not feel sorry for yourself, then take pity on the crumbs. Improper breathing, holding it and screaming only exacerbate the situation. Wrong behavior of a woman during childbirth leads to a lot of consequences, such as:

• ruptures of blood vessels in a child;
• lack of oxygen;
• compression of the birth canal and so on.

The type of work on correct breathing is called Lamaze. This is due to the fact that the method of cooperation between obstetricians and expectant mothers was developed by Dr. Lamaze. This French specialist was engaged in psychoprophylaxis with women in an "interesting" position. Or rather, he taught the correct breathing technique at different stages of labor. The basis of training is muscle control during contractions. What does it give? Focusing on breathing not only reduces pain, but also gives you the opportunity to convince yourself that it is completely absent. So, the uterus can relax during contractions.

Besides this, Lamaze taught women not only proper breathing, but also responsibility. The expectant mother should be aware at the time of childbirth how hard it is for her baby. She must do everything possible to make it easier for the child. Proper breathing in this case is simply necessary, because the baby must receive enough oxygen.

Preparing for childbirth

So, now you will learn how to relieve pain, how to breathe properly during contractions and childbirth. Women start to panic when strong contractions appear and the waters break. Do not worry, listen to the advice of a doctor, focus on breathing.

After the waters have broken and you are in the delivery room, it is worth preparing your body for those very last minutes before the birth of the baby. When contractions, mom needs to take a deep breath through her nose. Breathing at all stages of labor is different. It is important to remember that with the advancement of the birth process, the rate of breathing increases. Don't be lazy to breathe.

The most common mistake women make is laziness at the first contractions. They think that the contraction is not strong, it will pass by itself, and breathing exercises can not be performed yet. This is the wrong tactic, right now the moment of muscle training is missed. Without breathing training, during strong contractions, women begin to behave a little differently (than those who started the exercises at the first contractions):

• shouting loudly;
• tense the body and so on.

And all this only increases the pain. With strong contractions, it is worth focusing on breathing as much as possible, the delay at the peak leads to the fact that breathing goes astray, and the child begins to receive an insufficient amount of oxygen.

No panic

So, how to breathe properly during contractions if mom is panicking? Experienced experts advise the following method: find a pointconcentration. It can be absolutely any thing - a pen, a watch, a button, and so on. From the very beginning of the fights, focus your attention on this subject. This will definitely help. When a strong contraction begins, focus your attention on this object, and the brain will already give the right signal to your body.

The main thing is to take a deep breath at the beginning of the fight, this will help to avoid losing control over breathing, and rhythmic breathing should be continued until it becomes easier. When the contraction has subsided, remember to breathe deeply and calmly.

Don't push until your doctor tells you to. When you have received this signal, it is worth working exclusively with the diaphragm. Do not strain your eyes or forehead, this can lead to bad consequences. Shouting during attempts shortens the birth canal, which prevents the baby from moving along them. Push your baby out with your diaphragm, exhale quickly, take a deep breath, and repeat.

Exercise

How to breathe properly during contractions and attempts? To do this, you need to perform a series of exercises. It is about them that will be discussed in this section of the article:

1. It is very important to take a comfortable position for yourself. Here everything is individual. You may find it appropriate to lie on your side or on all fours. Some prefer to lean on the wall and stretch along it (like a cat) and so on.
2. After a comfortable position is adopted, you are comfortable in it - take a deep breath. We remind you once again that in this case the stomach shouldpush out, not pull in. Next, exhale, while the stomach returns to its original position. This exercise should be done ten times. It is necessary in order not to lose control over breathing and relax.
3. It is very important to start such training (diaphragms) even before the trip to the hospital. Then the pain-relieving effect will be many times more powerful.
4. As the moment of baby's arrival gets closer, the contractions become more powerful and frequent - breathe faster. You can use the same technique. Do not be distracted, concentrate on breathing. Once again, we remind you that a pre-selected concentration point will help with this.
5. Attempts - the final stage of childbirth. What you need now is a trained diaphragm. If you do not scream, do not strain, but work exclusively with the diaphragm, then this will help the child to be born faster and avoid internal tears.

Opening the cervix

How to breathe properly during contractions and childbirth will be discussed in more detail below. Now we will talk about the most painful stage of childbirth - the opening of the cervix.

In order to reduce pain, of course, proper breathing is necessary, but there are some more tricks to help get rid of discomfort. Now briefly about them:

1. Remember, if you fell, what do you instinctively do? Of course, to rub the bruised place. The thing is that at the moment when two signals enter the brain, it perceives the last one. So it is with childbirth. When does it startfight, start rubbing the stomach and lower back. So the pain will be much less.
2. During this period, we need to relax the pelvic muscles as much as possible. Fitball will help us with this. Simple swaying on the ball will help you relax. Try to prepare in advance for childbirth, exercise on the fitball as often as possible before childbirth.

First stage of labor

The first phase has a name - latent. Now the contractions are barely perceptible, lasting only five to fifteen seconds, and the interval between them is about twenty minutes. At this moment, the cervix opens very slowly, so the expectant mother does not feel much discomfort. Now it is important to relax as much as possible and gain strength before childbirth. It will take more than one hour before the contractions begin to intensify. Now about how to breathe correctly during contractions of the latent period.

Deep breathing (abdominal) will help you now. It is used in yoga or choral singing. Don't worry, try to rest more.

Deep breathing

Now a lesson on how to breathe properly during contractions of the latent period. When the contraction begins, take a deep breath in through your nose and slowly exhale through your mouth. Remember that this is abdominal breathing. The abdomen inflates when inhaling, and when exhaling it retracts.

Breathe properly will help you count to yourself. If contraction lasts five seconds:

• 1-2 - inhale.
• 3-4-5 - exhale.

Exercise during childbirth

So, how to breathe properly during contractions and childbirth? When the neckthe uterus has opened about five centimeters, the active phase of the first stage of labor begins. At the moment, the contractions are intensifying and becoming more frequent. They can greatly disturb a woman. As a rule, at this stage, the fetal bladder breaks and amniotic fluid is poured out. This contributes to the growth of uterine contractions. Here you definitely need to know how to breathe properly during contractions.

Doctors' advice is numerous, the most popular exercises are presented in this section of the article:

1. Candle. In the active phase of the first stage of labor, contractions are quite noticeable and last twenty seconds. At this point, rapid shallow breathing will help. Imagine there is a candle in front of you and you are blowing it out. Take a deep breath in through your nose and out through your mouth. Twenty seconds of such breathing can lead to a slight dizziness, the thing is that this is how the respiratory center of the brain is oversaturated with oxygen. In response, endorphins are released, which increase the pain threshold.
2. When the previous method stops working, we move on to the big candle. With such breathing, the wings of the nose and cheeks are actively working. These are also shallow inhalations and exhalations. Inhalation should be done sharper (as if your nose is stuffed up), and exhalation - through almost closed lips, make a little effort.
3. When the cervix is fully open, and the baby is trying to overcome it, contractions can last a minute, and the interval between them also does not exceed 1 minute. The fight can be depicted as a wave. First weak, thengains momentum, then goes down. At this point, it is worth using the exercise "train". The fight begins - the "candle" exercise, as the fight grows, breathing accelerates - the transition to the "big candle", in the recession - the transition to the "candle". After that, it is worth taking a deep breath and exhaling, which helps to restore the pulse.

Second stage of labor

Now briefly about proper breathing during childbirth and contractions of the second period. Despite the fact that there is a desire to push, it is absolutely impossible to do this until the doctor approves. Why? As a result, you can get a rupture of the cervix.

How to restrain an attempt? A special breathing technique will also help us with this. As soon as you feel like pushing, you need to open your mouth and breathe shallowly. The nose is not used in this case. How does it help? During doggy breathing, you force the diaphragm to constantly rise and fall, in this case, the attempt is impossible.

When the moment has come, it is important at the very beginning of the fight to take in as much air as possible with your mouth (imagine that you are going to dive). Then hold your breath and push, tensing your abdominal muscles. When the air is over, and the contraction has not yet stopped, exhale quickly, take in air and continue to push. When the contraction has passed, exhale calmly and slowly, this will help the child gain a foothold in the position where he is now.

Now you know all about howbreathe correctly during childbirth and contractions, it remains only to sum up. More about this in the final part of the article.

Conclusions

Now we offer to summarize the article. How to breathe correctly during contractions so that childbirth is less painful and faster?

1. For weak contractions use abdominal breathing (belly rises and falls).
2. Strong contractions - shallow breathing (exercises "candle", "big candle" and "train").
3. If you feel like pushing but the doctor doesn't allow it yet, use dog breathing.