How to survive labor contractions?

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

With the approach of the day of childbirth, every pregnant woman is increasingly thinking about how everything will go. Thoughts of impending pain cause particular stress. It happens that girls who give birth for the first time bring themselves literally to a fainting state. Communicating with their friends and attending a antenatal clinic, they eagerly absorb the stories of experienced people about how terrible and painful childbirth is.

In fact, there are many ways to survive contractions without pain. Reviews of specialists and women who successfully coped with the situation will be very useful for primiparous young ladies.

Causes of pain

Before discussing how to survive childbirth and contractions, you should understand what causes pain. By the time of childbirth, the uterus, without exaggeration, becomes the largest internal organ. Moreover, it does not grow, but simply stretches. Thus, its sensitive surface is increased by about 400 times. Panic and literally animal fear add "pleasant" sensationswomen in labor.

Several factors that trigger pain:

• maximum ligament tension;
• pelvic muscle resistance;
• opening the cervix;
• inability to psychologically control contractions;
• tissue ischemia;
• distortion of the vessels supplying the uterus;
• increase in surface area with highly sensitive receptors.

How to survive contractions? Reviews of experienced women in labor boil down to the fact that they simply do not need to concentrate. There are many ways and techniques to help alleviate the condition. But it is still impossible to give birth completely without pain. The main thing is to learn how to control it.

If a woman concentrates only on pain, waits for them and is afraid, complications in childbirth are guaranteed. This behavior leads to disruption of metabolic processes in the plasma and can harm the fetus. How to survive contractions? They just need to be prepared.

Starting the process

To understand how to survive contractions without pain, you need to learn a few positions that will help alleviate the condition. At the initial stage, you need to try to relieve tension from the pelvic area as much as possible and provide the main organ involved in the process with maximum freedom.

Sit on the edge of a bed or chair with your feet firmly on the floor. Try to spread your knees out to the sides as much as possible. In this position, the lower back arches somewhat, and the stomach relaxes. For greater stability, you can rest your palms on your hips.

If you don't sitit turns out, you can stop and stand. For example, spread your legs a little and lean on the edge of the bed. Try to arch your back slightly and relax as much as possible.

Active phase

Over time, the active phase of contractions begins. How to get through this moment and help yourself relax?

During this period, it is quite difficult for a woman in labor to remain upright. But going to bed during this period is not recommended. Especially when there are no medical prerequisites for this. The best option during this period is the kneeling position. You can, for example, get on all fours and let your stomach sag a little under its own weight.

Some women in childbirth adjust fitball for relaxation - a large elastic ball. You can take different poses with it. The main task of a woman in labor is maximum relaxation. The only thing not to do is sit tight on a hard chair or couch.

How to help yourself before childbirth

The last prenatal phase is characterized by the opening of the uterus. How to survive contractions during this period? It is important to relieve tension not from the abdomen, but from the legs. To do this, you can use the same fitball. You can lean on it with your lower back, and push your knees apart. It is better to stretch the feet forward. Instead of the ball, you can use the help of a partner.

During this period of contractions, doctors also advise staying on your feet. This will allow you to activate labor activity in a natural way. Facilitates the situation and proper breathing.

Administration of anesthesia

Medicine has stepped far forward. Therefore, many women in labor prefer to get rid of suffering using anesthesia. There are various drugs that allow a woman not to feel pain, but at the same time feel everything. Some medications, on the contrary, can make it so that a woman does not feel anything at all. It all depends on the dose and the professionalism of the anesthesiologist.

To apply anesthesia or not - the doctor decides. The body of a woman, tormented by pain and fear, can behave as she pleases. For example, labor activity may weaken or even stop. After a little rest, the woman will again turn to work.

At the same time, an incorrectly selected drug can provoke pressure surges, allergies, cause drowsiness or other side effects. All this can adversely affect the he alth of the mother and child. Therefore, anesthesia is best used as a last resort.

In some countries, acupuncture is used to relieve pain during contractions. This allows you to stimulate special points and reduce pain. In our country, acupuncture is rarely used. It is not easy to find a good specialist familiar with oriental techniques.

Massage and aromatherapy

One of the options for how to get through contractions easier are special massage techniques. This method helps a lot from the very first uterine contractions to the beginning of attempts. For additional pain relief, you can use special creams, oils or gels. Atit is important to be aware of possible allergic reactions. Techniques can be different:

1. Point. To relieve pain, you should simultaneously press from the inside on the ankle bone and the depression between the index finger and thumb. The duration of exposure is approximately 40 seconds.
2. Lumbar. Using a vibratory massager or with the bones of your fingers, massage the sacrum and lumbar region for 40 seconds. Perform vigorous circular motions. In between, lightly press your fingers on the sacrum and upper buttocks.
3. Rubbing. In the supine position, bring your legs together and slightly bend at the knees. With a comfortable hand, rub the inner surface of the thigh in the direction from the knee to the inguinal zone. You should do 30-40 reps per leg.
4. Stroking. Place your right hand on your lower abdomen. Place the left one on top. Gently stroke the belly with fingertips from the center to the sides. In the final phase of the contraction, the pressure can be slightly increased.

You can also involve a partner in a massage. With the bones and the back of the phalanges of the fingers, the partner can massage the sacral area of the woman in labor. You should perform rubbing circular movements and move from the coccyx up to the lower back. Some are helped by gentle rubbing of the lateral parts of the abdomen, massage of the neck. It is important not to press too hard to avoid hurting the baby.

In addition to massage, you can use aromatherapy. Naturally, the lamp itself will have to stock up in advance. Also, even during pregnancy, you should test the reaction to variousodors, make sure that there are no allergic manifestations or other negative reactions. In many cases, scents of lavender, bergamot, or lemon help a lot. Inhaling them, the woman in labor will be able to calm down and relax a little. The smell of jasmine, on the contrary, stimulates labor.

Breathing exercises

What to do if your contractions are in full swing? How to survive this condition and relieve pain as much as possible?

The first thing you can learn in prenatal courses is proper breathing. It can actually ease the pain of contractions. But the main thing is that a woman can do everything herself. She does not need anyone for this, and she will not have to ask anyone for help. Trying to properly perform a breathing exercise, a woman is distracted from pain and tense muscles. In addition, at this moment, the blood is additionally enriched with oxygen, which is very useful for the baby.

There are several breathing techniques that can help ease the pain of contractions:

1. Intermittent. This method can speed up the process. It is necessary to breathe through the mouth, quickly alternating inhalation and exhalation. This is how a big dog breathes on a hot summer day. This may seem ridiculous. However, in this case there is no place for constraint. Believe me, no one in the maternity hospital is interested in how a woman in labor looks. They saw everything there.
2. Sobbing. You need to inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth. In this case, there should be one long exhalation for 2 breaths. This is how a person breathes when he begins to calm down after bitter sobs and hea little out of breath.
3. Pipe. Inhale deeply through the nose and exhale through the mouth. In this case, the lips must be folded into a tube, as if you are trying to blow out the candles on the cake or play the pipe. With this method of breathing, the diaphragm tenses, and the stomach is as rounded as possible. This will make it easier for the baby to move, and mom can relax a bit.

Comfortable positions

If the doctor does not insist that the woman in labor lie down, movement will be the best pain reliever during contractions. In this case, you can not curl into a ball or lie on your back. So it will be difficult for the child to be born. The best solution is a position that allows you to relax as much as possible.

Here are some postures and movements to ease the pain:

• on a fitball - you can roll from side to side, gently spring;
• squat - squat, holding onto a support;
• on your knees - slightly spread your legs and lean on the chair or bed in front, bend your lower back;
• lotus - sitting on the floor, pull your legs bent at the knees and close your feet;
• on all fours - bend the lower back in different positions, imitating the movements of a cat;
• standing, leaning forward - rest your hands on the object standing in front and draw a figure eight with your pelvis;
• in the same position - swing your hips in different directions;
• roll from heels to toes;
• "saddle" a chair and at the time of the fight, deflect the body to the sides;
• hang a little onfixed at the top of the support or shoulders of the partner.

Water and thermal treatments

This is a great way to survive labor contractions. Warm water is great for relieving muscle tension. However, it should be exactly warm (not higher than 37.8 C), but not hot at all. If possible, take a bath or shower. Stay in the water for as long as necessary.

If this is not possible, it is good to attach a warm heating pad to the lower back. It can be filled with water. Or you can take a small linen bag, fill it with oats, wheat or s alt and heat it in the microwave to a pleasant temperature.

As you can see, there are a lot of ways to relieve pain during contractions. You just need to listen to your body, learn the necessary methods and techniques. An excellent help in this matter will be courses for pregnant women, which should not be neglected.