Breathing in labour

[PrincessWatermelon]

I'm 39+4 and realised I know nothing about breathing in labour! People always talk about the importance of breathing.....and on TV shows ante-natal classes involve practice breathing and puffing on the floor, leaning against your birthing partner.

So what have I missed out on? Any tips or advice? Thanks.

remember to? breathe that is...
is it wrong i make myself laugh?

my understanding is long breaths when the pain isnt too bad and short quick breaths when it is?
but im not sure!

'If in doubt, breathe out!'
Thinking behind this is the intake of breath comes naturally and lots of people hold their breath when in pain so by breathing out slowly with pursed lips you can 'breathe the pain away' and then you will automatically take a good lungful of air in afterwards.
HTH good luck

I got through ds's labour mostly by using deep breaths, as a distraction if anything. I can see it would be easy to hold your breath, but just breathe It definately helped me, not one of the midwives believed I was in labour, despite being in the antenatal siderooms having been induced, as apparently I seemed too calm. I finally convinced them to whizz me down to the pool room, where ds was born about 10 minutes later. Read some Ina May Gaskin,she explains it well, that keeping your mouth loose will help you relax. I can't say I did little pants or puffs, definately just deep, calm breaths.

breathe normally and when you get to transition, the bit where a lot of women feel the intensity of the last contractions, pant like you have never panted before.

When I was having DS the MW gave me a good tip:

breathe in slowly through your nose and breathe out slowly through your mouth.

Thanks. I didn't think there'd be some new science on breathing! But did feel I was missing out on something to do with breathing!

Doesn't sound like I need to practice that much, mind you

Don't puff, I'm not sure where that whole he he he he, ha ha ha ha breathing they show on American sitcoms comes from but it seems like a really bad way to breath in labour.

We do golden thread breathing in yoga, where essentially you focus your attention on your breathing, go in through your nose and out through your mouth visually the thread of pain moving away from your body. I used it during my first labour and it definitely helped keep me focused. I can't do links as on phone but you may have some luck googling it.

Might help - but sometimes at the end of a contraction I've been known to do a horse lips type sound. Yes, I neigh. But the act of doing that seems to help me get rid of all the tension and relax. HTH!!!