Juju Sundin's Birth Skills - anyone tried this during labour?

[glitterbomb80]

I was given a book by an Australian obstetric physiotherapist, Juju Sundin, on managing pain during labour. Unlike hypnobirthing, she advocates an "embrace the pain" philosophy, where you're encouraged to think about the pain of childbirth as something that is healthy and natural, to avoid the fear-panic response that can lead to complications.

In the book she outlines a number of different strategies for working with the pain, from walking/stomping through contractions, through to stress balls and vocalisations. It's all quite noisy and active.

It really seemed to make sense to me, and I'm keen to hear if anyone's used Juju's techniques and how labour went?

Here's a link to the book if anyone's interested: Birth Skills

I agree goodnight. While I don't remember that chapter specifically, I did find parts of the book very long winded and rambling, in amongst gems of information. When I got about half way through the book, I decided to start again and read it to hubby, so that he could coach me on the points it suggested. He too asked 'where are the relevant parts?'. So I just read the book myself and summed up the parts that are relevant and it ended up being about 3 pages of points hubby can remember to talk me through instead of a whole book!

Hi everyone
Due in 3 weeks with my second. First baby I used hypnobirthing in early labour which helped but lost my way and panicked when complications arose. Ended up with a lot of intervention. Ordered this book after your recommendations. Just one question: Did you use a particular stress ball or just any? Would never have grouchy of that but sounds like a great idea!

Grouchy? Meant 'thought'!
Brilliant, thanks for the reccommendation

1AngelicFruitCake. If you have a few minutes to spare after your birth, I would love for you to come back to this thread and let me know what you actually thought of the techniques once you've had a chance to put them into practice.

I too am expecting my second and am due in 6 weeks so not far behind you. I have got myself the multicoloured balls which look exactly like the ones in the book. Mine are actually juggling balls rather than stress balls so they're not good for squeezing, but I like the sound of distracting myself by matching up the colours so these will work well for that purpose. But all just theory and I am still nervous about how well it will actually work in practice - so if you do have a minute to report back with the actual practice of her book, it would be very reassuring and much appreciated.

Hope your second birth goes much smoother without complications this time.

I had yellow acid-house smiley stress balls. Added a bit of a rave vibe to the labour process.

Thank you glitter bomb.

Shellster, I will come back to the thread. Think I was a bit dramatic in my previous post when I said 'a lot of intervention' - it was more I laboured naturally but when there were problems I panicked, had an epidural then due to the complications needed an Emcs, which I felt like I'd let myself down about (silly, I know).

I'm really enjoying the book and feel it makes so much sense. I just wish I'd read it months ago! Due in just over a week!! Hope you're finding the run up to your next birth to be fairly calm x

Hopefully get to put the various techniques in this book into practice tonight/tomorrow as going in for induction this afternoon! Will report back after!

Wow clara, so when you are next reading this, you will have been through labor and be holding your little baby in your arms! Will wait for your report back with what suggestions you found practical.

Angelic I certainly don't think it is silly to feel you've let yourself down even though you obviously didn't as complications were beyond your control. I find it reassuring because I had issues too (long story but caused by the negligence of the hospital rather than my body during labor) and I feel let down too that it caused me low milk supply that meant I had to supplement with formula when I really wanted to breast feed, as well as permanent pain downstairs that has me concerned this baby may not come out naturally due to the disfigurement. So we are not alone and both have reasons for reading this book in the hope of having a different experience this time.

Do the complications of your first birth have any effect on how you will be treated this birth? Or is it something you can actively prevent this time now that you are aware of it? Hoping you get the experience you are after and looking forward to hearing back after in just over one weeks time!

Clara, wow! Hope all is going well!

Shellster, I'm under consultant led care this time. Last time was just 'one of those things' but this time the position of my placenta has been an issue. I've had a good pregnancy and been given the go ahead for a natural birth. I'm not sure if it'll end in a section but ill just have to wait and see.

The book seems more sensible and realistic than hypnobirthing did. I got a shock at the pain I was in but with this book it constantly refers to the pain and I like that and think it's more realistic.

It sounds like you had a tough time last time and I hope it all goes better for you this time. I will report back! I think what makes you feel worse is when you meet people who have these perfect births! You think 'Why didn't that happen to me?!'

Very true Angelica about feeling worse after hearing others having the perfect birth stories. I also feel a bit defeated when I hear them say the pain 'wasn't that bad!'. Like you, I certainly didn't find that and as a result, I am really spending these last few weeks fearing what lies ahead, knowing that I have booked into a natural birth ward of my hospital where epidural is not an option if all is going normal.

Did you do an actual hypnotherapy course? What did it involve? Although you say it wasn't really helpful, I guess I just want to have as many tools in my bag this time as possible and wonder if you found any aspect of it remotely helpful that I can take on board? I have downloaded a hynpotherapy track to listen to during labor but like you, I can't imagine how simply listening to this track is going to magically put my mind in some happy place and make me forget the pain of labor when it is so intense? Perhaps for the onset of labor, but once things get going, Juju's screaming techniques make much more sense!

Hi everyone, just here to update that I had my baby and got the VBAC I wanted! Had a day or two of pains then went into full blown labour with waters starting to go and contractions coming and baby born 6 hours later, which apparently was quick considering I didn't fully dilate last time. The baby was back to back but I was able to just use gas and air and the techniques from the book but I won't say that wasn't a massive challenge as it was!

As you know I'd only started reading the birth skills book a few weeks ago so was unsure if it would be of any help to me at this late stage. It was! The book addresses the fact you are in pain but gives you ways to deal with it. Straightaway I found the stress balls didn't help but banging my hand on the birthing ball and making sounds worked very well. My husband was amazing and repeated phrases from the book.

I would really recommend the book to anyone and am going to lend it to a pregnant friend of mine. Good luck to anyone reading this x

Didn't have the book you mention....but the techniques you've described sound like what I did. I freaked out at about 5cm dilated when the contractions really cranked up (I'd coped pretty well up until that point), but then between contractions, I had a little word with myself and thought "yes this fucking hurts, but it hurts for a reason. Suck it up, and get your baby out!". After that I took every contraction as one step closer to it being over, and the pushing stage was actually easier than the first stage of labour, because I felt like I could actually push the pain away! I'm hoping I can do the same when number 2 arrives in October

Congrats on your new baby!!!

Thank you! Currently in bed watching the snow whilst feeding baby

I really agree that it's better to accept the pain and try and deal with it like the book suggests. To say I only had the book a matter of weeks, it really did have an impact on me.

Congratulations Angelic!
It's brilliant to see how the practicality of this book seems to make some (or even massive) difference to many people.
I think it would be amazing if Juju extended her practice from Australia and started training others to offer courses in this too. The book is brilliant but it would be quite empowering I think to have classes too.

I just realised I didnt' report back on this thread! Oops! I gave birth to a baby boy on 22 February following induction by syntocin drip. From drip being started to giving birth was about 5-6 hours.

I was able to cope with contractions using the breathing and 'ahhhhhhh' vocalising techniques and my husband counting the contractions for me (not entirely, just 20, 40, 60 second counts)., I don't know what the stress balls were all about - they got chucked to one side of the room pretty quickly!

Anyway, I moved pretty quickly to that 'transition' thing she talks about, and was convinced I was going to poo myself. I wasn't due to get vaginal exam but midwife did it anyway and found I was 8cm dilated. I have to say from this point on I did not cope very well at all. I felt realy out of control of my body. They aren't wrong when they say there is an urge to push. It was very overwhelming and freaked me out big time. I was feeling panicky and they gave me gas and air, which added to my feeling of being out of control. After the birth, I spent the following week in shock and needed some additional support in the end to bring my panic/shock under control.

So, in the end, the book was useful for me in dealing with the contraction pains to the point of transition. I was not prepared for the second stage of labour but then I don't know how you ever could prepare for that and I guess it is your luck/personality that will dictate how you react to it.

I hope others that were due their babies have had safe deliveries and recoveries.

@InFrance2014 and @Fresh01 hello, I hope you don't mind follow-up question to this Mumsnet thread from many years ago, if you've a minute to spare. I'd be grateful as you're the only people I've found to have put Juju Sundin's principles into practice...
I have her book but I'm totally confused by the coffee plunger idea. Basically, are you pushing out on the inhale or the exhale? She explains that when we inhale, the diaphragm moves down, and pushes down onto your uterus. But is that also when she is suggesting push? If anyone else sees this who knows, I'd be so grateful!

@CarrotySnack my youngest has just turned 13 so been a while since I used it 🙂 From memory it was always push on the exhale as though the plunger was going down. The midwives are very good for monitoring how far dilated you are and telling you when to push for maximum effect. The lolly stick visual also helps for dilation. With my 3rd I went from 7 to 10cm in 3 minutes much to their surprise.

I found Juju skills helped me a lot. Best of luck for your delivery.

Hi @Fresh01 - thank you so much for your reply, even though it was such a long time ago - it's really kind! This is so helpful, I'd been completely baffled and have about fifty internet tabs open, to no avail. I will re-read her lolly stick bit too. So glad it went well for you even if so many years ago :)

This is a very old thread but I reread these many times in the hopes this book would help, so I wanted to add my recent experience.

I honesty don’t think I could have had an unmedicated birth without it, as I’m someone who can easily feel a sense of panic and then struggle to control my breathing. I did hypnobirthing too but was worried breathing wouldn’t be enough (and it wasn’t, no way I could just breathe and count!).

The main techniques I used were visualising the baby pressing on my cervix, listening to my exhales (just the sound of the air releasing through my pursed lips, rather than vocalising), and holding a bag of ice! I hadn’t planned or read about the ice, but after I said I was hot my husband handed me an ice pack from our food bag, and I loved it so much he started requesting midwives bring ice and he filled plastic bags with it. I held onto it or pressed it against my face or neck and it was such a huge distraction it got me through the final hours.

I have the lowest pain threshold of anyone I know, am an introvert, and feel anxiety around hospitals and pain. But I felt like I was on top of the pain and knew what to do when a contraction started. All I had was paracetamol!

Thanks @Alice65475 for reviving this! I'm so glad you had what sounds like a good birth! I posted here before asking a question and I can now also update, because I feel very similarly.

There were principles I borrowed from hypnobirthing and I had my partner read a gentle but encouraging text that I'd written, but I found the birth skills so useful.

I think I bounced on a ball, tapped on a door in a pattern, and squeezed a comb. I'd also bought a couple of stress balls but it was mostly the comb I went for. I might have done other things too but it was ten months ago! But I'm glad I had considered a range of the skills Juju's book suggests because I didn't know which ones would work for me until the night. Definitely give this book a go!

Yes I was going to say I bought this book as I had an allergic reaction to the hypnobirthing bollocks, and one of the few good things that came out of my birth was my personal advocacy for an epidural for my posterior labour, as a result of the chapter specifically on this in the book. They have a much more positive approach to epidural for long labours in Australia than they do in the UK and I was well informed during labour, and then well prepared for the weird backlash you can get against them in the UK.

This book doesn't come with a side-helping of 'you should have tried harder' that a lot of 'natural' birthing books do if you do find yourself needing interventions, while also leaning into support for having an unmedicalised birth if you want one and it is suitable.

Yes! It was great. Try different techniques to see what works best for you. I found dp telling me to wiggle different fingers really worked for me as I had to concentrate really hard. I recommend this book to everyone!