breathing techniques

[hairymcleary]

Does anyone have any breathing techniques to help in labour that they can share with me?
Also, how far through labour would you start to use them? During contractions or just at the pushing stage? This is DC 2, but had such a long labour with DS1, any breathing techniques went out the window in favour of the normal 'I do this to stay alive' type!
I can't remember if I learnt any at NCT classes.

OK, here goes;

When you feel a contraction comming, breath in slowly. Feel your abdomen rising, and imagine you are filling a ballon with air. When your lungs are full, breath out, and imagine the balloon is floating away into a clear blue sky, just like a helium ballon on a summers day.

It might be helpfull to imagine each balloon in a colour of the rainbow - red, orange, yellow, etc.

This really, really helped me, although I didn't do it during the pushing stage.

Much the same as Lynette here. The aim is to slow down your breathing so that it doesn't become shallow and also to avoid holding your breath.

Breath in through your nose at the start of the contraction to the count of 4 and then out again to the count of 4. Lynette's visualisation would help too.

I had no pain relief with DS2 and it does help you stay in control if you focus on breathing.

Sorry breath/blow out through your mouth to the count of 4. I didn't really make that clear.

It's not a breathing technique as such, but I do think it really works,

once you are in the land of the serious contraction, at the start of each one recite a nursery rhyme or similar (I went for in my head only and 'Nellie the Elephant')

I fould this gave me a lot of focus and control, as I knew each contraction would follow this pattern

Nellie the elephant packed her bag and trundled off to the circus
Off she went with a trumpetty trump
Trump, trump, trump pain ok

Nellie the elephant packed her bag and trundled off to the circus
Off she went with a trumpetty trump
Trump, trump, trump pain building up

Nellie the elephant packed her bag and trundled off to the circus
Off she went with a trumpetty trump
Trump, trump, trump pain unbearable

Nellie the elephant packed her bag and trundled off to the circus
Off she went with a trumpetty trump
Trump, trump, trump pain easing off

Nellie the elephant packed her bag and trundled off to the circus
Off she went with a trumpetty trump
Trump, trump, trump pain pretty much gone, breath and collapse

That said I cannot bear to hear sodding Nellie now and in fact even typing it has made me feel a bit queasy.

But it is a much better teqnique than counting imo.

Hth and good luck.

when preg with ds i was told 'focus on the out breathe and the in breathe will deal with itself'

you basically just rythmically breathe out nice and slow and deep, your body will automatically take breathe in when you're done.

i did it for every contraction, it helps to relax you into near hypnosis which is the point you need to be at for transition.

if you manage to keep doing it while pushing you're a stronger human being than i am.... i'm generally well beyond breathing techniques at that point..... all my energy goes into pushing.

I agree with pink, that was the same for me. I blew the out breath out through my mouth slowly, but did not try and control my in-breath.

I didn't know what I was doing but this worked for me when in "strong labour" and I've never heard anyone else mention it.
I had the gas and air mouthpiece ready and when a contraction was coming I'd breathe in (just normally without the mouthpiece) and then use the mouthpiece to make a long "ooooo" noise through! It distorts your voice and you sound like a dalek. But I found that making a long noise through the pipe meant you did a really long controlled out-breath, bit like playing a clarinet. Then if the contraction was still going on I'd take a little breath in and then go for another long "note". The midwife tried to take the G&A off me when the baby was on its way but as I explained to her in no uncertain terms I wasn't using the gas, I just liked making the noise through the tube. HTH!!