The pain of labour -- is it less painful if you don't panic / can you re-train your mind??

[electra]

I'm reading 'Childbirth Without Fear' which discusses the fear / tension / pain issue and the theory that the reason childbirth hurts so much is because if we're fearful or apprehensive the muscles that work in labour are not able to work together properly so that painful spasms result.

I am wondering what your experiences are? Is it all to do with the situation you are in and how you feel about it mentally? Could we make it less painful by relaxing and not being fearful of what our bodies are doing?

I know that of my two labours the second was very bearable until I went into transition and panicked. The first time, I could not believe that my body could actually do it!

I have no idea whether it is actually less painful. I think not panicking and accepting that this will hurt, but (barring complications obviously) this is a "good" pain and every contraction is getting you closer to holding your baby will definitely help.

My midwife told me that panic leads the body to produce adrenalin, which knocks the labour hormones stone dead.

I do think it total bollocks that hypnobirthing could make labour not hurt at all, though.

I wasn't fearful, didn't panic - it bloody hurt, but I still consider it a brilliant birth experience, and will be so excited if I get the chance to do it all over again.

There's been a thread recently discussing this, and the whole "you feel pain because you're afraid" rattles many cages, including mine, I'm afraid.

I don't doubt for one second that certain relaxation techniques can help lessen the perception of pain, and if the idea of the pain worries you then it sounds like you'd be a good candidate for these techniques.

The idea of the pain really doesn't bother me now, so I wouldn't be interested in the "Childbirth without Fear" ideas as I'm not scared of it, iyswim?

Well, even a broken leg is going to hurt less if we can manage not to tense up or panic, and presumably we have more control over what our bodies do in labour.

I did find trying to relax helped a lot in labour tbh. But nothing helped with the scar pains afterwards...

You definitely can train your mind to make it much more bearable.

I only had gas and air for both my induced labours.
Both were very rapid and the first was much more painful because I was so frightened and tense.
The second one I prepared for weeks beforehand listening to a hypnobirth cd, it came with a book by Marie Mongan.

www.hypnobirthing.com/

the cd basically teaches you a self hypnosis script, I found playing it repeatedly meant that when I went into labour I could calm myself enough to let the contractions happen and not tense against them. I also used a yoga methond called alternate nostril breathing.

This worked brilliantly for me, but you need to have a lot of confidence in yourself and it didn't work as well once they made me get on the table in the delivery room!

I also used the method while they did my stitches, I actually put my ipod on and played the cd while they did that and it was so much less painful then the first time.

Whatever kind of birth you have I think this helps to give you a useful technique to keep calm.

also the cd I had was the american version and she does have a slightly irritating voice. I think there might be a UK version which may be better if you are UK based!

They took the gas and air away from me! But it was fine - did hurt a lot, and I was concentrating very hard, and was just so happy, it was all fab.

I very much agree with Habbibu though about the "you only feel pain because you're afraid". A more sensible approach would seem to be 'most women feel pain in childbirth, this can help you to deal with it'.

The bit where I panicked wasn't actually the most painful part of labour- but it's the bit I don't feel good about afterwards. Pain on its own wasn't as bad as the sense of panicking.

Yes, definately. Get hold of Ina May's Guide to Childbirth if you can. I read that in preparation for my second labour and it was a brilliant experience.
The only time I had a minor panic was transition, but I had a brilliant birth partner who helped me feel back in control with breathing and soothing words and it worked! There's no denying childbirth is painful. But now I believe it doesn't have to be scary. With dd I was scared and I was scared to push. With ds I had faith in my body. At the beginning of the (8 minute!) second stage the midwife said to me not to be scared of what happened last time (which was 2 hours of pushing, on my back) and just let my body do what it had to. I was in a supported squat and I just did what I had to- no control over it really, noone shouting 'push!' (my real bugbear about dd's birth) and just feeling in control.
I had an epidural with dd but with ds I had only gas and air and didn't feel the need for even that really- I just had an odd need to have the pipe to bite on and it did help me control my breathing. It's interesting to note that amoung all my friends who have two or more it is only with their second labours that they felt in control. Wether that is because they wer ebetter prepared or just because the second time is generally 'easier' anyway I don't know.

Thanks for replies! I am very encouraged that these techniques can help with induced labours too! I am not afraid of pain but have felt at times that I couldn't cope, which is I'm sure what caused me to panic!

littlelamb - yes, indeed transition is what phased me! I think I didn't know what was happening.

My first labour I panicked and it was the worst feeling. I felt out of control because i had no idea of wht to expect. I do believe this made me so tense the contractions were much harder to deal with.the only thing tht calmed me down was a shot of pethidine, it relaxed me a bit and i was just able to deal with each contraction and focus on it rather than think abt how many more were to com!

My second labour i would say the pain was just as bad. but wow wht a different experience. throughout the contractions i knew just to focus on each one individually and tell myself, thts one contraction closer to having my baby and one less contraction i have to have. i tensed up just before i had to push and this made my pain unbearable - tensing up just made my whole body cramp- so i reminded myself i needed to relax, tht my body could do this....i focused and said out loud, i just need to relax, just relax...and i relaxed my body fully and as soon as i did i was able to get behind the contraction and in one push my baby was out. I truley believe tht this wouldnt hav happened if i didnt have it together in my mind.

Theres another thread like this on MN. Ill try and find it

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/childbirth/721894-pain-free-childbirth-is-it-possible-for-everyone

Panic does make it worse. The body goes into defence mode and you throw up, your hear rate goes up, adrenalin flies around the body and you feel out of control.

I had a HypnoBirth and it didn't hurt. It really didn't. I felt as though I was bouncing over speed bumps but it was quite boring really. I was almost lynched as a breastfeeding clinic at the hospital when I said that I didn't have a horror story about the birth.

And I am a complete wuss when it comes to pain. I have laughing gas when I go to the dentist before I get an anaesthetic jab!

The notion that if you panic it leads to pain, quickly becomes distorted to, "I had a good birth, because I was well prepared, and well - just wonderful". Basically, good births are down to luck - however smug one feels when one has a good birth. So don't worry about panicking - I think it's normal, anyway.

I now teach HB and my parents all (so far) come back with good reports. Believe me, when people are paying for a course they would complain if they weren't satisfied!

Get the book from the library and see if it makes sense to you. It's not for everyone.

My first labour was scary (didn't see a midwife until the very end) and I was very panicky. It was also bloody sore. My second labour was completely different. It was at home, with two brilliant midwives. I felt very safe and supported. I can honestly say it didn't really hurt a great deal. I had gas and air for about 40 mins, but other than that it was completely manageable.

Second time around, I used to practise pain management while ripping hairs out of my leg with an epilady. Instead of thinking "OW, OW, OW!", I used to consiously think "That's not really sore, it just tickles a bit". I know it sounds bonkers, but it really worked in terms of reducing my experience of pain. I tried it during labour and it worked then as well.

However, I should probably add that both times I have been very lucky in having short, easy labours. If I'd had labours that lasted hours and hours or had been particularly difficult, I doubt whether my "mind over matter' techniques would have been any use at all.

Noelara - Completely agree about mind over matter - I remember thinking "ok, I survived that contraction, so I can curvive the next one too". I've had 3 kids.

"good births are down to luck - however smug one feels when one has a good birth"

Why oh why oh why do we have to have this every time there is a thread about positive birth experiences?

Yes "luck" comes into it, the luck not to have a baby in a poor position, or not to haemorrhage etc etc.

But there is nothing lucky about attempting to prepare mentally and physically for birth, and putting that preparation into practice in the event.

Personally I wouldn't want the pressure of trying not to panic on top of everything else and would rather rely on drugs - I mean of course it hurts.

But apart from an epidural, drugs don't actually stop it hurting completely anyway ninah. And I can't imagine putting an epidural cannula into someone having a total head fit is very easy.

I tink its more about remembering the pain is short lived , its not going to go on forever and the reward at the end is priceless, got me through an epis on gas and air [ouch]