How can you help the pain from labor whilst at home ?

[lara09]

I'm terrified about the pain from contractions does anyone have any tips how to keep calm or ease the pain whitest your still at home, does paracetamol help ?

I found being in the bath really helped. Calming music, and in the early stages just walking round the house.

I think the biggest thing is being calm, I concentrated on my breathing and had a home birth, made it to 9cm before the midwife arrived with gas and air

They told me to have a bath, it may help.
I used a hot water bottle on my back throughout the day.
When you get to hospital if you ask for relief they will offer paracetamol first (but like a plaster on a broken leg ) .
I think keeping moving helps some people. Instinct kicks in a bit though, if you want to walk do it, lay down, do it. Pregnancy balls are ok to roll around on. Good luck

It can help some people (I never tried tbh). Walking, gently swaying, keeping busy, resting, sitting on a yoga ball, having a bath or shower, trying to sleep are all things you can try in early labour, it's not a one size fits all approach.

With dc1 (waters had gone in the night but I couldn't sleep) my MIL woke up to a clinically clean kitchen & bathroom. Thinking about it I've cleaned in early labour with all of my dc, I think because it's distracting.

Try not to dwell on it too much, it will probably make your worries worse. Good luck for when the time comes

Keeping moving worked for me. I did hoovering & washing the floor, which oddly made the pain in my back go away.

Plus coffee and audio books so I had something to concentrate on.

Baths, box sets, nice music, being on all fours, walking about, snacks, back rubs helped me. Both my labours were long. First one I lasted about 12 hours at home, second one about 20 hours at home.
Personally paracetamol I think is pointless & some evidence it can slow down labour.
Each to their own though & good luck

You might find the Positive Birth Book helpful, it has lots of suggestions for this.

I think it’s probably a question of trying different things when the time comes and seeing what works for you. I’ve heard that keeping moving can help, also being in the shower/bath or rocking on a birthing ball or similar.

I've rented a tens machine and bought a birthing ball from Argos. That plus a bath (not at the same time as the tens obviously...)

Paracetamol can help. Also second warm bath. I was in the latent phase for days...... TENS machine was the only thing that got me through, worth every penny!

Paracetamol did absolutley nothing for me. I lasted nearly two days at home with baths, bouncing on ball; all fours but mostly it was standing upright and moving that made the pain bearable, it was so much worse when I tried to lie down in bed. You could also hire a TENS machine.

glass of wine. Go for a walk. Compared to pethidine, I decided ibuprofen was pretty mild stuff so happy to take that too.

I walked a lot, sat on the birthing ball, had multiple baths (long early labour) and used my tens machine.

I shaked my booty in circles, side to side and sat on a gym ball. I also had a TENS machine attached, which got removed when arrived at hospital, and I birthed upright. I had g&a and was on my knees in the bead leaning against the back of the bed.

I think the moving in circles with my hips, and side to side helped to have speedy births. I’m no expert but gravity was my friend.

Hot water bottle really worked for me.

I didn't find having a bath much help with pain and in fact it slowed down my contractions so I wished I hadn't bothered! Moving around speeds things up which may or may not be what you want. When you're getting close to the 2nd stage and throughout the 2nd stage concentrating on just breathing in and out can help get you through the contractions.

Thanks guys
What is a tens machine ?

www.boots.com/boots-tens-digital-pain-relief-10165899

You don’t have to get it from Boots, but this is an example of a tens machine. Put the pads on your back for pain relief.

This was really good for me as it has a boost function for during contractions.
I know it seems expensive but I used mine for two labours, lent it to my sil and have used it several times for back pain since so worth the cost for me.

I forgot about Lady TENS. That’s the one I had for both dds births.