What was the best advice you go on getting through labour - help I am scared and an ameteur

[Turtle35]

any advice is totally appreciated....

expact the unexpected you have no control really and you will love the end result good luck xxxx

Try to tell your birth partner and family what you want from them in terms of help and support during and after labour...for us it was helpful for dh to think of himself as an 'advocate', asking questions and checking out what was happening when I was too busy coping with contractions to listen properly, and also reminding the midwives about my birth plan. Take a cd player and some music you love! Lots of it. And some smelly massage oil or lotion for dp/dh to give hand/foot/shoulder rubs. Enjoy (can't wait to do it again - ttc at mo)

Read 'Birthing from Within' (England/Horowitz) - best one I read to help with the 'unknown pain' you describe.

Mainly keep an open mind - don't rule anything out.

Things that helped me:
Breathing
TENS
being upright and moving around
not thinking more than about a minute ahead

and depending on how much of the pregnancy you've got to go:
optimat foetal positioning
raspberry leaf tea
pelvic floor exercises!!

HTH

I'm telling you GET AN EPIDURAL!

would you have a tooth pulled without an anaesthetic - course not!

an epidural and loads of drugs worked for me both times. i insisted that i didnt get trainees with my second ( twin) pregnacy - so they looked throught the window?!

The best bit of advice came from my DH. I was induced out of the blue at 37 weeks and when told I really started panicking as i 'wasn;t ready'. he said to me to just break it down into small manageable chunks. For the next five minutes, we are just going to sit here and chat, then the midwife will come to discuss what happens. Don't think too far ahead when you are in labour. Concentrate on what is happening at that particular time and deal with that bit. That kept me going!

ps oxymoron - love the name

thanks popsycal

I would say, go into hospital at the last minute (I went in when contractions were 5 or fewer minutes apart), keep moving around and don't feel guilty about accepting pain relief.

the thing about labour pain is that it's not pointless pain.It's pain with a purpose and I found that really helped..keeping that in mind.It's nowhere near as bad as say, a broken bone.
try and stay as relaxed as possible because being tense makes the pain worse.I found that sittting in the birthing pool really helped.
gas and air is great.And at my hospital they don't do pethidine, they do diamorphine which is looovveelllyyy!!( gets all dreamy and stoned just thinking about it!!)

Another vote here for the epidural

Had epidural with both births. I seriously couln'd have coped without it!

Definately keep an open mind - every labour is different (had 4 and can testify to this) so just go with the flow! And keep moving!! Oh and REMEMBER SOCKS!! My feet were always freezing... you would think I would have had other things to think about!

food and drink for dp - you'll need him conscious

I took in a radio as I didn't want to hear the other women giving birth!!!!

Don't be scared - just think of the end result !
Try & stay in control but trust those around you
Keep an open mind
Keep a sense of humour !

Don't be worried about making noise! I didn't think I could make a noise like I did but it really helped - deep, gutteral growling like a demented wild animal, from the very centre of your body, as deep and hard and for as long as you can...i soon learned to focus on this because it made me feel like I was drifting away down a long tunnel and I was actually oblivious to the pain and situation for the time I could sustain this horrendous noise. It was really weird. I'd planned epidurals but they didn't happen so had to do it with just g&a and my TENS - which I'd also recommend.

24 hrs you just took the words...

Don't feel inhibited by the people around you, and if you want to scream shout... or (in my case) Sing your way through the contractions.

I also told my pal to shut the F**k up, as she was rabbiting on during a contraction, and I couldn't concentrate!!!
(we're still friends!)

I would say to keep upright and walk around as much as possible, be open minded about pain relief - there's a lot to be said for pethidine IMO! Be flexible with regards to your birth plan, but if there's anything you definitely don't want then put that down and make sure your birth partner is aware too.
good luck!

And Turtle - we are ALL amateurs. Even those of us who've done it several times.

there are no prizes for not having pain relief. oh no.
and you are having a baby, not a birth

We're all amateurs, Turtle. But it's amazing what you can do what you have to! Speaking personally, I didn't want an epidural as I was concerned that it would mean I would have problems moving around (didn't do mobile epidurals at my hospital) and lead me down the path of needing intervention. However, by the time the contractions got really bad I would have killed for an epidural and sod all the breathing and positions! Didn't get one though as in midwife-led unit. And in retrospect, I'm glad, not because it's a competition or anything, but because it meant I had a straightforward delivery with no forceps/ventouse. Sometimes instruments can be necessary, but I did want to avoid them if possible.
Read up as much as you can, decide what you think might help you, whether that's epidural or water birth, or whatever, write it down and brief your birthing partner to speak up for you, but also keep your options open ? you might feel differently once you are actually in labour.
It might seem like a frightening prospect now, but, honestly, you CAN do this.

Had 3 ds's - first induction with epidural, 2nd extremely speedy with no time for anything but shouting , third was a bit longer than second and more painful but just had g&a and birthing ball.

3rd was the best - go in with an open mind, you cannot plan it as all births are different. If you can do it without pain relief do it, if you find you need it then have it.

BUT I cannot recommend the birthing ball enough - sit on it and rock, it is fabulous.

Good luck!

I didn't read the replies, but:

EPIDURAL, as soon as you are allowed one is the best advice I can give.

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