BaiBoo

To help ease contractions it can really help to stay warm. Take a hot-water bottle filled with hot (not boiling) water, wrap it carefully in a towel and place it against your back. When your baby is being born, a soft warm flannel placed over your perineum (the tissue between the back of the vagina and the back passage) helps ease the stretching sensation.

Massages
Tell your partner or other birth companion where you’d like to be massaged. You might like your shoulders massaged in between contractions to help you relax. Tell him to massage you slowly. He should use firm pressure in order to stimulate your body to release endorphins, the ‘feel-good’ hormones which make massage such a positive experience. Having someone rub your back also provides warmth. And, it does not only keep your back warm, it’s also relaxing and stimulates your body to release natural pain-killing substances.

Positions
Avoid getting on the bed once your contractions are regular and painful, unless you are really tired. Your labor will be slower if you lie down. Remain upright, but choose whatever position feels most comfortable. Stand up and lean on the bed or your partner. Kneel down and lean on the seat of a chair. Get down on your hands and feet to help ease backache. Sit in a chair, then get up and walk around. Move your hips as much as you can, it gets your baby moving.

Love
Research has shown that when a woman has someone she loves with her during labor to comfort her, she gives birth more quickly and easily than if she doesn’t have that continuous loving support. So choose your birth companion carefully. Someone who won’t panic; who believes you can do it, and who is confident to talk to health professionals on your behalf. This may be your partner, your sister, your mom, your best friend or someone else. Or, you might like to choose two birth companions. It’s up to you.

Breathing

Focusing on your breathing is a great way of getting through each contraction. Here are some things to practice and keep in mind: take a deep breath at the beginning of the contraction and, as you breathe out, relax. Then breathe in through your nose and breathe out through your mouth, keeping your mouth and cheeks very soft. Don’t worry too much about how deeply you’re breathing, just keep a good rhythm. Concentrate as hard as you can on your breathing as the contraction builds up, and as it fades away. Take your time to relax when the contraction is over.

The best thing you can do to prepare yourself to cope with pain in early labor, is to conserve your energy by resting. Make yourself as comfortable as possible on the bed or on a chair. Take pillows and put them all around yourself. Have a hot, sweet drink and play some music or put the TV on, and, rest. Later on, you’ll find it much easier to cope with painful contractions if you’re not exhausted because you were rushing around in early labor.

Tips

• Ask for information: the more you know, the more relaxed you’ll feel
• Drink sips of water in between contractions
• Eat carbohydrate-rich foods when you feel hungry
• Use a small electric fan to stay cool
• Talk to your partner and hold his hand
• Listen to music to help you relax
• Move around to make yourself as comfortable as possible
• Walk around to ease aches and pains and bring on contractions
• Go to the toilet; a full bladder will slow your labor
• Trust your body: you do know how to give birth!