Dealing with pain in Labour
Every single person deals with pain differently and I always thought I was a person who didn’t cope well at all. I mean, each period pain at school I was crawling into first aid in crippling pain begging to go home.
Firstly, let me just clarify that yes, Labour freaking hurts. It doesn’t tickle and as a pregnant woman we all dread and wonder what the pain will be like, especially as first-time mothers. Now, when I was pregnant, I had people say to me “are you scared?”, “are you going to have an epidural?”, “Do you have a Labour plan?”. This is when I realised that every question that was asked of me were all answers that I was in control of. It was all psychological. It was from here that I decided that I wasn’t going to fear labour in hope that I had a better experience. I mean, if you go into something fearing it, chances are you’ll mentally put yourself into a shitty situation and you can’t give yourself a chance to remain positive.
So that’s exactly what I done. I decided that I was going to be in control of my Labour and that I was going to control it all mentally. From the beginning of my pregnancy, I knew I never wanted an epidural. For me, I didn’t really like everything that came with it and the only benefit seemed to be was that you couldn’t feel much (although when you’re pushing you wish you had the damn thing) but for me to experience the below, it didn't exactly sit too well:
A) to be catheterised
B) Not being able to get up and be mobile during and after your Labour
C) The higher risk of taring
D) I hated the thought of a massive needle entering my back and trying to stay still with the uncomfortableness of Labour and
E) If they screwed up (I wouldn’t fancy multiple attempts).
NOTE (The epidural is a wonderful source of analgesia and this is not me suggesting otherwise. This was simply my opinion).
I researched other methods of pain relief and spoke to my midwife. As a kid, the shower always worked wonders with cramps and I always would lie on the shower floor and let the water go on my back so I knew this would definitely be a good option for me. I didn’t really want to go in the bath as I knew I always managed to get a headache from sitting in warm water for too long so I acknowledged it would be a waste of time. In Labour, I laid on the shower floor, leaned on a ball and over a chair and even had water directed on my lower back. Honestly, I don’t remember feeling much once I was in transitional, but initially the shower was soothing and was a great deal of comfort. If you’re like me and find comfort in water, use this as a resource.
I wanted to try a non-pharmaceutical method and contacted a physio in regard to hiring a TENS Machine. This machine works by placing 4 sticky probes on your lower back and pressing a button to release electrical stimulation through the skin to block nerve pathways resulting is lesser pain. I hired this tiny machine for $50 and it worked a treat during early Labour. You were also in control of the stimulation and could change the setting from a low conduction to a higher conduction and even had a “boost” button for the contraction itself. I found I would lean over the side of the bed and sway side to side. Whenever a contraction would come, I would get myself or whoever was holding the control to push the button. This machine worked in the sense that my Labour pain would start in my lower back and shoot around the front at its peak and eased the pain.
REMAIN MOBILE! If you can of course. Get up off that bed because its doing nothing for you or your pain. If anything, it makes it worse because you start to feel sorry for yourself. Get up off that bed and start moving around. Do laps around the room, get on the ball (it allows your pelvis to open, allowing the baby to move down), lean over the bed and sway side to side. I get it, the last thing you want to be doing is moving. You want to crawl up into the fetal position (which I did eventually in the shower during transition) and stay there. But you want to get this baby moving and you want it to be all over, right?
Use massage, pressure points, aroma therapy and dim the lights (what would you rather? Bright lights in your face or to feel relaxed and comfortable?). As mammals, darkness allows the body to acknowledge that it is time to rest. The darkness then stimulates the Neocortex and promotes the release Melatonin allowing the body to relax. Dim those lights and throw in a few candles (if that’s your style of course). Corey and Stacey alternated in giving me a back rub due to back pain. Both supports become educated in regards to acupressure points (Thanks, Stace) that relieved some of the pressure of my lower back. This was extremely beneficial for me, especially because the sense of touch is something that is quite comforting to me.
My other form of non-pharmaceutical medication was the wonderful art of distraction. My form of distraction? Food. I bloody love food so of course Corey and I bought up an array of snacks for the ride. I mainly ate fruits such as bananas and strawberries, although each thing I ate got destroyed and smooshed in my hand for each contraction. (Funny story; Corey dropped my strawberries on the ground, seen my disappointment and asked if he should wash them in the sink. As you could imagine, I wasn’t going to eat strawberries that were dropped on the hospital floor just as I had given birth. Sorry, Honey.. but no).
As for the gas, it was probably the only medication I wanted to try, although I completely forgot about it and screamed for the epidural 5 contractions in. My Midwife said “You haven’t even tried the gas yet” and handed me the mouth piece. Straight away I hated it, I can’t even tell you why.. all I know was that in my head it wasn’t working even though it was cranked up to its full potential. BUT, you want to know what did work with the gas? The mouth piece. You can bite down on that sucker and IT WORKED. When you’re in Labour, chances are you might scream. Screaming although might seem to help but it is a big energy waster. Instead of your body moving all of your energy to your lower half, you’re releasing it in a high pitch squeal that might not really get you anywhere. My tip? Bite down on the mouth piece and when you push put your chin down, bite the mouth piece and basically growl/grunt. This deeper tone allows you to push. Think about it; whilst you’re sitting here reading this, do a silent scream in your head.. now grunt. Do you feel how the grunt is more in your lower half of your body? Use this to your advantage! And even better, you could take the tank into the shower with you!
Sterile water injections are a method of relief (mainly for back pain in Labour) that is meant to have safe and effective relief. It is completed by injecting the sterile water under the skin in four different locations near the sacrum. The injection has a short sting but is said to pass after 30 seconds of administration. Once again, with my phobia of needles this wasn’t something I thought about but here is a bit of information If you may be interested;
- No effect on mother's state of consciousness.
- No effect on baby.Does not limit mobility.
- Does not adversely effect Labour progress.
- A simple procedure that can be administered by your midwife.
- Can be repeated as needed.
NOW, if you do manage to get to 8cms without the medication your biggest help from here is yourself, in particular your MIND. I pushed and boy did I feel the burn and so many times I said I couldn’t do it.. that it hurt too much. It’s at this phase you might start to realise you’re losing control mentally and you become inconsolable and from here you might struggle to get out of that state of mind. You’ve got the pressure, the burn, the emotions and the exhaustion. It’s NOW that you have to be at your strongest. Each contraction that would pass I would push, feel the burn and stop pushing. Eevie would just suck right back up there and this only caused one thing; that it wasn’t ending and I was beginning to prolong my Labour, not to mention it was the biggest kick in the gut because you felt as though you were trying so hard. This happened a few times until I said in my head “You’ll be stuck here forever if you don’t do something about this. You need to push past the burn and it will all be over”. Let me tell you ladies, once that head is out, the burn seems to go away. It’s the hardest part of your Labour and the biggest relief when its out. From here, 3 more pushes which seemed to be a tad more effortless and she was born. If I had continued to lose myself mentally, I don’t know how I would have survived (not literally). When you’re in transitional, its not like the movies. You’re not focusing on your support systems even though they are cheering you on like you’re running a relay. ITS ALL YOU and YOU are the one that needs to take control and for me, it was all in my head. If I continued to say I couldn’t do it, I would have struggled. I was my OWN biggest support system in that room and only I was the one who could change my thought process and for this, I did it. It was my biggest help and I am so proud of myself.
I recommend speaking to your midwife about your options, especially if you want a drug free Labour. This will teach you what your options are and allow you to put things in place if you want a birth plan. If you did want a drug free Labour and it didn’t plan out that way- IT IS SOOO OKAY! You did everything you could and you recognised that you needed help. This was the best thing for you to do as it eliminates the stress that both yourself and your baby would encounter. Good on you!
For all the women about to give birth, be strong in yourself mentally and physically. Absorb the moment (even though its easier said than done). The pain is over as soon as you birth your baby (literally, I couldn’t feel a single thing).
For post-labour pain, the hospital will generally give you analgesia. In my case, I was administered Ponstan. If you didn’t know, this is available at the chemist over the counter. I got a box after leaving the hospital as a “just in case” measure. Fortunately, I didn’t need it, but for that first post-natal period, you might just need it 😉
- Sarah.
