How to reduce pain during childbirth? Tips on how to reduce pain during childbirth

Many mothers choose natural childbirth for the growth and development of their babies, but not all mothers can endure the pain of natural childbirth. Today I will tell you how to reduce the pain during natural childbirth.

How to reduce pain during childbirth

Relief method 1. Massage or acupressure

The benefits of massage include helping muscles relax, relieving pain, reducing anxiety, increasing comfort and promoting blood circulation. It does not necessarily require special techniques. As long as the husband or family members accompanying the mother in childbirth massage the mother's back, hands or feet with a force acceptable to the mother, muscle tension can be relieved. If it is combined with appropriate essential oils, the effect will be even better. Acupressure is also used in clinical nursing to improve labor pain and shorten the labor process, because acupressure uses the fingertips, thumbs or knuckles to press acupoints, including: Ba Liao (on the sacrum), Hegu (3 horizontal fingers or two inches between the thumb and index finger), Sanyinjiao (three inches above the inner side of the ankle bone on the back of the tibia), thereby achieving the effect of regulating qi and blood and relieving pain. Because it is a non-invasive, convenient and highly safe method, it is quite suitable for use in maternal care.

Slowing down method 2. Music

Music can also help people relax. Pregnant women can save their favorite music in the device in advance and listen to it when they are waiting for delivery to relieve their nervousness. Once, a man who came to accompany the delivery took out the relevant audio equipment and connected it to the existing TV in the delivery room as soon as he entered the delivery room. He did not need the help of the nursing staff at all, and soon the pregnant woman was intoxicated by the pleasant music.

Mitigation method 3. Get out of bed and move around

When a woman is about to give birth, unless her water has broken but the fetal head is still very high, she does not need to lie in bed all the time. She can get out of bed and walk around, stretch her muscles and bones, distract her attention, which may also help relieve labor pain.

Mitigation method 4. Hot and cold compresses (hot showers)

Cold compress, hot compress or taking a hot shower can relieve deep congestion, promote blood circulation, reduce short-term hypoxia and ischemia caused by congestion and contraction of the birth canal, muscle spasm, eliminate fatigue, and help reduce sensitivity to pain. The hospital's delivery room has independent bathroom facilities, which is convenient for mothers to relieve pain in this way. When entering the bathroom, someone must accompany the mother at all times to avoid dizziness and slipping accidents.

Mitigation method 5. Family or production staff accompany

The company of family members can provide the best support to the mother. We encourage husbands and family members who can accompany the mother during childbirth to attend the mother class before childbirth to understand the labor process and what they can do for the expectant mother, so as to help overcome pain and conserve energy until childbirth. There was a husband who came to accompany his wife during childbirth, but he had no idea what he could do. Therefore, he often told the nurses, "Please come in, my wife wants to see you," which lost the meaning of accompanying the mother during childbirth.

Ways to reduce pain during childbirth

Method 1. Anesthesia for labor pain

Epidural anesthesia is a type of anesthesia that uses anesthetics to temporarily relieve pain in the lower body of the mother, and is also a method used in general hospitals for painless delivery. Epidural anesthesia must be carefully timed so that the anesthesia effect wears off after the cervix is ​​fully dilated during the second stage of labor. Using this method, the mother may sometimes need to spend a longer time to push the fetus out.

Method 2. Doula

"Doula accompanying childbirth" means hiring a professional who has childbirth experience and rich obstetric knowledge to accompany the entire delivery process and provide psychological and physiological professional knowledge in a timely manner. These professionals are called "doulas". Doulas will guide and encourage the parturient on how to use force correctly, wipe the sweat for the parturient, and constantly give the parturient psychological support, giving the parturient a great sense of security, which can relieve some pain to a certain extent. When the parturient is in pain, the doula will also help with massage. During contractions, you may like to massage the bottom of your back, or like to massage your shoulders during the intervals between contractions. You can tell the doula. And tell her to massage slowly. If her massage is too intense, you will panic, and that is not relaxation. So be sure to tell the doula your true feelings in time.

Method 3. Get some rest

If you rush around and exhaust yourself in the early stages of labor, you will find that you have no energy to cope with the painful contractions when the labor begins. Therefore, you should rest well and conserve your energy in the early stages of labor. You can lie on a bed or a chair and make yourself as comfortable as possible. You can put pillows and cushions around your body, drink warm, sweet drinks or eat your favorite chocolate, listen to music to relax, or close your eyes and rest your mind, thinking about nothing, so that your whole body and mind can get as much rest as possible.

Method 4. Don’t stay in bed all the time

If you are not particularly tired, try not to lie down in bed when you start to feel the pain of labor with regular contractions. If you lie down all the time, it will slow down the labor process. The longer the labor process, the more tired you will be. Stay upright. You can choose any position that makes you feel most comfortable: you can stand up and lean against the bed or your husband; you can kneel down and lean against the seat of a chair; or kneel on one knee and lift the other leg up, which can increase the pelvic space and make it easier for the baby to be born; you can also get on all fours and lie on the ground, which can relieve back pain.

When the contractions are not yet intense, moving your body around, such as pacing back and forth, will be more comfortable than lying in bed all the time. Getting out of bed and walking around the hospital may also help to calm your emotions.

Method 5. Distraction

The technique of distraction is to choose one thing as a focus, let the mother focus on it, divert her attention from the pain and discomfort caused by uterine contractions, and increase her tolerance to pain. Mothers can carry books or magazines with knowledge related to childbirth, which will help them stay calm and panic, and read them when needed. Mothers in labor pain can also try playing handheld electronic games, because playing games with games can make them forget the pain temporarily.

Method 6. Adjust your breathing rate

When distraction methods can no longer help mothers relieve the discomfort of childbirth, focusing on your breathing is a good way to get through each contraction. You can choose "slow-chest breathing", the frequency of which is 1/2 of normal breathing. As the frequency and intensity of contractions increase, you can choose "shallow breathing", the frequency of which is about 2 times of normal breathing. When entering the first stage of labor transition, generally use panting-blowing breathing, blowing one breath after 4 short and shallow breaths. This ratio can also rise to 6:1 or 8:1, but be careful to prevent overventilation. When using each breathing method, start with a deep breath and end with a deep breath.

Method 7. Husband’s love

When a woman gives birth, if there is someone close to her to comfort and accompany her, the birth will be faster and easier than without such care. After accompanying your wife into the delivery room, watching her in labor pains, as a husband, don’t you want to do something to help her? The company of the husband is conducive to the emotional stability of the wife during childbirth. At this time, the husband can apply a certain degree of force near the wife’s waist, massage up and down, left and right, or press the anus hard. When pressing the back and waist, the thumb can be used to press strongly, and the wife can cooperate with the husband’s massage to inhale when relaxing and exhale when pressing. In addition to the husband, you can also choose your sister, mother or best friend to accompany you.

Method 8. Carry some small items

Ice pack: When you are sweating due to pain, you can apply an ice pack on your forehead or around your neck to make yourself feel cooler.

Towel: Towels can not only be used to wipe sweat, but some mothers also think that they can be held in the hands or bitten in the mouth. In addition, they can also be used to cover one's hideous face due to pain. It can be said to be the number one good product for safe delivery.

Fan: When you are close to giving birth, you will often sweat all over because of enduring the pain. You can carry a fan with you and ask the person accompanying you to fan you.

Skills and methods for normal childbirth

1. Don't push too hard at the beginning. It has to be said that giving birth is very painful for women, which is hard to describe. Generally, when contractions come, people can't help but push hard, but remember not to push hard. Use breathing to relieve pain, breathe according to the strength of contractions, relax, and don't grab and command to push hard. If you push hard in the first process, it will not only slow down the opening of the cervix, but also make you exhausted.

2. You must eat well. Giving birth is a physically demanding process and takes a long time, sometimes even one or two days. So you must eat well. If you don’t eat, you won’t be able to hold on to the end, and if you don’t have the energy to give birth, then all your efforts will be in vain.

3. Don’t shout or scream during the delivery process, unlike what is shown on TV. Screaming or screaming will not only waste your energy but may also cause bloating and discomfort, which will continue even after delivery.

4. If your water breaks during childbirth, you will have to use adult diapers and you cannot go to the toilet to pee. You can only lie in bed to solve all problems. At this time, you must relax and pee naturally in the diaper, otherwise you will need the assistance of a catheter, which increases the risk of urinary tract infection.

5. Be sure to take a good bath and wash your hair before giving birth, because you will be very tired after giving birth and it is impossible to wash immediately, and your body will be very dirty.