There are many different ways to cope with the pain of childbirth. When it comes to a drug free birth, you have your choice of Lamaze, the Bradley Method, acupuncture, hypnosis, yoga, meditation, walking, massage, taking a bath or shower, or distracting yourself. I largely credit my ability to cope with the pain of childbirth to two things: prayer and the Bradley Method.
I had taken a childbirth class through the hospital that loosely followed the Lamaze method, focusing on patterned breathing and relaxation. A few weeks before I gave birth to my son, however, we enjoyed dinner and conversation with friends and got on the topic of labor pain. My friend had used the Bradley method, and she quickly fished out a book on the subject for me to borrow. I read through the book and decided to give both methods a shot.
For me, the Bradley method, which encourages controlled natural breathing as opposed to patterned breathing, worked much better. It was much easier to relax my muscles while breathing naturally than it was to try to and relax while focusing on my breathing pattern. I found that distraction only made my pain worse, not better. As the contractions came on stronger, I imagined all my muscles letting go and visualized my baby moving down the birth canal. I told my body I was experiencing pressure, not pain. Believe it or not, it worked! I might go as far as saying it worked a little too well, since they repeatedly had to turn down the Pitocin so my labor wouldn’t progress too fast. Tension can halt labor altogether, and it seems that the complete relaxation sped it up.
There is more to labor than pain, however. A large part of it involves endurance because it is a long and tiring process. I relied on prayer to get through this aspect of labor. As I moved into transitional labor, I questioned whether I had the strength to finish, and it was the peace I received through prayer that encouraged me to take it one moment at a time.
After my son was born, I reflected on the experience and realized it had not been as traumatic or painful as I had expected. I discovered that my friends’ advice was true: our bodies are made to do this! Natural childbirth is empowering and exciting. Tomorrow I will talk more about what childbirth truly felt like without pain medication…
