Secrets to a Great Birth: Relaxation
What makes a great birth? The definition of “a great birth” may be different for every woman. Most women who are planning a vaginal delivery though may be hoping for less painful contractions. A large percentage of women will get an epidural or some other pain medication to achieve this. But since no woman can get an epidural before labor starts and many other women want to have a natural childbirth, every pregnant woman should learn how to make contractions easier.
So one of the secrets to a great birth is having easier contractions. Sounds pretty simple, right? Everyone should be able to do it! But it takes some practice. And what pregnant women have to practice is relaxation. As a general rule, people in our society have problems relaxing because we feel like we should always be accomplishing something. During pregnancy, you have to set that aside. Your relaxation is accomplishing something: it’s going to help you accomplish a great birth!
The Basics of Relaxation
The first step to learning how to relax is to get into a relaxing position. The side relaxation position can be particularly helpful for this. Next, start some nice, relaxing abdominal breathing. You basically drop your mouth open, breath in and out through your mouth, and focus on your abdomen rising and falling with each breath. Worry not, mouth breathing is socially acceptable for women in labor.
The final step is the actual relaxation. Have your partner participate, if possible. You’ll start by tensing a random part of your body, and then deliberately relaxing it. Try this several times with different areas of your body. In this way, you (and your partner) can start to learn the difference between how it feels to be tense and how it feels to be relaxed. When you’ve relaxed your entire body, try to remain in your relaxed, abdominal breathing state for another five minutes. If your partner is in a generous mood, maybe you’ll get a back rub for those five minutes.
This is obviously Relaxation 101.
It’s important to learn the very basics of what relaxation is if you want to be able to relax even during labor contractions. If this was just too simple for you, then you must already be fantastic at relaxation – so stay tuned for more advanced relaxation techniques! If it wasn’t too simple, keep practicing. And still stay tuned for more relaxation techniques.
There is a practically endless array of relaxation techniques that will help make contractions easier. After you find the ones that work for you, you can keep practicing those for the rest of your pregnancy and hopefully have the birth experience you want.
Jump to Relaxation Techniques: Mental Relaxation to learn more advanced relaxation techniques!
