Secrets to a Great Birth: Abdominal Breathing
Breathe in, breathe out. Abdominal breathing. It may seem like breathing is mentioned a lot throughout these posts and that’s because it’s important! Although it seems like common sense now, it’s much harder to remember to breathe during labor. You’ll need to set aside dedicated practice time before labor. So lay down, clear your mind, and start practicing some seriously relaxing abdominal breathing.
Pick your position to practice breathing
The first step is to pick the labor position in which you would like to practice. Starting off, you should probably assume the side lying position as it’s automatically relaxing. After you’ve advanced more in your ability to relax and breathe, you can use other labor positions to practice. For now, simply lay down on your left side with a pillow under your head. Place another between your knees and put your arms in a comfortable position.
Close your eyes, open your mouth
The next step is to close your eyes and open your mouth. At least for labor, being a mouth breather is the key to the most relaxing version of abdominal breathing. When you open your mouth, you’re automatically relaxing your jaw, which is an area you might tense without realizing it. It’s also easier to take deeper breaths through your open mouth rather than your nose.
Now start breathing through your abdomen
Wait, you might be saying… my lungs aren’t in my abdomen. Well, you’re right! To be completely correct, you’ll be using diaphragmatic breathing. This means that rather than using chest breathing, which is what most adults do, you’ll be using the full capacity of your lungs. By allowing your abdomen to rise when you breathe, your diaphragm will contract down. This allows your lungs to fully expand with each breath. Since most people can focus their attention more easily on the abdomen, we’ll call it abdominal breathing for simplicity’s sake.
Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way… on to the breathing!
Take a deep, even breath in through your mouth and focus on your abdomen rising. When you’ve fully inhaled, exhale through your mouth and focus on your abdomen falling. Repeat many times. As you continue breathing, allow your body to begin relaxing, starting with your shoulders, then proceeding down your arms, and finally relaxing your legs and feet.
Why do abdominal breathing?
Since relaxation is the key to an easier labor, it just makes sense to use abdominal breathing. The vast majority of women find abdominal breathing much more relaxing than any other type of breathing technique, including chest breathing and “hee hee hoo” breathing. There are several other additional benefits. Abdominal breathing uses less energy than either of the other techniques so you can save your energy for the rest of labor. It also lowers your blood pressure, which is great for your baby because a higher blood pressure decreases blood flow to your placenta. Finally, it helps you take in more oxygen, even during a contraction. The “hee hee hoo” breathing technique in particular is known for decreasing your oxygen levels, which also decreases your baby’s oxygen levels.
But is abdominal breathing really the best?
The best breathing technique is the one that relaxes you the most. You’ll have plenty of contractions in your future, so you can practice abdominal breathing, chest breathing, and “hee hee hoo” breathing and see what works best for you. If the breathing method you ultimately choose relaxes you, then it’s the right one for you to use. But remember to keep practicing your breathing in your upcoming weeks so you can be as well prepared as possible to breathe during labor.
