Comfort Measures for Childbirth Pain Relief

Often when I chat about labour and birth to friends, the feelings of fear and anxiety come up a lot. Childbirth pain is commonly compared to as one of the toughest, most painful experiences in life. There may be some truth to that, but what if I told you that there are very simple and effective ways to manage pain in labour? Let’s be real, you already know that’s what this blog is about, so read on, friend!

What’s happening during childbirth?

Though there are lots of intricacies at work during labour and birth, for the purposes of keeping this blog relatively short, I would like to focus on one key area: hormones. More specifically, oxytocin and cortisol!

Known as the “hormone of love”, oxytocin is a key player when it comes to labour and birth (during conception and after birth as well!). Oxytocin triggers labour to start by sending signals to the cervix to dilate (open more). As the uterus contracts and cervix dilates, the baby will move farther down the birth canal. As baby’s body pushes on the cervix, the nerve impulses from the cervix signal the brain to produce more oxytocin. This cycle continues until the cervix is fully dilated and baby makes their way out.

The above scenario, however, is an ideal, textbook situation. There are many factors that can inhibit oxytocin from being produced, which instead can result in the production of the “stress hormone” cortisol. Simply, anything that can cause the birthing person stress, anxiety, fear, etc. may stall the oxytocin cycle in labour. If the oxytocin cycle stalls, the birther may experience more pressure, tension, and pain, and the duration of labour may be prolonged. I’m going to assume that no one wants a longer, more painful labour, so… enter comfort measures!

What are comfort measures for childbirth?

Naturally, uterine contractions and cervical dilation can be uncomfortable. For first time birthers, the new sensations and unknown environment can understandably cause fear, anxiety, and/or stress. To manage these feelings, comfort measures can be applied to help keep the stress and pain levels as low as possible.  A continuously effective oxytocin cycle during labour may also result in a shorter duration too!

There are heaps of techniques that could be used during labour to keep one calm and comfortable. Here, I share with you a glimpse of some of the techniques and tools that I as a labour/birth doula often refer to.

Labour Environment

One of the first activities that I get my birth clients to do is to brainstorm what factors go into their ideal calm and comforting environment. Whether they plan to deliver their baby at hospital, home, or birthing centre, there are many things that can be manipulated or added. For example:

• Do you prefer dimmer or brighter lights? How about natural light or neon lights?
• What colours bring you comfort? One person may be more drawn to pastel palettes, while others may prefer bright colours!
• Are there certain scents that bring you comfort? How about lavender, citrus, or eucalyptus? Fresh linen, coffee, coconut?
• What type of sounds calm you? Is it sounds of waves on a breezy beach? Or upbeat pop? Maybe country music? Very explicit rap music?

All of the items above can be incorporated into your labour environment to bring you comfort!

Words of Encouragement/Affirmations

Words are so powerful, both when they’re being said to you, as well as when you’re saying them to yourself. Hearing positive and empowering words can help you dispel your self-doubting and negative thoughts to overcome any challenge. A few examples of affirmations that you may practice are:

• “My surges cannot be stronger than me, because they are me”
• “My courage is stronger than my fear”
• “Each contraction brings me closer to meeting my baby”

In our prenatal meetings, I also encourage your partner to practice their own affirmations, and guide them to support you with words of encouragement to help you through the remainder of the pregnancy and labour.

And of course, you can expect your doula to coach you through your labour with words of encouragement too! You’ve got this!

Physical techniques

Labour is a physically intensive process; there’s no doubt about that. Thankfully, there are lots of ways to provide physical comfort to the birthing person! Some of my favourite physical comfort measures for labour are:

• Movement – dancing, walking, squatting, and kneeling – are all techniques that help open the hips and encourage baby to come down
• Using a rebozo to relieve back pressure, to help relax ligaments and muscles to encourage baby into a better position, and to refocus
• Keeping you hydrated and nourished throughout your labour

Breathing Exercises

Fun fact: The tension in your jaw is indicative of the tension in your pelvic floor. Upon reading that, did you consciously relax your jaw? If so, did you also notice a change in your pelvic area? If you’re someone like me who holds tension in their jaw, that activity should have helped you notice the direct relationship between the state of our jaw and pelvic floor.

Going back to discussing childbirth… the tenser your pelvic floor is during labour, the harder it is for your baby to descend and come out! That could be problematic, huh?

There are a plethora of breathing exercises that you can use as comfort measures for your labour, but a few of my favourites are:

• Finger breathing
• Horse lips
• Breathing your baby down

Intrigued by what exactly the above techniques are? We’ll go over them along with many more in my bag of tricks in our prenatal meetings and practice your favourites at your labour!

How does a doula help during pregnancy and childbirth?

I hope that the teaser of techniques I’ve shared above has given you some insight on the different ways that you can seek comfort during your labour to relieve pain, and possibly even shorten its duration.

As a labour/birth doula, the first line of comfort that I offer my clients is of course on-going guidance and coaching. After meeting with my clients at least twice before the birth, I’m able to read my clients’ needs on the spot and can readily offer different options for comfort.

Not only do my clients get their own personal childbirth coach, but I also gift all of my clients their own comfort measures kit during our prenatal meetings. This allows my clients to familiarize themselves with some pocket-sized comfort tools before their labour, and they can keep the items for future use too! I may also bring my own tools tailored to each clients’ preferences for comfort.

If you’re curious about how I can help you through your pregnancy and childbirth, please contact me for a free consultation – coffee/tea on me! You can also view my up-to-date availability in my Instagram Story Highlights here.

I also invite you to follow me on Facebook and Pinterest for more birth and postpartum related content!

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