The thing women fear the most during childbirth is PAIN!

Planning, Practice and Support Planning ahead, practising comfort measures during pregnancy and having a good support system all help to reduce the PAIN of childbirth.

Planning

Everyone experiences the pain and discomfort of childbirth differently. It is important to get as much information as possible on the different types of comfort measures available.

Some comfort measures will work for some women and not for others.

Normal labour can last from 12 to 24 hours for first time moms. Most women use several different types of comfort measures throughout their labour and delivery even if they choose an epidural.

Here is a list of comfort measures to consider:

• Relaxation techniques
• Comfort positions
• Breathing techniques
• Massage
• Medication (e.g., epidural, analgesics)
• Hypnosis
• TENS (transcutaneous electronic nerve stimulation) units
• Acupuncture
• Water baths

The following two websites provide an overview of the most common comfort measures:

 Healthy Pregnancy…. Healthy Baby

• The home page of this website is in French.  The will take you to the English section. Look under “Healthy Birthing (relaxation, positions, massage, back pain, breathing, and pain relief)” for comfort measures.

 Women’s Health Matters - Childbirth

• Look under “Coping with Pain” for comfort measures.

Practice

The more comfortable you are in using comfort measures, the more effective they will be during labour and childbirth. Comfort measures such as relaxation techniques, comfort positions, breathing techniques, massage, and hypnosis require practice while other comfort measures such as medications, acupuncture, TENS and water baths require knowledge on how to use them.  

During labour:

• Set aside time regularly to practise comfort measures
• Learn as many comfort measures as possible so you will have a variety of strategies to draw on during labour
• Find out which comfort measures seem to be the most effective for you
• Practise the comfort measures regularly with your labour support person(s)

Support

It is important to have support during labour and childbirth. The most common labour support person is the father of the baby. Many women choose to have a friend or relative also accompany them. Check with your local hospital to determine how many labour support people are allowed in the labour and birthing rooms. Some women choose to purchase the services of a doula during childbirth.  To find out about doulas and to locate one in your area go to www.dona.org

The role of the labour support person is to:

1. Read and learn about all the things that can be done to help support mom during childbirth
2. Practise a variety of comfort measures with mom during pregnancy
3. Be aware of mom’s choices for pain relief and advocate for her choices with the hospital staff
4. Help mom with the comfort measures (breathing, relaxation, positions, etc.) during childbirth
5. Offer comfort, support and encouragement during childbirth

 The following two websites provide more information for labour support persons:

Women’s Health Matters - Providing Support during Labour

Healthy Pregnancy…. Healthy Baby - The Guide to Labour and Delivery

• The guide can be found at the bottom of the Departure section. The guide goes through the stages of labour and provide ideas on what mom can do and what the labour support person can do during each stage.