childbirth classes and the ice exercise?

Rolos_girl · June 2009

did you do the exercise where you hold the ice cube?

it is suppose to show you how the pain/discomfort is less if you are distracted or focus on something during ctx.

what did you think?

I think some people mentioned they didn;t like, but it worked really well in one of my friend's class.

Did you find it helpful?

Just wanted thoughts of the majority....

thanks!

FrickandFrack · June 2009

Nope, didn't have this exercise in my class.

browneyes_24b · June 2009

I'm curious. What is the exercise?

Squishycheeks · June 2009

We've used a bowl of ice water. It definately makes it harder to concentrate!

BaumMom · June 2009

We did this in our Bradley class to try to show us how hard it is to be relaxed when you are uncomfortable. We had to squeeze the ice cube in our hand for one minute while DH "coached" us through the "contraction". It was interesting, and I think it was good practice.?

Rolos_girl · June 2009

you have soft music playing. i will ask patients in class before this one to birng something to class that comforts them.....a picture for a focal point, candle for aromatherapy, etc.........

You hold the ice without any distractions for 1 min ( about the length of a ctx)

Then hold it while focusing on whatever comforts you........

usually the discomfort of holding the ice cube is less the second time because you are distracted

LillyWife78 · June 2009

We did the ice/pain exercise in my birthing class where we held an ice cube against the inside of our wrists for a minute or so, and tried breathing through the pain/using other natural pain relief techniques. Here's what I learned:

I have a low tolerance for pain
It annoys me when DH speaks to me or touches me when I'm in pain.
I suck at "focusing on something else" when I'm in pain.
I'll likely be screaming for an epidural when I go in to labor.

Not sure if that was the intention of the exercise, but that's what I got out of it!

There were other women in my class who did not find it too painful, or who were able to cope better than I was.

327way · June 2009

I thought it was really cool... and decided at that point, we're definitely doing the music and the breathing.

Basically, we were able to hold the ice for twice as long and it was not as painful when we were breathing and listening to music through the "contraction."

Still planning on the drugs.

Rolos_girl · June 2009

Squishycheeks:
We've used a bowl of ice water. It definately makes it harder to concentrate!

yeah, it is! Did you find it helpful?

tneromills329 · June 2009

We didnt do this in our class

PuppyMommy · June 2009

We did the same type of exercise, but instead of ice, they had our DH's pinch our arms. FUN!

I had to laugh b/c after the class, my Mom asked if we did the pinching thing. I guess they haven't changed much since she took the class 33 years ago.

outnumbered · June 2009

I did this when I took childbirth classes with baby number 1. Fun exercise in class, but had no impact when it came to giving birth.

aroberts7106 · June 2009

We did it....we all had to hold a bunch of small little ice cubes for one minute....doing the breathing and focusing did help a little bit, and it was neat to see DH be so uncomfortable for a whole minute!

Squishycheeks · June 2009

Rolos_girl:

Squishycheeks:
We've used a bowl of ice water. It definately makes it harder to concentrate!

yeah, it is! Did you find it helpful?

Sounds silly, but I do think it helped me personally. It's easy to practice relaxing when you're comfy, but add a small amount of pain (and it hurts after a minute lol!) and you've gotta try to focus.

Our instructor also suggested using clothespins Tongue Tied

calex33 · June 2009

We did this. I don't know if it was helpful, but I thought it was definitely an interesting way to simulate how difficult it will be to focus on something other than the pain. We had to hold a handful of crushed ice for 45 seconds while DH tried to massage and soothe us. The first time we did it, we were told to keep our eyes open. The second time, we were told to close our eyes. It was definitely "easier" with my eyes closed.

ashdash5 · June 2009

We did the ice cube thing in our Lamaze class--it was good to practice relaxing while something is distracting you. Some of the girls in the class thought it was uncomfortable, but it really didn't bother me too much to squeeze the ice (I'm hoping that means I have a high pain tolerance!).

GypsyEsq · June 2009

We did it. On the one hand I felt like surely ice in the hand would be a poor facsimile of an actual contraction. On the other hand, the point was that being focused on something else would take your mind off the pain (and yes, the ice was cold enough to be painful to me) and that part was true. Even better I learned that focusing on an item with eyes open didn't work for me at all, inward focusing, measured breathing and having DH rub my back were all far better "distractions". So in the end I found it useful/helpful.

Lopo · June 2009

We did that exercise. I thought is was an interesting approach to get yourself to focus on something else...be it your breathing, your body position or your DH. So overall, I liked it!

jetgrrrl · June 2009

I thought it was the most useful excercise we did. The first time we held the ice, our instructor told us to focus on the discomfort, complain, etc. It felt like you were holding it FOREVER. Subsequently, breathing, visualizing, light massage, etc., made it go by much faster. Of course, your hands were getting numb too, but still. It definitely made the point that the discomfort is more bearable if you can focus your mind on something else.

MA&CB · June 2009

We did it in our class, but the ice didn't really do much for me - I didn't find it overly painful or uncomfortable either way, so I didn't really feel like I needed the relaxation exercises to get through it. I do think I have a pretty high pain tolerance, but the ice won't be comparable to labor at all, so it wasn't an overly helpful exercise for me personally. Maybe I'll try the pinching thing!

Soon2BMrsN · June 2009

No... and I've never heard of that exercise either!

GreenBride624 · June 2009

Squishycheeks:
We've used a bowl of ice water. It definately makes it harder to concentrate!

We did the ice cube thing.

A bowl of water would have made me want to pee my pants!

rebus82 · June 2009

No, she encouraged the husbands to pinch their wives on the elbow or knee. DH had a little too much fun with that.?

karelaorange · June 2009

We did it and I thought it was great. But we did it for ~15 minutes while she talked. The "contractions" slowly got longer, and I got better at distracting myself. It also taught me what I like dh to do in such situations.

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