What childbirth technique are you using?

kelnyc · June 2012

Our Childbirth Prep class today was awful and I feel more defeated and unprepared than before.

Any good programs or resources for breathing and/or relaxation techniques would be greatly appreciated.

noah-bear · June 2012

I will just be doing whatever gets LO out, lol. Didnt study/read any methods with DS and did pretty well. No classes either.

bsschroeder · June 2012

noah-bear:
I will just be doing whatever gets LO out, lol. Didnt study/read any methods with DS and did pretty well. No classes either.

same here... no classes, no books... just kinda gona go with the flow...

DemoDoll · June 2012

We aren't attending a child birth class. SIL had a birthing cd with two parts that we watched, which was very informational. I plan to get an epidural if needed so I don't really plan on doing any breathing techniques. I am considering reading the book Ina May's Guide to Childbirth because I've heard so many good things about it. I think it might have techniques in it but I'm mainly thinking about reading it because I've heard she is really good at describing the birth process and how our bodies are made to handle it.

ChibiMommy · June 2012

I just read about labor pain coping techniques and went with that. I ended up spending most of transition in the shower. DH and I sang together through contractions at the end of transition and during birth. It really helps to have a focus point and for me that was staring at his face and focusing on remembering the words to whatever song was playing at the time. I remember yelling at DH to turn on MY music which was code for On an Island album by Dave Gilmore.

Mrs_Bennett · June 2012

We took a childbirth class before DS was born, and I'm pretty sure that I didn't refer back to anything from the class while I was actually in labor. I did have an epidural, but before that, I just focused on breathing through the contractions--no counting or puffing, just breathing myself through the pain! While I was pushing, the nurse sort of "coached" me on when/how to breathe with the contractions, but it certainly wasn't anything that needed to be learned/practiced beforehand.

This time around, I am planning to attend a class on natural methods of dealing with the pain, so we'll see if that helps at all. I was induced the last time, so I got my epi pretty early on--hoping to labor naturally this time around, but not opposed to another epi. I am interested in the natural methods because I'd like to stay at home for the majority of my labor if possible.

skooz · June 2012

The teacher in our childbirth class recommended looking up Comfort in Labor by Penny Skimkin. There's a link to the handout (it's free to download) on this website. I haven't read the whole thing yet, but it does look like she gives several strategies for coping. Sorry your class experience wasn't better. I'm also reading Ina May's Guide to Childbirth and Natural Hospital Birth (this one doesn't focus very much on actual relaxation techniques).

kelnyc · June 2012

You guys have certainly made me feel better, thank you! I just have issues with anxiety and usually ward that off by being as prepared as possible, which is why today's failure upset me. I think I'll read up a bit and that should help.

xo

pugznploons · June 2012

are you wanting to go med free or get an epidural?

noah-bear · June 2012

kelnyc:
You guys have certainly made me feel better, thank you! I just have issues with anxiety and usually ward that off by being as prepared as possible, which is why today's failure upset me. I think I'll read up a bit and that should help.
xo

you can take all the classes and read all the books and never feel/be fully prepared. This is the start to something really out of anyones control. All you can do is take it a minute at a time.

kelnyc · June 2012

pugznploons:
are you wanting to go med free or get an epidural?

I'm very much open to the epi.

kelnyc · June 2012

noah-bear:
kelnyc:
You guys have certainly made me feel better, thank you! I just have issues with anxiety and usually ward that off by being as prepared as possible, which is why today's failure upset me. I think I'll read up a bit and that should help.
xo
you can take all the classes and read all the books and never feel/be fully prepared. This is the start to something really out of anyones control. All you can do is take it a minute at a time.

Very true, but that's why having something to at least make me *feel* more prepared, or something I can practice to give myself some confidence that I've done all I can to get ready for something so uncontrollable is so important to me. I know I may throw it all out the window when the time actually comes, but I still need to put in that effort to not feel so anxious about it. KWIM?

allardr · June 2012

noah-bear:
I will just be doing whatever gets LO out, lol. Didnt study/read any methods.

This is my plan as a FTM, though I did take a general class. But it covered everything from labor to postpartum care to infant care so nothing in depth for labor. I'll just go with the flow. I figure reading/studying would just make me stress more. Guess it depends one's personality...

ljanette85 · June 2012

no classes... i have read a few books by ina may gaskin, lots of positive birth stories. i also ordered a book on hypno-birthing... other than that Im just positive that I can do this and that there is nothing to fear

also, a tour of the hospital was very useful!

lily225 · June 2012

For our first I just took the hospital course. It did me alright, I got through without meds. But I felt a little bit out of control and not totally on top of it. So before my second I read the bradley method book and talked to a friend about some visualization, and between the two my second labor went much better. DH actually told people for a long time that it wasn't as painful for me, which was his (incorrect) explanation of why I was so much more calm and quiet. It really did help me a lot.

(I really focused on the pain doing a good thing - dilating my cervix so my baby could come out sooner. So I really focused on keeping my hips and pelvic area relaxed and open during contractions and actually visualized my cervix dilating and baby coming down with each contraction. I would get upset/disappointed if I couldn't keep relaxed because I knew it was being counter-productive and just dragging out the pain.)

irer · June 2012

noah-bear:
I will just be doing whatever gets LO out, lol. Didnt study/read any methods with DS and did pretty well. No classes either.

This. My midwives and nurses were great coaches, too, so I just listened to them and had no problems.

ETA: I just saw that you are open to an epidural. I was, too, and plan on getting one this time as well. You will be fine for sure then w/o classes/books. One thing that did help me more than anything was to watch videos of childbirth (real ones, not overly dramatized ones) to know what I could possibly be in for...everyone is different but I found that watching some births ahead of time took some fear of the unknown away.

ndruley · June 2012

Have you thought about taking a prenatal yoga class? I go to a class and she teaches us both different breathing techniques and lots of "good" laboring positions (if there is such a thing Wink

). Anyway, if you have any prenatal yoga classes in your area you might want to see if that is something that would help you especially if you have anxiety. HTH!

lady_tytah · June 2012

With my daughter I just read a book...Holistic Childbirth. It had plenty of useful yoga stances to help ease pains while carrying and through labor. I wish I had just bought the book instead of only checking it out of the library. I cant even find the book anymore. Other than that...nothing else.
This time I am actually going to apply more of the holistic/med-free practices.

GenieBK · June 2012

I really enjoyed the book "The Best Birth" by Sarah McMoyler. GL!

fullogirl · June 2012

Thanks for posting, ours was also today and we must have had the same experience. They lady just read from this book and asked us if we had any questions.

I feel just deflated as I was hoping that I would atleast have some questions after but now I am just more concerned.

princessyetz · June 2012

We are taking Bradley classes. I know some people do not care for Bradley, but we are half way through the class series and are loving it! I wanted to do Bradley because I am one of those people that likes a lot of information (it helps to ease anxiety for me). Then I take what I can use and leave the rest.