Learning to breathe/relax without a class?

BeachMama7693 · April 2013

Hello all. I mostly just lurk here. I am due in October and would like to attempt a med free birth. With my first I went med free until I was almost 9 centimeters then got an Epi. I do remember having a lot of trouble relaxing and I held my breath a lot during contractions. Can anyone recommend books, videos, etc that would help me, I was interested in taking the Bradley class in my area but do not want to spend the 350 bucks that it costs. Thanks in advance!

tokenhoser · April 2013

Prenatal yoga helped me with breathing and relaxation. It would also help to have your partner just remind you to breathe.

aylafsu88 · April 2013

I took the Bradley class and love it. They really stress relaxing by visualization or having someone tell you a story. I used some visualization. When I would have a contraction I would visualize something I found relaxing. For me

AmyRI · April 2013

Definitely prenatal yoga. It helps with relaxing your body and maintaining breath patterns.

opheliainwaders · April 2013

I get nervous in medical situations, so I've been practicing relaxation exercises (not specifically oriented toward birth, but general ones) - if you google, Dartmouth University has some good, free downloads. (something like "relaxation exercise Dartmout

lioness13 · April 2013

The hypnobirthing book is helpful too. It comes with

JCWhitey · April 2013

There are a lot of home study courses out there. Hypnobabies, GentleBirth, BlissBorn, The Pink Method, etc. They require some dedication on your part, but are a great way to affordable get a class without having to attend a class.

nosoup4u · April 2013

Another for prenatal yoga! It helped me with both labors. Music helped during my first, too, but after transition I didn't want or need it. Have you read Birthing From Within? It covers a lot of commonbbirths fears, may be helpful.

CLLDLL · April 2013

Congrats! I had my LO in Oct. of 2012, natural, without taking any NB specific classes.

I agree with prenatal yoga. I also read the Hypnobirthing book, but didn't actually do much practicing of the relaxation/pain management te

botanicalbliss · April 2013

Check out the book The Bradley Method of Natural Childbirth. It teaches you basically the same stuff a class does, but you will need to practice practice practice! DH and I opted for the class because we are slackers if we aren't held accou

hamiltks10 · April 2013

Another vote for yoga.

ClaireOtoms · April 2013

Hi! Stick out tongue

Prenatal yoga (in person or DVDs) will definitely cover that deep breathing that you need for total relaxation. At transition (usually ar

MermaidNM · April 2013

I could have written your post. I had no idea I was at 9cm when I got my epi and think I could have held out if I had known how close I was. Then the epi stopped my labor.

I am doing prenatal yoga and the

Want a personalized experience?

Learning to breathe/relax without a class?

Re: Learning to breathe/relax without a class?

Choose Another Board

Search Boards