Ease Labor Pain with What?

Music has saved my life,over and over again.
Photo taken in 2006, singing to my firstborn.

Studies have, for a long time, shown that deep breathing, mental imagery, deep massage or acupressure, and the presence of a constant companion or coach during labor can ease labor pains, making the miracle of birth more, well, enjoyable.

During the birth of my two sons, and with another one due to arrive in June, I have (and will) use all of these methods for pain management during labor.  However, that is not all I will use.

With both of my previous labors, each vastly different, I used one, well, two other tactics - both of which played a very important role and were equally effective in helping manage pain.

One is yoga, but that is a topic that will take an entire book to address. In fact, I am working on that book now. The other tactic - the remaining secret weapon in my arsenal of labor pain management methods is - music.

Perinatal Nursing supports that music can be an effective means for managing both pain and stress during labor.  Using music during childbirth, in a 2000 study, shows the planned use of music by mothers during labor has a significant effect on their perception of pain.

In the months before my sons were born, I started designing my "Birth Soundtrack."  When the big day came - wafting from my labor room, like a sweet breeze, were the sounds of designer music.   Sounds that both soothed and motivated me to work diligently and gracefully toward delivering my sons into this word.  I called on it all - from Sam Cooke to Patty Griffin to Gabriel Yared - from the genres of soothing soul to inspirational folk to contemplative classical.

What is designer music?  In the industry, it is known as music that is selected to have a specific effect on the listener.  And it is proven more effective than listening to just any music. I teach music and sound as therapy as an educator, so for each of my labors I designed my own music. But guess what? You don't need special training - with a few tips in my guide (an excerpt from my text on Using Music for Therapeutic Benefit)  and those listed below, you can design your own music too.


Designing Your Birth Soundtrack
Here are a few guidelines that I give to expectant mothers and other patients who use music for pain or stress relief:

• Certain instruments are better suited to promote relaxation and a sense of well being. 
• The ancient medical systems of Ayurveda and Chinese Medicine have identified the instruments which are best suited to different emotional states and physical needs. Learn about them here.
• Make a playlist for your iPod or MP3 player or download music onto a USB memory stick that you can plug into your car or stereo.  Name your playlist something that inspires you.  I called my playlist "Baby Breathing." I made one for a friend for post-partum healing and called it "Baby Hopes & Dreams." 
• Make sure you have the appropriate sound/stereo set up.  My husband took care of this "technical" end - however speakers are so compact and portable now that they could fit in an overnight bag, along with your iPod or MP3 player. Of course, if you are home birther, no transport is necessary - just plug in and play!
  
• Create a minimum of 8 hours of continuous music.  If you have a long labor, as my first one was 36 hours - you'll need more than just a few hours of music to get you through.
• Choose relaxing but also motivating music which inspires you and develops your sense of connection and bonding with your unborn child.
• Order your music with the stages of labor, or create separate playlists for each stage.  Meaning, the first stage can be much longer but less intense than second stage labor.  Second stage labor will bring with it - different requirements.  During transition and delivery - you may opt for silence - so you can hear those first sounds from your baby.  Or, you may opt to have quiet, contemplative music playing which motivates you to go the distance. I used music throughout the entire labor.  When it came time to delivery, my husband made sure (we pre-planned this) that a continuous play of meditative, calm solo piano music flowed low and quiet - so I could hear my baby's first cries. I can attest that in my first birth - the music helped to calm and attune everyone - including the medical staff.
• Avoid rock, grunge, and other heavy music which emphasizes drums or electric instruments like guitar or loud synthesized piano. These genres have been proven to elevate vital signs and cause feelings of anger, hostility, and despair.  
• If you prefer silence during labor - music and sound therapy can still help you manage pain.  Nada Yoga, or the yoga of sound, teaches chanting and vocal toning as a way to ease pain and suffering.  Sighing the sound "mmm" with the mouth closed on your exhale, during contractions, has been found to be balancing, harmonizing, and integrating to the nervous system - lowering blood pressure, heart rate, and assisting in pain relief.  In yoga, it is the most subtle and most powerful of toning sounds.
• Consider a post-partum playlist for after delivery and when you return home. I made a separate playlist for after delivery. I played it during the entire stay of my post-partum in the hospital.  (The nurses and my midwife loved it - it relaxed everyone. I think they made special trips to my room just to hang out and chill to the cool music). I called it "Baby Dance" - and after we came home I listened to it for months afterward, (literally did dance with my baby to it) and enjoyed shedding many tears of joy recalling the precious memories that the music helped bring forward in my consciousness - those I spent with my son and husband in those early special moments.  

But more than just laboring women, everyone can benefit from using music prior to, during, or after medical care.  Scientific sources supporting therapeutic benefit of music are numerous - and have been proven in children, open heart surgery patients, cancer patients, pre-operative patients, women waiting on surgical procedures or testing such as mammography, and the list goes on. Get a full list here

Take advantage of the instant healing effects of music.  Learn more about how different instruments create different moods and physical states in your body - and how you can choose music not just to listen to - but to heal you.

Labor & Delivery Tips, Part Three

As promised, here is the third and final installment in the Labor & Delivery series. Today I need to elaborate on post #3 from the 5 Absolute Must Have Tools For Birth.

Here is last week's excerpt from Tip #3.

3. Partner Assisted Therapy Techniques. There is a short but very effective list of manual (hands on) techniques to help relieve pain and open the pelvic outlet during labor. I teach coaches to use these while moms are either on a birthing ball or a sidelying position in bed. For the mom: Asymmetrical lunges have long been used to help open the pelvic outlet and facilitate birth. In general, I use 3 specific yoga postures to assist with pelvic opening, which also help with pain relief, which I will share in future blogs.

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My complete program for using yoga to ease labor pains and assist with labor & delivery will be shared in my upcoming book, Fit & Fearless Birth. However, here is a sneak peek of important points to prepare you and your birth coach for labor and delivery.

Before we get started, there is one important point to share. There are two tools you can use to your advantage during labor. They are:

• Visual Imagery
  

The visual image you want to imagine is that your pelvic outlet is widening to allow baby to pass through and be born. Visual imagery is a powerful tool, and has been proven to change neurophysiological pathways and promote motor learning in absence of physical work. What does this mean? It means that by just imagining you are doing something - your mind and body can respond physically in kind. Read my past blog on how to use visual imagery to get fit and help with birth. It is this same kind of visual imagery that will help you through labor and can help baby be born easier. In short, imagining success can help you have a successful birth.

• Mantra

I strongly suggest this to all first time mothers. I was well prepared for my first birth - so much so that I was able to labor through 36 hours for a natural birth. However, for my second birth - I decided I could equip myself even better - emotionally, spiritually, and physically - if I had a mantra.

A mantra is not associated with any religion. It is simply a phrase you choose that empowers you. For me, my mantra was also my prayer. It helped me work through every contraction with a fierce determination. If labor took another 2 days this time - I was ready for the challenge. I was ready for the long race.

What was my mantra?
Give me strength, give me endurance, give me courage. I repeated it over and over during my entire labor - sometimes to myself and sometimes out loud - probably hundreds, perhaps even thousands of times.

Other than speaking to my midwife, the attending nurse, and my husband once - the words of my mantra were the only ones I spoke during my entire labor with my second child. Those words were a powerful help to me in my greatest time of need.

Now on to the three main yoga postures I use for laboring moms. In addition, I'll cover a few methods that your birth coach can use for pain relief and for widening the pelvic outlet.


DOWNLOAD a free copy of the Labor & Delivery excerpt from my book, Fit & Fearless Birth, here.

Download other book excerpts from my website here.

*Photo was taken during my second pregnancy at week 35.

Giving Birth Soon? 5 Absolute Must Have Tools For An Empowered Birth

My first son was born after a difficult 36 hours of labor. The labor was hard and fast, with contractions 2-3 minutes apart and no more than 4 minutes apart for 30 hours.

By contrast, labor with my second son was a mere 4 hours - start to finish. However with both births - had I not been well versed in the 5 tips below - I know I would not have been able to go the distance and own the birth I wanted.

Whatever kind of birth you envision - whether a physician attended hospital birth with medications or a natural birth with a midwife, the most important point is your birth is your own and no one else's. Every woman should claim their right to the birth they want and deserve.

Here are my top five must have tips for being prepared for your birth. If you are planning for a birth with pain medications, you can still benefit from this post. These tips will help you progress to the point in labor when it is time for the epidural. These tools have been absolutely necessary for me as a childbirth educator, women's health therapist, and most of all, as a mother of two sons, both born naturally.


Before you get started on this list, make sure you have a birth coach. This person does not necessarily have to be your spouse or partner, but they do have to possess a firm knowledge of the birth process and your wishes as a birthing mother. Another option is hiring a doula or having the support of a family member or friend. Having a birthing coach is not just important - I believe it is a necessity. Women should not have to give birth without support. Do not depend on hospital or birth center staff to be your support. They are there to provide care in accordance with hospital policy and their job description - they are not there to coach you through your birth. They have many women to attend to and cannot possibly be there for the continuous support that research shows helps women labor best.

After finding your birth coach, there are 5 tools for empowering you and your birth.

1. Acupressure Points. Know or carry with you (my husband had a mini pocket sized cheat sheet he carried and referred to during my labor with our sons) the list of Acupressure Points for both labor induction and pain relief.
   
2. Practice and know Yogic breathing for labor and delivery. I have a concise Labor and Delivery Breathing Practice I teach women. It helps with alveolar ventilation, which is crucial during labor; and, it minimizes the fight or flight reaction and helps a mother stay calm and focused. The birth coach should also know the breathing routine, in case you forget or lose focus during hard labor or transition. I will be sharing this routine with you in future blogs.
   
3. Partner Assisted Therapy Techniques. There is a short but very effective list of manual (hands on) techniques to help relieve pain and open the pelvic outlet during labor. I teach coaches to use these while moms are either on a birthing ball or a sidelying position in bed. For the mom: Asymmetrical lunges have long been used to help open the pelvic outlet and facilitate birth. In general, I use 3 specific yoga postures to assist with pelvic opening, which also help with pain relief, which I will share in future blogs.
   
4. Have a birth plan. A birth plan is list of your wishes for your birth. Here is an explanation of a birth plan. An additional tip: In the birth plan, include what labor positions you want to be able to try. Otherwise, you may end up stuck on your back, which is the worst position to give birth in.
   
5. Hope for the best, and prepare for the worst (meaning a long or difficult labor).
   

• Know your rights as a woman and a patient. Know the hospital's policy on birth. Most moms enter the hospital or birthing center having no idea of how a birth in that hospital is handled. Read my past blogs on how to interview: your physician, midwife, or hospital. In some hospitals, babies are still (unnecessarily) separated from mothers. Further still, some hospitals still require (yes, require) women to lay in ineffective positions for giving birth. Ignorance is not bliss. Don't miss out on the birth you want. Do your homework.
• Know the stages of labor. For example, transition is often the most difficult (and painful) stage. Not surprisingly, even for the strongest willed of moms, transition can be the stage at which the mom demands (not asks) for pain relief. This can be disheartening for those moms who clearly stated their desires for a natural birth in their birth plan. Transition is a critical time for mothers. It is imperative for the birth coach to be attentive and provide the moral support to help you go the distance.
  

The support of your birth coach, and your own steadfast belief in the power of your body, will provide you with the fortitude and grace to be in charge of your own birth. These 5 tools are part of the process of educating yourself. Knowledge is power - and birth is perhaps the most powerful manifestation of a woman's existence. So equip yourself for the journey with self-education. In next week's blogs I will share a list of resources which can help your birth coach be prepared. I will also elaborate on the 5 tips to help you and your birth coach prepare for your beautiful miracle of birth.

*Photo taken within hours after my second son's birth.