While pregnancy and motherhood might be the most exciting time of your life, the experience of labor might not be something you look forward to. Firstly, you need to decide whether you prefer a normal delivery or whether your OB/GYN recommends a caesarean section. If you do choose vaginal birth, remember that the contractions during the delivery process can be very painful.
While every woman has different pain tolerance, the good news is that there are ways to ensure a painless delivery too. Talk about all natural and medical ways to minimise pain during delivery with your doctor well in advance to make an informed decision.
Also, Read – Fruits to Avoid During Pregnancy
Here’s a look at the various ways to reduce the pain of contractions.
Drug Free Approaches
Staying active during your pregnancy is one of the best things you can do. This will give you greater endurance and make you stronger, which is important in the case your labor lasts for a long time. There are some other natural methods you can try, such as:
- Lamaze Technique
Lamaze focuses on breathing and relaxing exercises that can help reduce the perception of pain. The Lamaze technique also teaches you to distract yourself, while sowing you partner how to give soothing massages during delivery.
- Bradley Method
The Bradley method usually has a birth coach, who is typically the baby’s father, and it encourages medication-free labor. This method focuses on your nutrition, exercise, relaxation and breathing techniques. Labor problems are not discussed here, you can consult your gynaecologist for this.
Also, Read – BABY IMMUNIZATION SCHEDULE
Medicinal Approaches
Here, the labor pain is controlled with analgesics or anesthetics. While analgesics reduce the pain, the feeling is still there. On the other hand, anesthetics completely the pain and all other feeling, which might help you achieve a totally painless delivery. The types of medical approaches include:
- Epidural Block
This is the most common method of medical pain relief. You can get it for normal delivery as well as a c-section. It is a medication that is injected into the lower back and takes roughly 20 minutes to work. It lowers the levels of pain, while you stay alert. There are a few potential side effects that you should know about, such as fever, itching and headaches. An epidural basically causes loss of sensation in the lower body, which makes labor more bearable.
- Spinal Block
This is usually given during a c-section. It involves an injection in your lower spine, which numbs you for a few hours. The side effects are quite similar to that of epidural.
- CSE
This is a combination of spinal and epidural methods. You might experience the same level of pain from this as you would if you received an epidural. The side effects also are the same as an epidural and might allow you to walk a little after you receive the injection. CSE acts quickly to relieve pain and gives continuous pain relief with a lower dose of medication.
Also, Read – Difference Between PCOD vs PCOS
It is completely up to you to choose whichever method you prefer. It is useful to practice the drug-free approaches as well, even if you do choose the medication later. Be sure to consult your doctor about your birthing plan so that all of you are on the same page.
Also, Read – 1st month Pregnancy Diet Chart