6 Tips to help you Cope in Labor

There are so many things you can use to help you through labor. There are totally different techniques, lots of comprehensive and super effective programs you can use like Hypno, and a lot of position support and comfort measures that trained support people can bring to your birth as well. But let’s get back to the basics with these 6 tips for coping with labor.

Let your partner or support person help
Whether it’s a partner, family member, friend or trained support person that will be accompanying you through labor, it’s important to come up with some partner-style coping techniques ahead of time so that they feel prepared to help you in labor. Once you are focusing on coping with a contraction, your ability to come up with ideas or give feedback on what you like and don’t like will be limited, so ask yourself now: what do I like when I’m sick? If you prefer low lights, a cool room, peaceful music and gentle touch, tell your support person now! And then let them show up for you in practical ways throughout labor. It’s sort of a cliche among birth workers that partners are often worried they’re going to mess something up, so they don’t do anything at all. But more often than not, support people want to help. Empower them beforehand with tools to literally help them help you.
Use your relaxation techniques from pregnancy
A lot of us connect with certain relaxation exercises, movements, meditations, affirmations and more throughout pregnancy. Especially as we start to experience difficulty sleeping, we often find certain things that help us recenter and reset. This tools will be 1000% more effective in labor because you already have a muscle-memory relationship with them. If you’ve used a certain guided meditation to fall asleep over and over, it’ll keep you centered in labor much more effectively than something you are listening to for the first time. Likewise, if stepping outside and getting fresh air, or moving in circles on an exercise ball helped you get back in touch with your pregnant body, they will be more soothing and more grounding in labor.
side note: this means that if you don’t currently lean into any relaxation techniques in pregnancy, now is the time to start thinking about what will be helpful for you. Create a bedtime routine and follow it 2-3x/week until labor, and those same bedtime routine moves will already be there to relax you when you really need them.
Fill and empty your bladder
Staying hydrated is really important in labor for many reasons. Not the least of which is that labor is kind of a marathon. But physiologically speaking, to fill and empty your bladder can actually help to encourage the flow of oxytocin and strengthen and regulate your contractions. So it’s a great tool in early labor! Also, contractions with a full bladder are much more uncomfortable. So try to get into a rhythm where you’re going to the bathroom every hour. You’ll thank me later.
Listen to guided meditations or relaxing music
Especially in hospital environments, having some practical tools to help you center in is really important. Often in labor & delivery rooms, there are about a million lights and sounds that can distract from your body’s natural ability to cope. If you hear an alarm, it’s most likely something to alert the nurses that your bag of fluids is empty, or that your blood pressure cuff didn’t read properly. But to you, a person in labor, it might read as some sort of emergency, or at least that something must be wrong. So create a space with headphones, an eye mask, some essential oils, even electric tea lights that helps to take the hospital out of the room, and keep you in your groove.
Gentle movement and rhythm in any position
The Three R’s of coping tell us that it’s really important to have some sort of rhythm to get your through any contraction. So, if you’re lying down, you might count up to 30 and down from 30. Or, you might say an affirmation over and over in your head. If your standing up or hinged over, you might sway your hips from side to side, or do some pelvic tilts. Whatever it is, find some version of it in every position you’re in. It gives you something to ground your body, distract your mind, and keep your pelvic floor relaxed and open to the baby that is working its way down!
Breathe in and out… you got this.
It’s easy for me to say, because it’s my day job. I see clients year-round have beautiful, peaceful births. I see unmedicated clients, water-births, home births, cesareans, epidurals, birth-center births, and whatever other variation there is. So I KNOW you can do it, because it all seems so normal to me. Surround yourself with people and stories that paint birth as normal, in all it’s variations. Ask those well-intentioned friends and family members to keep their scary or traumatic stories to themselves, because you are surrounding yourself with the truth that your body is made to do this, that you can do anything for 60-seconds at a time, and that when you are in labor, you will be one of thousands in that moment bringing a baby earth side. Breathe in through your nose, out through your mouth and focus on the sensations, the rhythm, the waves of contractions as they come and go. Before you know it, you’ll have a baby in your arms.