How to ease contractions

Pain during contractions is completely normal. Soreness indicates that the expectant mother’s body is preparing to give birth to a baby. It is understandable that women want to reduce the degree of pain. Let's figure out how this can be done.

How to relieve pain during contractions

A huge role in the process of childbirth is played by the initial psychological preparation future mother. Women who have undergone such training have a completely different attitude towards labor pain. They focus on helping the baby come into the world. This allows you to redirect your attention and relieves pain. contractions. Therefore, do not neglect specialized courses where pregnant women are prepared for the process of childbirth. It is there that they will explain to you how to behave during contractions and how to reduce the intensity of pain.

For example, one method of pain relief is as follows. Imagine a burning candle in front of you. Exhaling forcefully, try to blow out the flame. Many maternity hospitals offer women several additional devices to relieve pain. These can be special horizontal bars on which you can hang in a comfortable position, or large gymnastic balls, sitting on which can also relieve pain.

Don't just lie there while contractions, it’s better to walk, trying to relax your muscles. Psychologists advise distracting yourself from painful contractions with thoughts about the imminent birth of your baby.

Self-massage techniques effectively relieve pain. They do not require special preparation and can be easily performed by the mother in labor herself. Most often it is recommended to massage the lumbar area. You need to make pressing and rubbing movements with your fingers, an open palm or a clenched fist. By doing this, you block the nerve node responsible for the sensitivity of the organs located in the pelvis.

How to breathe during contractions

During contractions, it is very important to breathe correctly. This helps you get through contractions easier and reduces pain. There are only two breathing techniques:

• Candle. Breathing according to this technique should be frequent and shallow. Inhale quickly through your nose and exhale through your mouth, imagining that you are blowing out a candle located directly in front of your lips. In this way, you need to breathe until the contraction ends. This method acts like natural anesthesia, since such breathing produces endorphins, which reduce pain.

• The “big candle” technique differs from the usual one in that you need to exhale through almost closed lips, and inhale as if your nose were blocked. As a result, breathing is carried out with effort. This technique provides greater pain relief and is used when a regular suppository does not relieve pain. With this type of breathing, the pulse becomes even, and the woman has time to rest before the next contraction occurs.

Painkillers for contractions

The doctor decides on the need for pain relief and the specific choice of drug after examining the woman. Pain relief can be provided in three ways.

If it is necessary to remove sensitivity only from a certain area or when applying sutures, then local anesthesia is used.

Epidural or spinal anesthesia is used to relieve pain from contractions. In this case, the drug is injected into the lower back near the nerves. This allows you to numb a significant area of ​​the body, but at the same time the person is conscious. This method greatly relieves pain and is often used during caesarean section.

In exceptional cases, general anesthesia is used, in which the woman loses consciousness. This technique is dangerous for the baby’s health, so it is used only in case of emergency.

In addition to these cases, an anesthetic drug can be administered intravenously or intramuscularly at the very beginning of contractions to allow the woman to rest a little before giving birth and gain strength.