What are the most important things that can lead to an easy, painless vaginal labor?

Question

I am a 30 weeks pregnant. It is the first pregnancy for me and I would like to start doing any thing that you may think it is helpful in order to have an easy , painless, and fast natural labour. I am looking for your answers in detain if it is possible,
Thanks a lot

I mean less pain

Answer 1

*lite pregnancy excercises recommended by ur doctor.
* Perineal massage: http://parenting.ivillage.com/pregnancy/plabor/0,,46dl,00.html
*avoid stress
* practice deep breathing
*sex helps if ok'd by your doctor (if he/she said no dont do it.)

all these help but remember there is no PAINLESS birth even with meds.

Answer 2

You probably already know there will be pain involved in labour, from contrations and birth, but you can do Kegal exercises, you flex the groin muscle about 40 times in a session everyday to streghthen it, you want to try and hold each flex as long as you can, this has proven to ease labour, but research it in books or on the net to find exactly how long, etc., it is hard at first, but the more you do it the easier it is. Also, natural raspberry leaf tea is said to be good for helping the cervix soften, you can get it at the health food store. Walking at least 30 mintues every day will stretch your muscles and keep you fit, being fit is really important to help labour and try not to gain too much weight, that can cause a long labour and a possibly of a c-section. That is what happened to me, I gained too much wieght, but did all the other preventive measures, and still had to have a c-section because of the weight issue. Good Luck

Answer 3

Well, no natural labor will be painless. And no one can guarantee that it will be fast either. Sorry, hon! But, as to what you can do to prepare...
1) talk to your birthing partner. Make sure that he is aware of what you want and willing to help you get it. The more stress you have during labor, the more painful it will be!
2) Set up your birthing plan. Do your research and know what you want. Then go over it with your doc and birthing partner.
3) Do your exercise! Walking, swimming, etc. And practice some of those labor positions. Get a birthing ball now and bounce on it. It will relieve pressure and help out your pelvic muscles.
4) When the pain of labor gets to where you don't think you will ever get past it and is the worst of your life...it's almost over!

Answer 4

I recommend the Bradley method. They provide stretching excercise that you can do NOW to prepare your body for labor.

Practice relaxation and breating techniques. Learn to trust your body to do what it needs to do. Fear is usually the thing that causes the most painful feelings in labor IMHO. Don't fear it -- women have been doing this for thousands and thousands and thousands of years, usually without any medical assistance.

Stay away from the hospital as long as possible. Once you're there, you're put on a schedule to deliver, and that's not what you want. Stay out of the hospital until you can't talk or listen to anybody during a contraction and then go in. While you are in early labor, relax, nap, eat what you feel like eating (you need ENERGY to get through labor, and energy comes from food. You won't get fed at the hospital until after delivery!).

Keep trusted people around you for labor. I recommend a labor coach or doula to watch over both you and your husband. You don't need a parade of people, just the people you trust. Practice labor management techniques now so you have a full arsenal at your disposal during labor -- you won't know what works until you try it, and sometimes things work for a time and then you have to switch for something else.

The only way you can "speed" labor is to relax and let your body do it's work. Panic, fear, feeling pressure to be X cm is what slows you down.

Write a birth plan, but keep it short and flexible. No absolutes -- give yourself the freedom to roll with a change if you need a change while in labor. Use a hospital or birthing center that you trust to stick to your plan.

Best of luck to you.

Answer 5

I think one of the things you could do is have a realistic view of your birth. It's impossible to have it completely painless. But there are things that you can do to ease the pain (and no, I'm not talking about an epidural). Find soft music and start listening to it now. There are scents that you can buy (candle form or in a liquid) that might help relax you. Lavendar is one that is very popular. But find the one that works best for you.
You and your husband should practice massage techniques now that you like. Even the ones you don't really like (your point of view will completely change when you are in labor).

Answer 6

Easy and painless do not usually go with natural labor. If you are looking for painless the answer is an epidural.

If you are looking for natural child birth experience you may want to investigate the Bradley Method of childbirth.

Answer 7

Sorry, but it's NOT going to be easy and painless..and may not happen "fast", during a natural labor. Meditation, exercise, healthy eating, and kiegels are highly recommended, though, to manage through the pain, and hopefully limit the time you are in labor, as well as limit the time it takes to push (deliver). Good luck!

Answer 8

I had a natural childbirth at home. What most women don't realize or want to listen to is, yes it will hurt, but you are the only one that can control the pain without drugs.

The MOST important is to have your mind set to focus on working with the contractions instead of against them. To work with them you must do the hardest thing of all and that is to RELAX. When your stomach muscles are contracting it's pushing the baby further and further down the birth canal. if you are tensing during these contractions you are working against your own body.

Just breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth and FOCUS on relaxing your stomach during contractions and get up during labor as often as you can to help the baby drop.

When you get to the point you just don't think you can do it anymore...that's when you will be ready to give birth.

Just let nature take it's course, it's been happening for thousands of years.

Good luck and best wishes for a happy, healthy, natural childbirth.

Answer 9

You may also want to get involved in some regular aerobic exercise that pushes your heart and lungs to perform at their peak level. Aerobic exercise during pregnancy provides many benefits. It can build stamina, make you more comfortable, alleviate aches and pains, and relieve stress.

Aerobic exercise may even make your labor shorter and less painful.To promote your labor, keep walking as long as you canBrief periods of sitting, kneeling, or side-lying can help you rest by temporarily reducing the strength of your contractions. Simply changing positions regularly will probably help you to be comfortable longer than any one "best" position you could find. One study found that obstetrical patients assumed an average of different positions in labor.

Answer 10

I had pain med free labor and delivery with my first 2 children and an epidural with my 3rd. After doing both, I would recommend the epidural. I think I was crazy for doing it natural. It hurt like hell. There really isn't anything to help you have a fast, less painful birth.

Answer 11

OH!!! Please read the book "Hypnobirthing, the Mongan way." It's available on amazon.com with a CD for like $13. It is amazing! It has opened my eyes to so much. A lot of people balk at the title but it makes 100% physiological sense. The female body was meant to birth babies, why should it be flawed in such a way that it is painful?! Pain was only written about in descriptions of birthing mothers only in recent (last few hundred years) times. The majority of the pains of labor come from the fear of it. Fear causes the "flight or fight" response in the body, which in turn pulls blood from all parts of the body not involved in the "fight or flight" response. The uterus is one of them. With decreased blood flow, the arteries constrict, thus resulting in pain (same mechanism for the cause of headaches). Seriously, this book is amazing. Medically, it makes sense, if you stop to think about how the body works. Women in African tribes routinely work up until baby crowns, deliver their own babies and go about their day (noted stories in the book).
I was in the hospital over the weekend and was contracting a lot and quite frequently. The nurses kept asking how much pain I was in or how much cramping I was having. They couldn't understand my response of "no pain, just tightening." It would be well worth your while to read up. Best of luck.