As anyone who has a baby will know there are few labours that are pain free even after an epidural (not something I have ever had with my needlephobia!!)
During my second labour I had my best (ok not possibly a word I would connect with labour pain) and worst experiences of labour and its pain.
I had my second child at home in an inflatable birthing pool and as mentioned above any form of pain relief that involves needles is out of the question for me. I would rather go through labour pain than have an injection!! My labour was progressing well after being woken at 2am with contractions and my waters breaking as I went downstairs so my husband could start to fill the pool with water. My Midwives arrived and set up my Entonox (Gas & Air) that had been at my house for a few weeks leading up to the birth. I began to suck into the tube and allow my body to carry on with its contractions. I find gas & air doesn't really take the pain away it does however make you so relaxed you can't do anything about it and the pain is delayed slightly.
A few hours into the labour and I was soon puffing on nothing - I had drained the tank empty. With home births you have to have a Midwife with you at all times so I had two in the house and one was sent back to the local hospital (about a 20 minute drive away) to get another tank. I was without gas & air and about 5 minutes apart and the pain was getting to be unbearable. My Midwife stepped in and as I was in the birthing pool we tried relaxation as a form of pain relief.
I leaned back into the pool and the Midwife gently pushed water across my tummy and told me to concentrate on the sound of the water and nothing else. Within about 5 minutes I was able to block out the pain through concentration. What had been just 5 minutes before something akin to the worst period pains and backache you could imagine had subsided to almost nothing so long as I thought about nothing except the sound of my Midwives voice and the water - I was amazed.
The second Midwife was back after about 15 minutes of this and the tank was ready to go within 2 minutes but the temperature of the water within the pool had dropped below the allowable for a baby to be actually born in there. If the water becomes too cold the baby will be shocked by the coldness of it and breath in as they are born, potentially taking in water to the lungs. I had 2 sucks on the plastic tube and got out of the pool and onto the floor on a blanket and with a few more minutes my baby was born!!
Although I have never used breathing and concentration as a form of pain relief in any labour since it was, looking back, the best experience of managed pain I have had and the worst experience to run out and be drug free for the time in between!!
It is amazing what the power of the mind can do even under pressure.
One Born Every Minute is on Channel 4 on Wednesdays at 9pm, starting 4th January. Episodes can be watched online at www.channel4.com/oneborn
