Relax Your Way Through a Natural Birth: 10 Best Tips
You’ll hear the word “relaxation” touted by every birth course, midwife, and doula. Why? Well only for the simple reason that it works! Deep relaxation is highly effective at reducing chronic pain and birth complications. But how does one truly relax exactly? While relaxation looks different for everyone, a few tricks are consistent winners. Scroll through the below and try a few at your next labor rehearsal!
Birth Relaxation Tip #1: Breathing
I was skeptical about deep breathing at first. It sounded like a hippy dippy placebo and I doubted its effectiveness. Boy was I wrong! 10 minutes into my first labor rehearsal, I was more relaxed than I’d been in months. Needless to say, breath work was the tool that got me through my very difficult and high risk delivery.
“Nice story Maria, so how does it reduce pain?” Deep breathing increases the oxygen in our blood allowing for the release of endorphins. You’ve probably heard that these “happy hormones” are responsible for mood elevation, but they actually suppress pain as well! Check out a few breathing techniques in the blog, or download the Ecco Natural Birth app for labor rehearsal videos, complete with guided breathing techniques.
Birth Relaxation Tip #2: Essential Oils
EOs go hand in hand with breathing, as you’ll want to slowly inhale when taking in the delicious scent. A 2020 meta-analysis examined the use of numerous oils at various stages of labor and found that “aromatherapy, as a complementary and alternative modality, can help in relieving maternal anxiety and pain during labor.” Furthermore, EOs not only reduce pain, but they can speed up or start labor as well! As a cautionary reminder, these oils are quite potent, so research carefully before using prior to your due date. Or check out my handy guide in the blog!
Birth Relaxation Tip #3: Music
In itself, music has not been found to significantly affect pain levels. It has, however, been shown to greatly enhance the efficacy of other relaxation techniques such as visualization, deep breathing, and mindfulness. In one interesting study, women who received music therapy during labor had decreased levels of postpartum pain as well! Be sure to check out my hand-crafted labor playlist on !
Birth Relaxation Tip #4: Visualization
“Picture your cervix as a flower, gently opening in the sunshine.” Like breathing, I was skeptical when my birth instructor brought this one to class. But again, like breathing, it worked! A 2016 study published in the journal of Pain Management Nursing found that guided imagery significantly reduced pain in those with rheumatoid arthritis. It did so by lowering anxiety, releasing endorphins (nature’s painkillers!), and helping to create a sense of calm in the subjects.
So what do you visualize exactly? There are a million and one visualization exercises on the web, or you could always get mine right here!
Birth Relaxation Tip #5: Affirmations
A classic for a reason, affirmations offer a positive spin to keep those endorphins going strong. While I haven’t seen any high-quality studies mentioning birth affirmations specifically, it is widely accepted in the field of psychology that self-affirmation enhances one’s mood, focus, and level of performance. And if you ask me, this just makes sense on an intuitive level. It’s hard enough to opt for a natural birth with society screaming “iT’s tOo HaRd!” Of course it isn’t true unless we ourselves internalize this negativity. That’s where birth affirmations come in. Download the Ecco app to get all the affirmations you need for a positive and empowering delivery day.
Birth Relaxation Tip #6: Mindfulness
Mindfulness is a non-judgmental observation of the sensations taking place in and around you. I often tell parents, “observe the contraction, breathe, and let it pass.” Sure, the feelings aren’t fun, but you can choose to observe rather than react to them. In 2009, the British Journal of Midwifery noted that women who report positive labor experiences are all mindfulness masters. They describe birth as “‘going with the flow’, ‘emotionally transformative’, ‘being present’, being ‘in the zone’, ‘working with pain’, ‘pain is your friend instead of your enemy.’” Like these powerful women, we cannot choose to avoid discomfort entirely, but we can absolutely choose our emotional response to each and every contraction.
Birth Relaxation Tip #7: Environment
I love the Ina May Gaskin quote "The energy that got the baby in, is the energy that gets the baby out." Think back to how you felt when your baby was conceived. Safe? In love? Relaxed? It is no coincidence that the bonding hormone released when making love is also responsible for the onset of labor. So too, a comfortable love-making environment is your ticket to finishing the deed you began nine months ago.
Like sex, birth is 90% mental. A 2019 study proves this point by juxtaposing two groups of women. The first labored in standard hospital rooms, while the second group gave birth in suites with soft music, calm lighting, and serene pictures on the walls. Both were in the same hospital and received the same quality of care, but the second group needed far less interventions and most went on to achieve physiological births. Remember, mindset is everything. The environment where you push the baby out should have the same comfy feel as wherever you got the baby in!
Birth Relaxation Tip #8: Home Birth
“There’s no place like home.” Say it three times while you click your heels, lol. Remember how important the birth environment is? You’d be hard pressed to find a place more comfortable than your home sweet home!
A big criticism of prairie-girl birthing is that there is little help if or when complications do arise. The data, however, dispels this fear entirely. Of nearly 17,000 women who planned a homebirth, 89.1% achieved their goal without a hitch (FAR better than the hospital average!). Only 1.2% of home birth infants needed a hospital transfer (compare that to the average 9.2% NICU admission rate), and very interestingly, 87% of at-home VBACs were successful (only 13.3% achieve this in a hospital!). Clearly it’s not shiny tools or impressive degrees that keep moms and babies safe. It’s our own unfettered instincts, left alone by the cares and worries of the outside world.
Birth Relaxation Tip #9: Just Say “No”
How relaxed did you feel during your last blood draw? Not at all? I thought so. From IVs to cervical exams, there are many “harmless” little interventions that deter Mom’s efforts to relax. The best way to handle this is by simply saying “No”. Politely, of course, you’re not trying to make enemies here. But be prepared for a lot of “Well it’s just policy” or “If we don’t place the catheter, XYZ will happen to your baby.” You, however, are an educated mama who knows that relaxation is better for your baby than any IV or membrane sweep. What are they going to do, kick you out? Well that’s a federal crime, so no. Their deep dark secret is that YOU CALL THE SHOTS. If anything disturbs your peace of mind, just say NO!
Birth Relaxation Tip #10: Practice, Practice, Practice
PRACTICE. Did I say practice? Oh yeah, practice. Tom Brady doesn’t prepare for the Super Bowl by binge-watching Love is Blind (not guilty at all here). Nor will you be prepared for childbirth by just reading this blog post. Studies show that relaxation is highly effective at reducing chronic pain, but only after weeks of regular practice. Fortunately I’ve got you covered there. Download the Ecco app, go through the exercises, learn all you can and PRACTICE with your birth partner for ten minutes everyday during your third trimester.
I hope this post gives you some ideas! Much love to you and your growing family. Let me know how it goes!
SOURCES
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7445940/
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-36416-x
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4605831/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3846392/
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jmwh.12172
