Preparing for labor: How to cope with labor

Pace yourself

Remember that some labors can last many hours, and first labors often start slowly. Pace yourself for the long haul.

It usually takes a number of hours for the cervix to thin out, or efface, and for it to open to 3 centimeters. Sometimes contractions start and stop over a period of days.

Allow time to adjust

Your early contractions may be fairly easy to get through just by relaxing and breathing slowly. But as labor progresses and your contractions become more intense, you may feel more challenged and less in control.

Expect it to take several contractions before you and your partner are fully "in the swing of things." You may need a little experience before you learn each other's rhythm and establish how you want to handle contractions together.

If you improvise and hit on a technique that wasn't covered in class, use it. You don't have to do everything by the book. Your labor is individual, and you can greet it and handle it in the way that is best suited to you.

Share labor with a companion

The presence of your partner or a labor companion is invaluable. Your partner can give you loving support and encouragement and can be a real help in:

keeping you focused on breathing and relaxation
keeping you comfortable
communicating your wishes to the hospital staff
relaying information back to you

Some couples also ask another friend or relative to act as an additional labor companion. Or you may wish to hire a doula.

Stay home as long as possible

Don't go to the hospital too early. Stay home where you feel most relaxed and comfortable.

The longer you're in the hospital, the more likely it is that procedures will be suggested to help move your labor along. If you go to the hospital and are less than 4 centimeters dilated and the amniotic sac has not broken, consider returning home for a while.

Get some rest

If you are tired, or if this is your normal sleep time, take a warm bath and try to sleep.

Sleep between contractions, if you can, to conserve your energy. The contractions will wake you, and then you can get active. If you are rested, stay active.

Distract yourself

Take a warm shower or bath. Think about a calm and pleasant place. Think about your baby. Take a walk. Watch a movie. Talk with friends and family. Read. Play a game. Listen to relaxing music.

Try concentrating on staying relaxed. It may not feel like you are actively accomplishing much, but you are. Staying relaxed keeps your body supplied with oxygen and lets your uterus do its job.

Nourish yourself

Continue to eat and drink light food you can easily digest (Jell-O®, toast, soup) and fluids (fruit juices, water, tea). Drink at least 6 ounces of fluid per hour.

Go to the bathroom

Go to the bathroom often, at least every few hours. A full bladder makes labor uncomfortable and may slow your baby from moving down the birth canal.

Try aromatherapy

Trigger relaxation with your sense of smell. When you're home, light a candle or burn incense. When you're in the hospital, bring along a pillow scented with your favorite fragrance.

Being in labor can make you very sensitive to certain smells, so don't go overboard with fragrances. Simple aromatherapy scents, like lavender, are probably best.

Note: Hospital staff may also be sensitive. Please check with your caregivers before using any scents.

Change your temperature

Use heat and cold. Try ice, a hot water bottle, a heating pad. Alternate hot and cold packs on your lower back. Ask for a warmed blanket.

Packs filled with rice that can be heated in a microwave might feel good against your back or across your shoulders.

Use touch to relax

Ask your partner to give you a massage. Do gentle effleurage (light, circular, fingertip massage) on your abdomen.

Let your partner know now the little signals that help you relax: when your hair is stroked, when your brow is smoothed, when your shoulders are rubbed.

Use touch to relieve discomfort

Back pressure or pain is common (about one out of four labors), especially if your baby is positioned face up and not face down. Counter pressure can help.

Your labor companion can put the heel of his hand on your lower back and push or rub.
Try your own fists, your partner's knees, or tennis balls, a rolling pin, a paint roller, frozen juice cans, or bags of ice.

Listen to music

If listening to music relaxes you, bring along a player and your favorite CDs or tapes. Don't be afraid to make noise yourself -- sing, chant, pray, talk, moan.

This is your labor. Do what feels right for you.

Use positive labor affirmations

You may find it helpful and comforting to say positive, encouraging things to yourself, out loud or silently. You can ask your labor companion, doula or partner to say them to you during your labor and birth.

Design labor affirmations that are meaningful to you. Here are some ideas:

My body knows what to do.
I am helping my body do its job.
I am relaxed and focused.
I can breathe deeply and slowly.
My partner and I are welcoming our baby with love.
My uterus is strong and can push my baby out.
I am calm and confident.
I am in rhythm with my body.
My baby's head fits through my pelvis.
My baby moves further down my pelvis with each contraction.
I have all the energy I need to get my baby born.