Hey Mama. Welcome back to parently. Today we have Barbara Boyd, my mom here on parently. She has been a labor nurse for 10 years, and she has also delivered five of her own babies without an epidural with no pain medicine. So we have her on parently today to give some of her advice, the techniques that she used to labor with mamas in the labor unit. She helped mamas have a beautiful delivery as she breathed with them and coach them through their labor and delivery.

What were some of your techniques that you use that really helped moms have a beautiful delivery and labor process. When I was in labor and delivery Lamaze was the mode that women used to labor rather than medication because it was really before epidurals became the standard. So it was Lamar That was what we taught. That's what we learned. That's what we taught was Lamaze. So it is Lamaze.

But nobody talks about Lamaze that was the name of a person that invented or created this program of relaxation, meditation, distraction. And, and that was what used. So I don't know what you call that what do you call that? So you would help them breathe with their, the other people in the room encouraging the mom or was it a time where the nurse was the primary coach. There was time when the nurse was the primary coach. There was a significant other most times the father who was there but the men were oftentimes not prepared for what was going to happen.

They had an idea of what should occur, but when it actually played out, they were oftentimes very frightened by what was going on. And so the nurse was the support person. The nurse was the one that coached and And directed each step as you move through labor, from early labor into active labor and then pushing and delivery. And so it was a time of you needed quiet, you needed peace. They, in preparation, they would ask the mothers to pick music or songs or whatever, help them relax, normally, to bring that with them to the hospital to have a focal point where they could redirect their energy to not fight labor because it's our natural inclination to resist pain, but not to fight it but to receive it to accept it and know that each contraction brought them closer to their end prize. And so it was the labor nurse that would come and stand by the patient and talk to her and walk with her through her labor.

Until delivery. Yeah. And something you would say to me constantly is in preparation of labor is it's a journey. It's one step at a time. And if you can keep that in mind that each painful contraction is one step closer to delivery. So did you think that or did you find that those women would hear that that they would find that encouraging to hear you're one step closer and you're one step closer?

Yes. I think more than anything, women found it very comforting having somebody beside them that had been down that road before and knew where they wouldn't go. Yeah. Yeah. It's a beautiful baby. And yeah, to have someone walk with you and that's how I found it.

So encouraging to have a labor nurse with me with that experience is that she has walked that road she has delivered multiple babies in the hospital setting that our other women's babies but her own five children that it is a Beautiful outcome through that pain, and that the pain is what made the outcome so much greater. It's a bonding it's a time to bond with that child that you're truly giving life to. You're giving your love to. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So today, maybe you don't know if you are a labor nurse is going to have that experience. So there are so many options in preparation for labor and delivery.

If you have a family member that has walked this road, maybe that needs to be your support person, talk to your husband or your partner about preparing to be that coach, maybe a doula is your option that you feel comfortable with. But make sure that you have someone who has taken this road before that has walked this journey and will walk it with you to remind you that it is one step one step one step and that you will have a beautiful outcome. So now we are going to transition into showing you how to use breathing because so much Research shows that concentrating on this deep breathing will take your mind away from the pain. And with this practice abdominal breathing what was once called Lamaze breathing, can help you manage your pain and labor and delivery. Now we're going to demonstrate breathing and relaxation techniques for early labor, active labor, pushing and delivering.

And I say all of those because it changes as you progress through labor. So in early labor, when you're just having contractions that are maybe three to five minutes apart, you're still walking around and talking, maybe even laughing because you're excited, you know, it's about to begin. And you're just breathing with the contraction as it comes and goes nice and easy. Just in through your nose and out through your mouth. blowing it out. As it comes in goes contractions lasting approximately 60 seconds from the beginning of one to the beginning of the next one.

Then a deep breath in and blow it all away and relax at the same time. Now you can continue walking and talking, making plans for the day. As you move into the active phase of play of labor, this is when you want to make sure that everything in your setting is the way you want it. You want the temperature cool. You want quiet. If you're a person that likes a lot of activity and noise, you may want music or the television on to distract you.

But distraction is not really the goal. The goal is focusing, complete focus on the contraction and what it's doing. for your body to move you towards delivery. So you want to think completely about the contraction as it begins it starts slowly, and it builds. And as it builds, you're breathing in through your nose and blowing out through your mouth. And it's building it's getting stronger and stronger.

And you will know at this point how you want to be sitting how you want to be laying, because the pressure will increase in your parent em. And you may want to lay down you may want to kneel down on the side of the couch or over a chair. Keeping the room quiet if that's what you prefer, and keeping the temperature cool and keeping your focal point. Some women have pressure in their lower back as the baby's head descends and it pushes On the pelvis, you may or may not want your helper to rub your lower back or press against it to create a pressure pushing on the other side of the baby pushing, intense and it takes all of your concentration to get through the contraction. And so again, you just breathe nice and easy, slowly and out through your mouth. let it build.

Let it build, knowing that it's doing the work it has to do. And when the contraction begins to fade away, you take a big cleansing breath and and as you blow it out, relax all of your muscles from your neck, down through your arms, your abdomen and your legs. Totally relax. Now is the time that you rest until the next contraction begins. And continue this throughout your labor, breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth, one contraction at a time. As you approach active labor, it becomes more intense and you may find yourself changing positions frequently going from squatting, to leaning over the chair to trying to lay down whatever you find most comfortable and each woman is different, what they feel they need to do and where they feel they're paying the most.

If you plan on having an epidural, you still need to practice your relaxation and your breathing because early labor you'll be doing at home more than likely. Now we're in the hospital and we're ready for pushing for delivery. You're complete You're completely effaced, the head is down and the nurse has told you or the physician that it's time to begin pushing. You're in bed more than likely. And you will take a position of sitting up. When you're in between contractions, you can lay back and rest.

But as the contraction builds your instinct is to set up, let the contraction build, you will feel it slowly, rising, getting more and more intense. And you'll begin to feel the urge to push at this point, you take a big deep breath in and hold it and pull your legs back towards your chest as far as you can get them. And now you're going to direct all your energy downward and push and hold it. Hold it, hold it, hold it. Now the contractions beginning to fade and you're going to blow it out, blow the entire contraction out. And as you blow out, completely relax, relax your arms and your shoulders, your hips and your legs, let it go and relax.

Now again, you may want to lay back and rest for a moment, because at this point you're pretty exhausted. So you may even dozy in between contractions, you may ask your helper, your husband, your significant other to rub your back at this time, or to rub your thighs and now the contraction begins again. You're going to take your big deep breath in, hold it and push, pull your legs back and push. Try not to arch your back but to lean forward into the contraction putting everything down towards your parent em. Keep your elbows elevated and push. contractions subsiding.

Begin to relax. Blow it all out. And again, rub your thighs, your back your arms to make sure all your muscles are relaxing between contractions. Touch your shoulders to make sure that she's let it go.