There are many ways to try and cope with pain in labour. All to often it is the simple methods that are  forgotten.

Support

When in labour, it is so important that you have good support. You need to have someone with you who will remain calm, despite seeing you uncomfortable and distressed at times. For most women, this will be their partner. Sometimes, it may be that partners don’t want to be present or that they feel they could not support you without becoming distressed themselves, and so in this case, it may be a good idea to enlist the support of someone else, as well as your partner. This could be your mum, sister or good friend. Of course you will have the support of your midwife, but if you are having your baby in hospital it maybe that she is caring for several other people also.

Water and relaxation methods

You could try taking a bath while you are at home in early labour and a birthing pool once at the hospital. Water has an amazing relaxing effect. Keep it warm and try to keep your bump covered with water. Just relax and let the water take your weight. Use your breathing to help with the contractions. If you can, try and get to some antenatal classes where you will learn some breathing and relaxation techniques.

TENS

You can hire TENS machines so that you can have one at home for when your labour starts. TENS machines work by using electrical impulses to interrupt pain transmission along nerves in your

body. It also stimulates the production of the body's natural pain killing hormones.

It is best to start using a TENS early in labour as it takes time to work up to maximum effect. It will do you and your baby no harm if you put it on because you think you are in labour, only to realise it is a false alarm and you need to remove it. If you think this could be it , put it on.

Other natural options

There are many other kinds of natural pain relief options, such as birthing balls and bean bags. You will need to find out what is available to you at your local unit as it is possible that there are midwives trained in aromatherapy, homeopathy and herbalism among others.

Entonox

Entonox (gas and air) will be available to you whether you deliver at home or in hospital. It has little if any effect on the fetus as it clears your body very quickly once you stop breathing it in. It doesn’t really take away the pain, but makes it easier to cope with by relaxing you and giving you a slightly drunk feeling. It can also help you to relax between contractions. Many women find this a very effective pain relief method. Unfortunately, for a few women it can make them nauseous and unable to use it. It will make you thirsty, so make sure you have lots of water nearby.

Injections

You maybe considering using injectable methods of pain relief. What’s on offer will vary between units but they will basically

effect. Pethedine, Diamorphine and Meptid are the most common ones to be found. These help by relaxing you and therefore making labour easier to cope with. Again, it won’t take the pain away completely, but will give you a sense of again, just like gas and air, making you feel slightly drunk. These drugs do cross the placenta and so will affect the baby by making them a bit sleepy. This isn’t normally a problem unless the injection is given to close to delivery, as we need babies to take a big gasp of air as they are delivered to establish their breathing, and some babies can’t do this if they are sleepy and may need extra help to get them going. So, it could be that if you are close to delivery and asking for an injection, your midwife could advise you against it. Deciding to have an injection will not stop you from using gas and air if you are finding it helpful, but it will affect your mobility and it may be better for you to sit or stay in bed.

Epidurals

Epidurals are the only way of providing complete pain relief. An epidural is safe for you and has no effect on the baby.

It requires an Anaesthetist to carry out the procedure as it is a very specialised form of pain relief.

To have an epidural you will normally need to sit on the edge of the bed, with your shoulders relaxed, your chin on your chest and pushing out the bottom of your back.The Anaesthetist then feels your back for the correct space in your spine. Once he has found it he injects some local anaesthetic. Once this is in place all you will feel is some pushing, but no pain.

He puts a catheter into this space and the drugs are delivered through this. Most epidurals are designed to give you some feeling in your legs, and even though the epidural should take away the pain you will still feel the tightening of your uterus during the contractions.

You will be constantly monitored by a CTG machine while you have an epidural in place. This will tell the midwife what your contractions are like and how the baby is coping with them. If you can’t feel the need to have a wee then you might need to have a catheter passed to empty you bladder, as its important to have an empty bladder for delivery. You will need a needle in your hand and you will be given fluids through this because occasionally an epidural can lower your blood pressure slightly and the extra fluids will counteract this.

 As you get closer to delivery the epidural infusion will be reduced so that hopefully you will feel the contractions more, helping you to know when and how to push to deliver your baby.

Afterwards, you will have to stay in bed until you get full use of your legs back, this normally takes a good few hours.

So, you can see that there are many pain relief options. It’s very important that you keep an open mind, as pain in labour can take you by surprise. Maybe you don’t cope with it as well as you thought you might, or maybe you cope with it better. Keep your options open and remember that you can change your mind at any time.