Breathing for labour: what’s that all about?
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The difference between labour and life
If you’re pregnant you may have found that people tell you that you need to learn to breathe for labour and you might be asking yourself why? Why do I need to learn how to breathe for labour? I know how to breathe, I do it all the time without giving it a second thought.
And it’s true, you could just continue to breathe in your normal way all the way through your labour, but labour is different, labour is challenging, labour can be tiring.
You may need reserves of energy in labour that you don’t need in normal life, you may need to stay calm in labour in a way you don’t need to in normal life, and that’s why breathing for labour really comes into its own.
A new skill
Breathing for labour is an incredibly powerful and yet simple tool. As with any skill that you learn, the more you practice beforehand the better you will be at it when the time comes, the more confident you will feel doing it and therefore the more likely you are to use this tool.
It isn’t complicated.
All you need to do is focus on your out breath. The more you can let go with each breath out the more space you are creating to take a deep breath in and that in breath will give you the oxygen you need to power your muscles and keep yourself feeling calm and secure.
If you can find a class that helps you to practice then you may find you do it more regularly, but if this isn’t possible then practise by yourself whenever you get a moment - take a deep breath in and breathe it out calmly and steadily and continue to do this for a minute or two at a time, imagining each time that you are having a surge and you are really concentrating on what your baby and your body is encouraging you to do.
Visualisations
Many people find that visualising something whilst they are breathing helps them to concentrate on what they are doing. It could be that you are imagining blowing a stream of bubbles or that you are imagining blowing out the candles on a cake. It could be that you are imagining yourself in a beautiful place, somewhere you like to go on holiday or somewhere that makes you feel calm, relaxed and has happy memories associated with it.
Some people find that counting through their breath helps them to stay on track, and gives them an understanding of how long they can comfortably breathe out for. Other people find that counting how many breaths it takes them to breathe within a certain amount of time, for example a minute, helps them to pace themselves better once they are in labour, because then they know when the end of each surge is likely to be.
Other ways to practice
If you enjoy singing this is a great practice for labour because you really understand how to use your breath and how to stay in control within each breath.
If you are practising yoga in pregnancy this will help you with your breathing in labour as well, as so much of yoga is to do with being guided by the breath.
If you take regular aerobic exercise in pregnancy you’ll have a better understanding of your breathing cycles and how important it is to keep in control of your breathing which will stand you in good stead for your labour.
You want plenty of the hormone oxytocin during labour and that is released on your out breath. So focusing on the out breath helps your body to create this powerful hormone that gets the surges going and keeps them coming until your baby is in your arms.
Help in labour
Midwives are usually brilliant at helping women to breathe during their labour. But if you have been practising in advance there is no doubt that this will help you even further.
It is not uncommon for women to be told by the midwives how wonderful their breathing was and how much it helped them and those women will always be glad that they have practised.
It is always worth listening to what your midwife is telling you in the thick of labour as she will be able to guide your breathing, particularly when your baby’s head is crowning, to enable the birth to be as calm and straightforward as possible.
Just do it!
So even though you’re breathing all the time, I encourage you to practice your breathing for labour as much as you can, from as early in your pregnancy as you want to. I promise it will make a difference.
