To reduce pain and help smooth delivery, you may want to try the Lamaze method of childbirth breathing. This method, through the training of neuromuscular control, prenatal gymnastics and breathing techniques, effectively allows the mother-to-be to focus on the control of her breathing during labor, thus diverting the pain, relaxing her body and mind, and being able to respond calmly with confidence when labor pains occur, in order to speed up the labor process and allow the fetus to be born smoothly.
Stage 1: Chest breathing
Application timing: The mother-to-be can feel the uterus contracting once every 5-10 minutes, with each contraction lasting about 30 seconds.
Exercise method: Inhale deeply from the nose, and start to inhale and exhale with the contraction of the uterus, repeatedly until the pain stops and then resume normal breathing.
Effects and practice time: Chest breathing is an effortless and comfortable way to reduce pain. Whenever the uterus starts or ends a violent contraction, the mother-to-be can use this breathing method to relieve pain.
Stage 2: “Hissing” light breathing method
Application timing: At this time, the cervix opens to 3~7 cm and the contractions of the uterus become more frequent, contracting every 3~5 minutes and lasting 30~60 seconds each time.
Exercise method: The mother-to-be should let her body relax completely, with her eyes gazing at the same point. Keep breathing lightly and shallowly, using the nose to inhale and mouth to exhale in equal amounts, keeping the breath high in the throat, like making a “hissing” sound.
Effects and practice time: As the uterus begins to contract, use chest deep breathing, when the uterus contracts strongly, use light and shallow breathing, and resume deep breathing when the contraction begins to slow down. Practice from a continuous 20 seconds slowly lengthened, until a breathing exercise can reach 60 seconds.
Third stage: gasping breathing method
Application timing: When the uterus opens to 7~10 cm, the mother-to-be feels that the uterus contracts every 45~60 seconds, which is the most intense and difficult stage of labor to control.
Exercise method: The mother-to-be first expels the air and then does 4~6 short exhalations followed by long exhalations, feeling like blowing up a balloon, shallower than “hissing” light breathing, and can also mediate the speed according to the degree of uterine contractions.
Role and practice time: practice from a breathing exercise lasts 45 seconds slowly lengthened to a breath lasts 90 seconds.
Stage 4: Breathing and blowing candles
Application timing: When entering the final stage of the second stage of labor, the mother wants to force the fetus out of the birth canal, but at this time the health care provider asks not to force, so as not to tear the vagina and wait for the baby to squeeze out by itself.
Practice method: At the beginning of the labor pain, the mother-to-be takes a deep breath, followed by a short but strong breath, such as shallow exhalation 1, 2, 3, 4, and then exhale all the “breath” greatly, just like blowing out a candle.
Role and practice time: until you do not want to force, practice each time you need to reach 90 seconds.
Fifth stage: push hard
Application time: At this time, the cervical opening is fully opened and the midwife asks the mother-to-be to push to deliver the baby’s head when it is about to be seen.
How to practice: The mother-to-be should keep her chin retracted, lift her head slightly, press the air in her lungs to her lower abdomen, relax her pelvic muscles completely and when you need to change your breath, keep your original position, exhale immediately and take in a full breath at the same time, continue to hold your breath and push until the baby is delivered. When the fetal head has been delivered, the mother can use short breaths to relieve the pain.
Effects and duration of practice: Each time you practice, keep pushing for at least 60 seconds.
Childbirth is a natural physiological phenomenon, and labor pains are perfectly tolerable for every healthy woman. Some mothers-to-be are highly nervous when they enter the labor stage, their muscles are clenched and even shaking, and they shout, which will not relieve the pain but will intensify it.
The mother-to-be should overcome the fear of childbirth, meet the contractions with a calm mind, rest when the pain is small, endure when the pain is severe, in the battle with the pain back and forth, the cervical opening will slowly open, and the fetus will be slowly squeezed to the vaginal opening. In short, to enhance the confidence of smooth delivery, and baby together, will be able to smooth delivery.
What should I do if I bleed during pregnancy?
There are many reasons for bleeding during pregnancy, the most common ones are related to pregnancy, and we will briefly introduce them according to the different periods of pregnancy.
The common causes of vaginal bleeding during early pregnancy are: miscarriage, gravidity, ectopic pregnancy, genital tract trauma, cervicovaginal tumors, and ruptured vulvovaginal varicose veins. Among them, the most common cause of vaginal bleeding during early pregnancy is miscarriage. Miscarriages at <12 weeks of gestation are called early miscarriages, more than half of which are related to chromosomal abnormalities of the embryo and should not be blindly preserved; miscarriages after 12 weeks of gestation are late miscarriages, most of which are normal, especially those at >17 weeks, and if proper treatment is obtained, the pregnancy can often continue until full term. In either case, you should seek prompt medical attention for the appropriate examination and not blindly listen to prescriptions for private treatment.
Common causes of vaginal bleeding in mid-pregnancy include late miscarriage, placental abruption, uterine rupture, cervicovaginal lesions, and bleeding from adjacent organ sources. Among them, the most common cause is placental abruption, whose typical symptoms are sudden onset of persistent abdominal pain in mid-pregnancy with or without vaginal bleeding and, in severe cases, shock and diffuse intravascular coagulation, threatening the life of mother and child. Therefore, we recommend you to pay close attention to your blood pressure during maternity checkups and seek immediate medical attention in case of dizziness and blurred vision, especially if you have chronic hypertension and kidney disease before pregnancy; if you need to correct the fetal position by external rotation, make sure to find an obstetrician who is very skilled and experienced in this technique; do the right amount of activities during pregnancy, avoid prolonged lying on your back, avoid abdominal trauma, etc. Avoid abdominal trauma, etc. Of course, if you have symptoms of placenta abruptio and an abnormally high uterine fundus, you should go to the hospital immediately for emergency treatment.
The common causes of vaginal bleeding in late pregnancy are: preterm labor, labor, placenta abruptio, placenta praevia, vena praevia, and cervicovaginal lesions. Bleeding associated with labor is caused by the rupture of capillaries and a small amount of bleeding mixed with mucus plugs in the cervical canal, often curry-colored and accompanied by regular or irregular to regular contractions, fetal head descent and rupture of membranes. In this case, you will need to go to the maternity hospital of your choice with your family and your maternity card and your hospitalization items so that contractions and fetal heartbeat can be recorded regularly and you can be instructed on the mental and emotional aspects of the delivery and the diet before and during the delivery.
If the vaginal bleeding in late pregnancy is heavy and exceeds your usual menstrual flow, it should not be considered as a sign that labor is about to start. Other common causes of late pregnancy bleeding should be considered, such as placenta praevia, placental abruption, etc. If you have been diagnosed with placenta praevia during prenatal checkup, when you have painless vaginal bleeding in late pregnancy, it is recommended that you go to the hospital in the lateral position to determine your treatment plan based on the amount of vaginal bleeding, the presence of shock, the number of weeks of pregnancy, the number of deliveries, the fetal position, whether the fetus is alive, whether labor is imminent and the type of placenta praevia. At present, it is commonly advocated in China that pregnant women with placenta praevia should be hospitalized. Here, we have to emphasize again the importance of reducing endometrial damage before pregnancy, developing good living habits and strengthening maternal management before delivery, and doing ultrasound in time for early diagnosis of placenta praevia!