Natural Childbirth – Pain Relief in labor

How to choose practitioner:
When considering a natural childbirth it’s important to decide who will attend you in labor. You should find a doctor or midwife who will not only be familiar with different natural childbirth techniques, but also actively suggest and encourage them during labor. When choosing a provider, ask possible candidates about their experience, previous clients and primary cesarean rates.
Because of medical conditions or the place you live not everyone will have access to a birth center or a home birth, that’s why there are options for women with qualified providers. If you have to choose a hospital, it’s a very important topic, because not every hospital is going to be as friendly and patient to you as you would imagine. Before making your choice, it’s better to tour the hospital and ask the staff some tough questions. You can also ask other women who have recently given birth what they think about the hospital and its service. Hear your gut as well…
Childbirth Preparation:
There is plenty of childbirth classes that can help you get ready for your labor (f.e. Hypnobirthing, Lamaze, CAPPA, ICEA, Bradley, etc.)
Childbirth classes will teach you things necessary for preparing your body for labor, including relaxation, labor support and how to manage contractions. Moreover, you will learn about breastfeeding, possible interventions in labor, pain reliving medications as well as c-section and even vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC).
Labor Support Team:
It is necessary to have someone to support you during your labor. it can be your family, friends, people you love. They will not only help you feel loved and cared for, but also give you added help for enduring pain and feeling more comfortable.
Many women also use doulas who support them emotionally. They are able to reduce requests for pain medications, shorten labor and provide other benefits. They won’t replace your family. They will only use their professional skills to help you all to cope with labor.
Labor positioning:
Your movements in labor are very important. Walking, swaying, rocking and other movements can help you to deal with pain of contractions. Learn about all different positions and movements because it can help to make your labor faster, ease a back ache or slow it down, etc. It is all taught in childbirth classes, so make sure the one you’ve chosen covers it.
Pain Relief Physical Remedies:
There are some physical methods that can help you to cope with discomfort in labor. Some of them come naturally; others are taught in childbirth classes or employed by a doula.
When it comes to labor and delivery many people think about relaxation and breathing that are certainly taught in childbirth classes. If you don’t like some techniques, you can find others to try, because there are many of them.
Nowadays there are some techniques that is becoming more and more popular in different birth settings, e.g. water birth and birth ball use.
Water birth. There is nothing new in using water in labor, but water birth has been slowly adopted in hospitals. Nevertheless, the use of shower or a bath tub in labor is said to be the best technique for labor pain relief. You will probably need to do some preplanning if you want to have water birth at a hospital but it’s worth it as it is simple, safe and effective way to cope with labor pain.
A birth ball.  It is also becoming popular to use a birth ball in hospitals, birth centers and home births. These physiotherapy balls are used in many exercise classes. They are handy for use in labor positioning as well as provide you much comfort during your pregnancy.
Sitting on the birth ball is not so difficult: just sit on it and plant your feet about shoulder width apart. Balance shouldn’t be a problem if you keep your feet wide enough and maintain upright posture. If you think that you will fall off the ball, you can buy peanut ball.
A birth ball should be chosen according to your height. The most common size of a birth ball is the 65 cm ball.
Movements with a birth ball can stretch your body and helps to move the baby into a good position for birth by using upright positioning and gravity. You can swing in a circle or side to side; this movement is also easy t do in labor.