Pain-free birth, naturally

A pain-free birth without drugs: it’s the Holy Grail of pregnancy and childbirth – and yes, it is possible        

Does childbirth have to hurt? The answer, amazingly, is no. Apparently, a lot of the pain we feel is bound up with our state of mind, and our expectations of how we should be feeling.

In his book, Childbirth Without Fear (£8.99 Pinter and Martum) Dr Grantly Dick-Read describes how a young woman whose birth he had just attended said, ‘It didn’t hurt. It wasn’t meant to though, was it doctor?’ Because she didn’t expect to feel pain, her body was able to give birth easily and naturally.

Now we’re not saying you won’t feel a thing simply because you don’t expect to, but if other mums’ traumatic tales of agonising episiotomies and horror birth scenes on tv are the only impressions many of us have of labour beforehand, it’s no wonder we go into it fearful, unprepared and with negative expectations. Which are the very conditions in which you’ll feel pain most strongly.

So, the good news is that birth doesn’t have to be a dreadful ordeal. In fact, for some women it’s one of the most positive experiences of their life - Davina McCall has even described her (home, water) deliveries as ‘orgasmic’. Sure, requesting all the pain-killing drugs known to man is one way of doing it but that’s not the only way of dealing with the experience.

Unfortunately, there are no guarantees – but knowing your options and going into birth feeling positive about giving birth will greatly decrease the chances of you joining the ranks of mums with horror birth stories to pass on to the next generation. We meet two mums who found giving birth a positive and (almost) painless experience.

‘Take away fear and the pain goes too’

Maggie Howell, 38, is a doula, clinical hypnotherapist and mum to three boys aged six, four and two.

‘I wouldn’t say I experienced pain during any of my babies’ births. They were intense and hard work and I could certainly feel my muscles burning and stinging when the babies were born, but I wasn’t in pain. 

I think women often don’t realise that there’s a big difference between the kind of pain that comes from injury and the sensations of childbirth. It’s unlike anything else - it’s not a warning pain, it’s a positive kind of pain. Also, labour only lasts one minute at a time, it’s not hours of constant pain, you generally get a break between them.

Fear is the biggest barrier to an easy birth. When you experience fear or anxiety, adrenaline is triggered – great when you’re in a danger situation, not so great when your body’s trying to perform a natural process.

Adrenaline stops the production of oxytocin (the birthing hormone), the muscles in your uterus tense up and blood and oxygen drains away from your uterus, so that any activity there becomes much more painful. Fear creates tension, which causes the majority of pain.

Feeling inhibited, embarrassed, cold, being in bright lights and surrounded by strangers – all these things also trigger the release of adrenaline. To prevent this, first and foremost, you need to prepare yourself mentally, releasing all your fears and finding ways of overcoming them.

You also need to learn how to relax – you can’t be frightened if you’re relaxed. Third, you need to teach yourself to breathe properly – if you’re getting enough oxygen, you won’t experience the same level of pain. Hypnotherapy can help with all of these.

You can influence other elements, too. If you’re giving birth in hospital, bring in your duvet and some warm socks, turn the lights down and be careful about who you choose as your birth partner – a doula or another positive, loving partner will create a more positive birthing environment and build your confidence.

These days we rely on the medical world to help us have our babies but your body is geared to do this by itself, so trust it. Preparation will help you go into it with a better approach, positive, feeling in control and empowered, so that, if you do feel pain, you know you can deal with it.’

‘Giving birth was an incredible experience’

Anna Bruton, 32, is a full-time mum to Ned, ten months.

A month before I was due to give birth, my cousin, who’d had a baby a few months previously, said to me: ‘I’m so jealous of you having that to look forward to. I can’t wait to do it again.’ That comment really reassured me, although, to be honest, I didn’t have any really negative thoughts or worries about giving birth anyway.

All the women in my family have had a pretty easy time giving birth, so it didn’t even occur to me that mine would be different. I read up on birth and labour and went to prenatal yoga classes and an active birth class, so I felt fit and well prepared. I remember one woman in my class asking whether there wasn’t another way ‘out’, but I honestly couldn’t wait to go through this incredible experience. 

Using pain relief wasn’t an option I even considered. I read up on the side effects and it didn’t make sense to start filling my body (and my baby) with drugs at the last minute when I’d spent the past nine months doing everything possible to avoid putting anything potentially harmful to my baby into my body.

When it came down to it, although my contractions were strong and uncomfortable, it didn’t feel like pain – certainly not the kind of pain I wanted to kill. The thought of having a needle stuck into me and being numb or spaced out and losing control was much more scary to me than the natural sensations I was going through.

I entered a kind of surreal ‘zone’ in which I wanted to be left totally alone to get on with things and, after six hours of fairly intense labour, Ned was born.

Perhaps I do have an unusually high pain threshold, or maybe I was just lucky, but I honestly believe that my positive attitude, together with some physical and mental preparation, were the reason I had an easy, positive birth.

Box: Find out more

Childbirth without Fear, by Grantly Dick-Read (£8.99, Pinter and Martin)

Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth, by Ina May Gaskin (£9.99, from amazon.co.uk)

The New Experience of Childbirth, by Sheila Kitzinger (£10.99, Orion)

Birth Reborn: What childbirth should be, by Michel Odent (£12.99, Souvenir Press)