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| Home > Preparation for Child Birth > Breathing techniques
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| | Breathing techniques
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Various breathing techniques are discussed which will help you reduce pain and make giving birth as comfortable as possible.
Trying a variety of positions during labor and birth can help you to find what works best for you. There are many possible positions you may try.
 Standing:
This position promotes oxygenation of fetus, Uses gravity. Contractions are more effective and less painful. But you have less control over delivery.
Walking:
This position also uses gravity and Contractions are less painful. It may speed up labor by encouraging descent. However, can not be used if mother has high blood pressure or if electronic fetal monitoring is required.
Sitting:
This position uses gravity and at the same time is good for resting. It can also be used with continuous electronic monitoring. Possibly can`t be used if mother has high blood pressure.
Semi-Sitting:
This is very comfortable for mother, while using gravity. It works well in hospital with continuous monitoring being possible. However, access to perineum can be poor with some stress on perineum. Mobility of coccyx is impaired .
Side-Lying:
This position facilitates good fetal oxygenation and at the same time it is a good resting position for mother to relax between contractions. It is helpful if mother has blood pressure. Often makes contractions more effective. The disadvantage is that ther is no help from gravity and mother must support her leg under knee if no one is there to hold leg. Mother may feel too passive .
Leaning:
It is great for rotation of posterior presentation. It uses gravity and hence contractions often less painful and more productive. It promotes use of back pressure and may be more restful than standing. It makes it difficult for attendant supporting the delivery.
Kneeling, Leaning Forward with Support:
It is helpful with persistent posterior presentation.
Squatting:
Squatting encourages rapid descent and uses gravity. It also helps increase rotation of baby. It allows freedom to shift weight for comfort. It is a good position for access to the perineum and excellent for fetal circulation. It requires less bearing-down effort. It helps the upper trunk to press on fundus to encourage descent. However, it is tiring to mother and it may be difficult to assist delivery.
Hands and Knees:
A good delivery position for large baby and helps to avoid laceration or need for episiotomy. It assists with rotation of posterior presentation. It takes pressure off hemorrhoids. However, it is hard for mother to see and the baby must be passed through mother`s legs.
Breathing Techniques
We will explain a variety of breathing techniques to use during the first stage of labor, when the cervix dilates completely and pushing techniques for the second stage when the baby is born. Games such as, swimming, running, requires physical coordination and control which in turn require you to regulate your breath-ing for effective and efficient performance. Labor is no different. Relaxation and other comfort measures are used in conjunction with patterned breathing during labor and birth to relieve pain. Pat-terned breathing implies breathing at any of a number of possible rates and depths. Your choice of the pattern depends on the nature and intensity of your contractions and on your prefer-ences and your need for oxygen. Practicing and adapting breathing patterns before labor will enable you to remain calm and relaxed during labor. Each method of childbirth preparation-Lamaze, Bradley, Kitzinger, Dick-Read and others relies on some form of patterned breathing.
Some breathing techniques are listed here. It is up to you to develop the breathing techniques that fit your preferences and needs. Abdominal breathing is more comfortable than chest breathing in some women, for others it is just the opposite. Stress on the calming effect of breathing and not on your body part. Experimentation, adap-tation and repetition will enable you and your partner to use the breathing patterns in the best way to labor.
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