| Frightened of Labour?
You’re not the only one. Christine Hill offers a bit of reassurance One glance at a pregnancy book, let alone the chapter on complications, is enough to set you off. Then your girlfriends find out you’re expecting, and someone feels compelled to tell you about a friend of a friend, who had the most horrendous time giving birth. Girlfriends can be a mixed blessing when you’re pregnant for the first time – they may have the best of intentions, but hearing all the gory details doesn’t help you. All the worries and fears about labour crowd in. Let’s face it. It is a worrying time You’re literally venturing into the unknown, especially if it’s your first baby. No one feels totally confident, when they have to do something for the first time. If you’re frightened of something, there are two ways of dealing with the issue; go into denial or acquire as much knowledge as possible cope with it. Is ignorance bliss? When women decide to ignore their fears about labour, they usually try to suppress their worries, by keeping themselves busy throughout pregnancy; working until the last possible week or buying and selling a house. They go into labour, already exhausted, with no idea of what to expect. In these circumstances, labour is much more likely to be a shock. But there’s another issue – not thinking about pregnancy and labour means that women aren’t preparing themselves for the impact of a new baby either. The whole experience is more likely to be stressful rather than enjoyable. Knowledge is power If you find out what’s involved in labour, you’ll obviously be in a better position to pinpoint what frightens you most. It means reading the books, surfing iVillage Pregnancy and Baby channel and learning the medical terminology, so you can understand what hospital staff are saying and ask informed questions.
The best thing you can do when you’re pregnant is to book into ante-natal classes Apart from learning about the physiology of labour, classes will help you learn relaxation and breathing for early labour. Although breathing and relaxation during contractions won’t mean you have a pain free labour, there’s no doubt that fear leads to muscle tension. This in turn makes you exhausted and more vulnerable to pain. Whereas, if you’re confident when you go into labour, and you know what to do and what to expect, you’re much more likely to have a good experience. If pain is your biggest fear Which it is for most women, you’ll find it more reassuring to know what type of pain relief is available, and when it will be offered to you in labour. Gas and Air (Entonox) is always available in delivery rooms, as is pethidin. The vast majority of first time mothers opt for an epidural, but if you think you want this option, be realistic about your choice of hospital – choose one with a large maternity unit, and check that an anaesthetist is always available there. So what makes a labour long and difficult? The type of labour you have is largely dependent on two factors – the shape of your pelvis and the size and position of your baby. Unfortunately, you have no control over either of these. But there is another interesting fact relevant to first time mothers. For some reason, one in ten first babies present in a slightly awkward position, called Posterior – or O.P. This means that although the baby is head-down, he’s facing the mother’s pubic bone rather than her hip. If the baby is in this position, the labour usually takes longer, as the baby’s head has to rotate another 90 degrees before he can be born. That’s why it’s so common for first time mothers to have a long labour. O.P. is less common in second labours, which tend to be shorter in any case.
Labour isn’t something you ‘pass’ or ‘fail’ It doesn’t matter whether you have pain relief or not, all that matters is that the baby is born OK. A study has shown that women who go into labour with realistic expectations, are much more likely to have a good experience, and to enjoy their baby. So beware of antenatal classes that suggest you can (and should) always have a ‘natural’ birth. Positive facts about childbirth
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