Comfort Measures
As you have probably already imagined or heard, being in labour isn’t always the most comfortable experience, but there are lots of things that I and your birth partner if you have one, are able to do to make you feel more comfortable.
Comfort measures are really important because coping in labour is really all about getting your mind into a space that is clear, positive, and unshakably focused. If you haven’t already read or watched my ‘Be The Protagonist Of Your Own Birth Story’ then I’d highly suggest you read that next as these two compliment each other nicely, but if you’re here now, then let’s keep talking about comfort measures.
There is an incredible doula out in the New York area named Yiska who I follow quite closely. She posts some great videos and you’ll probably see her video on the side-lying release resource list but she also has an incredible document all about comfort measures. It is so comprehensive, beautifully written and, really, just perfect, so I’ve included that below but I will also go over them verbally here in this video.
The comfort measures I’m going to now talk about are all quite mainstream, heavily promoted, often talked about and the go-to topics and ideas for childbirth-education classes. These are all tools that are often portrayed in media via Instagram or Facebook and often complete the picture about how we imagine birth.
Warm water
Movement
Epidural
Deep breathing
Vocalization
Music
Counter pressure
Touch
Birth ball
Squat
Mindfulness/hypnosis
Mellow lighting
Relating to other women
Visualization
Next we have the comfort measures that you might have heard about from a friend if they had a doula, maybe you’ve seen if you’ve been to a birth before or have done some reading on comfort measures. These are slightly less mainstream but still talked about and portrayed on Instagram and Facebook.
Quiet
Warm compress
Rebozo
Hanging on to someone
Presence of a partner
Reminders
Aromatherapy
Cold water
Gas
And the last comfort measures from Yiska’s list are some of my absolute favourite and almost always overlooked. Sometimes a birther is able to tap into them intuitively, but if I recommend that someone do it in the throes of labour, they look at me like I have 4 heads, and the last thing I want to do is distract your focus. So this is really important and really special that I get to touch on all of these now.
Sitting on the toilet or hanging out in the bathroom
Not being touched
Making eye contact with one’s self or someone on the support team
Positive self talk
Having a glass of alcohol in early labour
Presence of a care provider
Being listened to
Relating to baby
Being left alone
Wearing a giant maxi pad/diaper
Knowing I’ve got permission and freedom to be and do whatever, whenver
So if you take a look at Yiska’s list she does give a little description about each one, and then there is a separate document that I created that relists all of these comfort measures in a smaller, one-page document that you can refer to in the days leading up to labour as a reminder of what your options are. I’d read the list once, twice, three times a day (maybe post it on your fridge, on your bathroom mirror, next to your computer, or somewhere you can glance at it often). The more you consult the list, the more you’ll be able to tap into your intuition to see what already feels like it’ll work well with you and you’ll also be more excited and confident about coping in labour. You can totally do this, check out the list, and we’ll be sure to talk about it at our last prenatal together.
As you have probably already imagined or heard, being in labour isn’t always the most comfortable experience, but there are lots of things that I and your birth partner if you have one, are able to do to make you feel more comfortable.
Comfort measures are really important because coping in labour is really all about getting your mind into a space that is clear, positive, and unshakably focused. If you haven’t already read or watched my ‘Be The Protagonist Of Your Own Birth Story’ then I’d highly suggest you read that next as these two compliment each other nicely, but if you’re here now, then let’s keep talking about comfort measures.
There is an incredible doula out in the New York area named Yiska who I follow quite closely. She posts some great videos and you’ll probably see her video on the side-lying release resource list but she also has an incredible document all about comfort measures. It is so comprehensive, beautifully written and, really, just perfect, so I’ve included that below but I will also go over them verbally here in this video.
The comfort measures I’m going to now talk about are all quite mainstream, heavily promoted, often talked about and the go-to topics and ideas for childbirth-education classes. These are all tools that are often portrayed in media via Instagram or Facebook and often complete the picture about how we imagine birth.
Warm water
Movement
Epidural
Deep breathing
Vocalization
Music
Counter pressure
Touch
Birth ball
Squat
Mindfulness/hypnosis
Mellow lighting
Relating to other women
Visualization
Next we have the comfort measures that you might have heard about from a friend if they had a doula, maybe you’ve seen if you’ve been to a birth before or have done some reading on comfort measures. These are slightly less mainstream but still talked about and portrayed on Instagram and Facebook.
Quiet
Warm compress
Rebozo
Hanging on to someone
Presence of a partner
Reminders
Aromatherapy
Cold water
Gas
And the last comfort measures from Yiska’s list are some of my absolute favourite and almost always overlooked. Sometimes a birther is able to tap into them intuitively, but if I recommend that someone do it in the throes of labour, they look at me like I have 4 heads, and the last thing I want to do is distract your focus. So this is really important and really special that I get to touch on all of these now.
Sitting on the toilet or hanging out in the bathroom
Not being touched
Making eye contact with one’s self or someone on the support team
Positive self talk
Having a glass of alcohol in early labour
Presence of a care provider
Being listened to
Relating to baby
Being left alone
Wearing a giant maxi pad/diaper
Knowing I’ve got permission and freedom to be and do whatever, whenver
So if you take a look at Yiska’s list she does give a little description about each one, and then there is a separate document that I created that relists all of these comfort measures in a smaller, one-page document that you can refer to in the days leading up to labour as a reminder of what your options are. I’d read the list once, twice, three times a day (maybe post it on your fridge, on your bathroom mirror, next to your computer, or somewhere you can glance at it often). The more you consult the list, the more you’ll be able to tap into your intuition to see what already feels like it’ll work well with you and you’ll also be more excited and confident about coping in labour. You can totally do this, check out the list, and we’ll be sure to talk about it at our last prenatal together.