Breathing Techniques During Labor

A pregnant woman who breathes properly, in a pattern or rhythm during her labor, benefits both herself and her baby. This is because a patterned breathing helps in providing the baby as well as the mother the right amount of oxygen. Secondly, with the right breathing, the mother is better equipped to cope with the pain that contractions bring about. So, all you would be mothers, below are some of the most effective breathing techniques, which will help in ensuring a safe childbirth, for you.

# 1: To learn the right breathing technique, a pregnant woman should start by closing her eyes and focusing on her breathing. If she does it with concentration, she will realize that there is a definite pattern to our breathing. We breathe in, then there's a small pause, followed by breathing out. Then again there's a pause, before the lungs pull the next breath in. In a normal situation, the in-breath will match the out-breath in length as well as the depth. And this is what a pregnant woman has to aspire for. She has to see to it that the in-breath does not get longer than the out-breath. If the out-breath is slightly longer than the in-breath, then that is considered perfectly all right. This is one of the most useful of breathing techniques during contractions, especially if the contractions are very strong. As long as a woman follows these breathing techniques during childbirth and does not resort to a fast, panic breathing, there would not be a problem for the child and herself.

# 2: There are certain breathing exercises during labor, which a pregnant woman can start practicing during her pregnancy itself. Counting while breathing is one of them. A pregnant woman can start counting as soon as she takes an in-breath. She should count till the number three, then take a small pause, and exhale, counting till four. This is one of those breathing techniques which a woman can practice beforehand, to relax herself and will be quite useful too, when she is undergoing labor.

# 3: Another commonly used breathing technique during labor and delivery, which a woman should practice is, breathing in through the nose, and breathing out through the mouth. The woman can make a sound such as "ooooh", while she is exhaling. A woman in labor, who is inhaling with nose and exhaling with mouth, may find that her mouth and throat have become dry. So, to avoid that, along with this breathing exercise, a woman should be given water to sip, periodically.

Sometimes, a woman in labor might be in too much of pain or too tired to follow this breathing technique. In such a scenario, co breathing with the birth partner can help tremendously. The birth partner can hold the hand of the pregnant woman, and then as he breathes in through his nose, the pregnant woman can do the same. As he breathes out and blows out air on the woman's face, she can follow the same. This co-breathing too, should be practiced by the mother to be and the birth partner, before the delivery itself, so that correct method can be followed during the childbirth.

# 4: Previously, to push the baby out, women were asked to hold their breath and then push as much as they could. However, now this practice has been discontinued, for the risk that it may cause tearing. Nowadays, women are asked to continue breathing, and push out three - four times during each contraction.

If the woman has been given an epidural, she should wait for an hour after she is fully dilated, to start pushing. However, if the head of the baby becomes visible, she can start pushing right away.

If a woman gets a strong urge to push, even before full dilation occurs, then she can change her position, either to the side or on all fours. Whenever a contraction occurs, the woman in this position can give four out-breaths, followed by an in-breath, and then again four out-breaths, and so on.

The above mentioned breathing techniques during labor help the mother in conserving her energy. They also maintain adequate oxygen supply to the child. So, all pregnant women must practice these well, to ensure a stress free delivery.