February 16, 2004

Embracing labour pain

I have been reflecting on the many comments about how women “didn’t need to have the pain” in labour that were sprinkled through the comments from the “hypnobirthers” (if you want to check out these comments, and have the time to read them all, see the entry for February 4 - “More Questions about Hypnobirthing”).

The attitudes expressed by many of these contributors seem so at odds with what we know about the nature of pain in labour and its purpose - a concept that is well understood in those countries where midwifery is the norm for all labouring women, such as Europe, the UK, New Zealand and Australia.

In September last year, Beatrijs Smulders was the Keynote Speaker at the Australian College of Midwives Conference in Darwin. She is a delightful midwife, a leader in The Netherlands and vastly experienced with birth in a country with some of the best birth outcomes in the world. A report of her presentation appeared in the Australian Midwifery News (Vol 3, No 4, November 2003) and some of her comments are very pertinent to the discussion about the attitudes we have towards labour pain. Let me quote:

“Midwives in The Netherlands take a “tough” approach when caring for birthing women and teach them to be autonomous, which empowers women. The attitude that ‘the midwife has left me to labour - I must be OK’ assists women to view and experience labour and birth as a normal, though challenging, and at times fearful, life event. Midwives encourage the woman to take control of her labour and pain and only call the midwife when she is in established labour.
Different attitudes to pain are part of the Dutch approach to birth. Pain is not attached to fear but rather to safety. ‘Strong pain keeps birth safe’. The need for pain relief, especially epidural, indicates a complication that requires hospital admission. The perception, attitude and expectation of pain is different. Pain does not equal fear, rather it is seen as a challenge.
’The birth menu (birth plan) does not exist’, she said. ‘The safest birth is the one with the least intervention. Women don’t want lots of information, they want to know “Am I alright and is my baby alright?”. Women don’t need to use their brain to labour well’.
Dutch midwives use a number of sayings to help a labouring woman accept the pain: ‘Yes pain hurts, but it doesn’t hurt you’, ‘Don’t feel sorry for yourself, don’t lose your temper. There is no rainbow without rain, and no baby without pain’. ‘The more pain the stronger the labour - welcome it’. Beatrijs also talked about the need to be realistic when talking to women about pain - it will be very hard at times and also very fearful at times. Birth is a very big experience which will include fearful moments and this is normal.”

There is no doubt that the Dutch know what labour is all about and they have strong women and great birth statistics to prove it. We can all learn much from them about how to keep birth normal and to truly empower women through accessing and using their own innate natural talents for giving birth. As the saying goes “There is no gain without the pain” and birth has to be one of the best examples of this old saying.

Posted by andrea at February 16, 2004 01:54 PM

Comments

Dutch midwives use a number of sayings to help a labouring woman accept the pain: ‘Yes pain hurts, but it doesn’t hurt you’, ‘Don’t feel sorry for yourself, don’t lose your temper. There is no rainbow without rain, and no baby without pain’. ‘The more pain the stronger the labour - welcome it’. Beatrijs also talked about the need to be realistic when talking to women about pain - it will be very hard at times and also very fearful at times. Birth is a very big experience which will include fearful moments and this is normal.”

I guess I am glad I was not attended by these midwives!

I had a very nice birth with no pain, no fear also a hypnobirth.I was awake aware and very relaxed. My labor did not need to be strong to produce results. It sounds to me as if these midwives enjoy being rescuers.They need to be needed.

My midwife attended me in silence, watching waiting, holding sacred space. She was there in case I needed her but did not insist that I "push through the pain" or labor in any particular way.There was trust in me, my body, my labor and my baby.

How sad that these women are being told to expect pain. Do we tell our children to expect pain with digestion or elimination? NO it is a natural physiological function.Do women need to fear each time they digest a meal? Pain in birth is a tradition left over from the days of marriage between Christianitiy and politics.

Ironically these midwives need to be dehypnotized from their misconceptions about birth.

Posted by: cyndie on February 17, 2004 07:27 AM

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This is the most ignorant, least informed article I have ever read. This article is a direct reflection on how terribly short-sighted it's author really is. Women have been giving birth for millenia without the mere mention of pain. Not even the original Hebrew text of the bible makes reference to pain - merely toil (hence labor - not pain.) One does not need pain to be aware of ones own body. I am appauled at the author suggestion that women do not need or want a lot of "information." The women that surround me are intelligent and wise, and take no one's opinion as the gospel truth - blindly and without hesitation. The very thought of the ignorant mother wanting only to know if she is alright is an insult to every woman I know. Your uninformed opinion is a disgrace to the birthing profession as a whole. Please pick up more than one book and read it before you decide to give your uninformed opinion to women who seek truth.

Sincerely, an open minded father.

Kenn Parker

Posted by: Kenn Parker on February 17, 2004 11:54 AM

Comments

My name is Lauren and I am 11 years old. When I was 7 my mom was pregnant with my sister and I wanted to see her be born. My mom took HypnoBirthing classes so she could be relaxed when my sister wanted to be born.She said that when I was born she had a hard time relaxing.

When my mom said my sister wanted to be born, I got picked up from school at lunchtime so we could go the town our hospital is in since it's an hour away.On the way to the hospital my mom decided we should stop adn have lunch so we went out for chinese. Sometimes mom would stop eating and close her eyes and breath really slow like she was sleeping then she would open them and start talking adn eating again.Then we went to the hospital.

The midwife checked my mom and said she was 6 centimeters adn that made my mom really happy. She said that the baby was facing the wrong way and asked mom if her back hurt but mom said no.We moved to a room and mom got into the whirlpool adn i poured warm water over her big belly.Mom asked me to ask my sistr to turn around so she could be born easier. My sister moved a lot after that. I could see parts of her sticking out from moms belly.

My papa came in and asked if mom wanted to get out of the tub adn she said yes.So we helped her get out. Sometimes while she was getting out she would close her eyes again and look like she was sleeping really good.Next door to us was a woman screaming really loud adn I asked mom if she wanted to scream but mom said no she felt fine but that it was time for my sister to be born.

We called the midwife and she checked adn said my sister was almost ready to come out. Mom got on her hands adn knees adn started making a noise like Hmmmmmm adn breathing out. Then I saw my sisters head coming out very slow.Then all of the sudden she slid out kind of fast like she was coming down a waterslide.

Mom reached down and took her from the midwife she was all slimey but mom didn't mind. After mom held her and the cord got cut I got be the next to hold her. Her eyes were open and she stared at me. The nurse kept asking why my sister wasn't crying. Why did she want that? My sister was happy why should she cry.Mom said that babues born with hypnobirthing don't really cry much since they have such an easy birth.

I am glad I got to see my sister born. I have seen babies born on tv adn it looks terrible not like my sisters birth. I don't understand why anyone would want to have a baby with pain when they can have what my mom and sister had.

Now my mom teaches HypnoBirthing to other moms so they can have easy birth too.

(After hearing me talking about the ongoing discussion on this site my daughter offered to tell her story. I have left it unedited so please excuse any typos.)

Posted by: Lauren on February 18, 2004 04:03 AM