Where ever you are planning to birth you'll likely be asked to call the maternity unit when you think labour has started. There's a few reasons for this, including but not limited to: preparing the hospital for your arrival if you are planning a hospital birth, helping the home birth team prepare their kit and travel to you if you are planning a home birth and to support you to manage early labour for as long as possible in your comfortable home environment.
There are lots of ways to manage early labour at home; you learn about them in antenatal classes.
Some people like to go for a walk and keep moving - this can help baby's decent and
keep labour progressing steadily.
Some people like to relax in a warm bath - this can soothe and relax aching muscles meaning contractions are more manageable.
Some people like to keep busy and distract themselves - focus on little tasks at home, nothing to strenuous or tiring (labour is a marathon, and you need not to wear yourself out). Others like to distract themselves with films - preferably not horror or other genres that may increase your adreanline levels. Increased adreanline means decreased oxytocin, and oxytocin is the hormone that keeps labour going.
In some cultures families bake a groaning cake during labour, it's a nutrient dense cake that serves as a distraction in early labour through mixing and baking, then serves as sustenance to a birthing person in the latter stages of labour or after birth when the hard work of birthing is over.
READ MORE ABOUT THIS TRADITION AND FIND A RECIPE HERE
Maintaing a healthy, regular nutritional intake and fluid intake will support and sustain your body during labour, it's a huge undertaking and requires a lot of energy. Healthy snacks and foods that need little preparation and don't need refrigeration like ceral bars, fresh fruit, cookies and rice cakes are all great ideas. High sugar items like jelly sweets, honey or fudge can be useful during the second stage of labour as a quick energy boost for birthing. Water, flavoured water or squash are great choices for labour too; you won't burn yourself if you spill them during a contraction and the need minial preparation time.
TIPS FOR PACKING A LABOUR OR BIRTH BAG CAN BE FOUND HERE.
Using a hot pack or wheat bag can be very soothing to achy spots and as a bonus a hot pack is portable, and a wheat bag is both portable and reusable (although you may not be able to reheat your wheat bag in the hospital or birth unit so disposables may be better to pack if you are planning a hospital birth.
Much of the above information will be conveyed to you when you call the maternity unit in early labour, especially if you ask for extra hints and tips. Often midwives will also advise you to take paracetamol in line with instructions on the packet or a prescription if you wish to. This is where midvives and I diverge in our opinions about management of early labour.
Paracetamol is a great tool for managing discomfort - that is why the option is discussed by midwives when you call, it's safe to take for both the labouring person and the unborn baby as long as doseage directions are followed and there are no contraindications.
Actually there's not a great body of evidence suggesting paracetamol is effective in relieving early labour discomfort or pain, although it does work for some people and if you feel it would work for you, it is a option you can choose. Paracetamol, as well as being a pain management tool, is a prostaglandin inhibitor. Prostaglandins work in conjunction with oxytocin to help labour progress by contributing to muscle contractions in the uterus and the softening and thinning of the cervix. Taking paracetamol can reduce the prostaglandins being produced and slow labour sometimes significantly.
Please be assured I am NOT advising you to ignore your midwives and their advice. They are well trained and experienced medical professionals and their role is to support birthing people and their families.
I am urging you to do your research, make informed decisions and use all the tools and options at your disposal to make your experience of labour and birth the best it can be.
If you'd like to discuss your options for pain managment in labour, the mechanisms of labour including the important roles of prostaglandins and oxytcin, or any other part of your pregnancy and perinatal experience you can contact me using the button below.