i have something a bit different for you today when it comes to dealing with contractions now i
usually talk about what to do during contractions but today i'm focusing on what not to do we're
going to talk about four things to avoid during a contraction so you don't have a slow labor nobody
starts off labor wanting a slow labor i mean not many people and so you've got
four things to avoid and we've got a fifth one so stay to the end because this fifth one is
specifically for what partners should avoid so that they don't cause a slow labor too
now if we haven't met before my name is alice turner i'm a birth doula modest certified
childbirth educator and here on this channel i've got videos to help you have confidence before the
contractions start and i know this video is going to fall into that category as well so starting off
with the first of our strategies of what to avoid we're gonna start with our butt yes
the butt actually plays an important part in labor and a lot of people have a tendency to feel the
pressure of the contraction and want to or just not even think about it clench their butt against
the contraction it's not uncommon when i work with my doula clients to ask them about what's
going on with their butt during a contraction and they say that they tighten it so we don't
want to do that because we want everything that down there to be nice and loose and ready to open
just like opening that door contractions their job is to open the exit door which is the cervix
so they are pulling and working on opening the door so whatever we can do to allow that process
to be more efficient then we can help prevent that slow labor so number one what we want to
do is to avoid clinching our butt so one thing that partners can do to support this is just have
a reminder a check in like hey no bum clinching don't clench your butt relax your butt to say
a phrase like that um it's also gives a good sort of humorous moment in between contractions
and just check in with that butt so we don't want to clench it we want to keep everything nice and
loose that is number one number two we want to avoid changing positions during a contraction
now i'm all about movement and labor i teach lots of different positions i know you might have seen
some position videos on the channel and changing positions is excellent sometimes what happens that
when you are in one position contractions feel a certain way when you move into another positions
position sometimes they feel different sometimes they even hurt more they're more uncomfortable
when that happens sometimes we have a tendency to want to like rush back to the old position
so we can deal with the contraction the way it used to feel but we don't want to do this during
a contraction remember we want to be limp and loose and allow for that opening and that movement
and that changing position really isn't going to allow our body to do the work that it needs to do
during a contraction so when you change positions just remember it's going to feel different that's
okay it'll take a few contractions in the new position in order to kind of settle in and get
a new feeling but when you were going through the contraction don't make a swift movement just try
to settle into the new position so your partner can remind you of this as well so speaking of
this share this video with them so that they can be on the same page as well but partners can say
like when we change positions remember it's going to feel different just as that reminder number
three of what we want to avoid i call it avoid darting eyes so i can often tell if someone is
not in a good place with the contractions if they don't feel like they're coping well
if i look at their eyes during contraction if i can first of all i can see their eyes
and second if their eyes are darting around where they're looking like they're trying to find an
escape an escape from labor so i find what's most effective during a contraction is to close
our eyes so closing our eyes really closes out all the extra visual stimuli that we really don't need
during a contraction we've got a lot going on down here and we kind of want to block out the world
to allow again labor to progress to allow these contractions to do what they need to do
so when the contraction starts i want you to avoid the darting eyes and instead close the eyes
and kind of block out the world so we've done three of the five ways to avoid i'd love to hear
from you when i was talking about butt clenching were you clenching your butt or did you try it
let me know in the comment i would love to know because i feel like every time i teach it in class
most people say that they clinch their butt just to feel like do i remember what that feels like
okay let me know in the comments on to number four we want to avoid tensing up those muscles
especially in our upper body our face our jaw our shoulders our arms that is another area that is
likely for people to tense up when they have a contraction so we want to let just let that
body kind of melt those muscles melt and be limp and loose almost like a spaghetti noodle we are
going to allow the contraction to do its work we aren't going to allow for that door to open
so partners they can look out for tensing in your face and just in between the contractions
remind you for the next contraction to be nice and loose like a noodle
and that's really going to help keep our labor going help us to avoid that labor slowdown
we are here at number five you have made it to my special partner tip and it's super easy but
i find that partners if they don't understand the importance of it they don't get it or it
takes a little while and sometimes they get their feelings hurt so what it is is for partners to
zip it during the contraction i mean really anybody to zip it we don't even want our
labor and delivery nurses talking to us during a contraction again we want to take away that
outside stimulus it it kind of reminds me of that image with you know covering your eyes see no evil
hear no evil speak no evil it's kind of like that during contraction we want everything blocked out
so partners awesome to chit chat during the breaks and you know especially if that is helpful for you
to speak with your partner during a break for you guys to chat it's a great distraction
but as soon as the contraction starts it's a great time to close even if it's during the middle of
a conversation and they can work on doing some other techniques like maybe some counter pressure
or something like that so avoiding that chit chat during contraction will allow you to relax
into that releasing of the muscles that breath closing your eyes and allow those contractions to
keep progressing like we really want to remember these five things avoid during the contraction
clenching your butt changing position having those darting eyes tensing up all of these muscles up
top and avoid the talking during the contraction so now that we have talked about what to avoid
during the contraction during that peak we should talk about what to do in between contractions to
have the most effective labor so this video that i popped up on the screen right here is going to
cover that topic i know you're going gonna love it and i'll see you guys next time bye