hello everybody! I am excited to share 10 ways to provide physical support and ease the pain of
labor. Now the exciting thing about these 10 ways is that eight of them are so easy that you already
know how to do them and five of them are great whether you are planning to have a natural or a
epidural birth. So, if you are watching this and you are going to be the one giving birth
please set yourself up for success and share this video with the person who will be supporting you.
There's a share button right underneath the video and you can share it via email right
now. Now before I get started I have the biggest tip for you. Before we look at these 10 ways,
I have a super important detail about supporting someone in labor. Now, none of these techniques
are going to work if you don't try them. You cannot count on the person in labor to tell
you when to use these. You have to just give them a try. Now when you are in labor you might
not even know what is going to feel comfortable until someone tries these different techniques.
Big tip don't forget it. Let's get started with number one, and that is holding hands. Now,
I promised eight of these are going to be easy and holding hands is so easy. Holding hands
can be done no matter what is going on in labor; going unmedicated, getting an epidural or having
a c-section. And while it's easy I do have a big tip that would allow you to have a hard squeeze
without pain. Because sometimes in labor someone wants to squeeze really hard. And
the best position that you could use in to hold hands is that arm wrestling position. So with the
arm wrestling position you grab each other's hands clasp them together and you're all set.
On to number two which is the slow dance position. In this position she's able to rest the weight of
arms and shoulders on her partner. While you can gently sway back and forth with the contraction.
This one is super easy might even remind you of an eighth grade dance that you attended years ago.
This is a great one when you are unmedicated because it can't be used
after an epidural or obviously during a c-section. Number three is offering a wet washcloth. Now,
if you're wondering how is a cool wet washcloth really going to ease pain, I'm going to assure
you that this is a powerful support technique. You just get a washcloth, get it wet, wring it out,
nice and cool and then place right on the forehead, around the neck. And it can just really
promote relief and relaxation. The washcloth is great for unmedicated labors and epidurals. It's
highly recommended during the pushing phase because you can really heat up. Now, number
four is another great technique to bring comfort during pushing and that is fanning. So, grabbing a
paper fan a plastic fan put it in your labor bag and have it ready because during pushing
when she feels warm this is going to be a great technique. Again, for natural or epidural. Now,
on to number five. We're still sharing these easy techniques for bringing comfort in labor and this
is a hand massage. Now, there isn't any complicated technique in a hand massage.
You just want some steady rubbing on hands and it feels so good especially in between contractions.
This one can help relieve tension that can build up in the arms and especially if you
are grabbing onto anything or holding hands. That one is super easy and really effective.
Now we're halfway through this list and I want to mention that you can grab all this information in
a downloadable cheat sheet in a link below. And if you click on that it'll open in a separate tab,
just don't forget to come back here and watch because we're on to number six. Number six is
similar to number five and that is a foot massage. So swelling in the feet and legs is super common
in pregnancy and if you've been standing a long time in labor offering a foot massage between
contractions when she's off her feet can be wonderful. Now, I was talking about foot massage
in the live class that I teach on youtube. And subscribe to the channel for more information
about these free classes. Now during this class I had someone in our live chat say that "I'll
kick my husband if he tries to give me a foot massage". Which brings me to an important point,
not all of these techniques are gonna work for you? So, if you know that you're someone who
hates having your feet touched then definitely skip this one and that's why we have nine other
options for you. Also, this is why I suggest that people watch the video together as a couple
so you can discuss options and kind of be on the same page for what sounds comforting
and what doesn't sound comforting. Okay, so back to the foot massage, this is great for
unmedicated labor. I would probably skip this with an epidural since uh you don't have much
feeling sort of below your bra line. Number seven is cuddling did you know that cuddling
can boost the oxytocin levels in your body and a boost of oxytocin can strengthen contractions.
So, this is a great one if labor seems to be slowing down or not progressing, a really great
one for unmedicated labors. Now number eight is another type of massage this is called light
touch massage and I like this type of massage because it's easy and can be done without really
like fatiguing the person giving the massage. With light touch massage you gently stroke your fingers
from the middle of the back down the shoulders and the arms just nice and lightly. I suggest staying
in the same direction each time. Now this can be done with natural labor, epidural labor, or even
during a c-section. And if you're wondering about how would that work during a c-section,
I understand that sounds kind of different but partners generally sit up by her head and have
access to head shoulders and arms. And you can definitely do some light touch massage there to
help relieve that tension that happens during a cesarean surgery. Now, the final two are the ones
that didn't fall in the easy category but they can bring a tremendous amount of pain relief.
Number nine is counter pressure on the lower back and number 10 is the hip squeeze. Now,
thankfully I've already created a really thorough tutorial on counter pressure that you can find
right here and if you've mastered one through nine and you're ready for the hip squeeze. I
would like to show you this tutorial right here. Good luck everybody, see you next time. Bye!