so i'm probably the first to say that tools are awesome at a birth and i talk a lot about what to
pack for birth you might have seen it in another video i really like fans i really like battery
operated candles today's techniques that we are going step by step through don't require tools
at all actually nothing that you want to pack in your hospital bag they come with you and they are
your hands in today's video you are going to learn two great pain management techniques that support
people can provide in labor using our hands so if you're going to be the person going through labor
set yourself up for success by sharing this with your partner these techniques are not difficult
they aren't anything that require a whole lot of skill however if you don't know them or you
don't know when to do them they're not going to be done and you're going to miss out on two powerful
pain management techniques so i'm putting this in your hands to make sure that you share this
with your partner now my guarantee is by the end of the video you are going to be able to master
these two techniques you're going to know when to do them and at the end i'm going to share
my favorite tip on making sure that they work okay so if we haven't met yet my name is alice turner i
am a birth doula a lamaz certified child birth educator and here on this channel
i talk a lot about birth i want to make sure that you have confidence and you're prepared
before those contractions start and this video fits right into that category because
we've got these two techniques now today what we're doing is a little bit different i'm
bringing you in to a private session where i teach an awesome couple rachel and seth these techniques
so you're going to be kind of like a fly on the wall during this small private training session
so quick note the audio in this training isn't perfect but i appreciate you cutting me a little
slack because the content is really worth it rachel is in this position which is really
a great position for labor okay so this forward leaning position is great you can lean up against
a wall especially like if you're walking into the hospital and you have a contraction you've
got the wall right there and you can just do what being but what can really help is just
some gentle counter pressure so the easiest way is just taking a flat hand and putting a little
bit of pressure right here and rachel can you feel that and i i thought you kind of give a little bit
of pressure back yeah and so she can even push into your hand so when the contraction starts
and you hear the breathing you know she's having a contraction you can just say i'm going to put some
counter pressure and put your hand there if you want to try i'm going to put some counter pressure
and at any time rachel can be like less more harder stop you know
and kind of give that direction back but that always works better than of course
asking rachel do you want some counter pressure now you can just say that okay the other
technique that you can do with counter pressure is you can do a fist like this here
how's that feel rachel it's kind of different yeah and again she can even push into your
fist if that feels good yeah so super easy it's a great technique just laboring at home contraction
comes and just put your hand there it's like something that you can do that can almost
like cut the paint in half it's really amazing yeah okay thank you rachel yeah how'd that feel
see what i mean about that being super simple now before we move on i want to quickly just share
the highlights of this technique so we've got our support person and we've got our laboring
person now the support person you want to try counter pressure you don't want to ask
would you like for me to do counter pressure that doesn't work very well in labor
you can try a flat hand you can try the fist
you apply the amount of pressure to their comfort laboring person you have the ability to lean back
to push back into the counter pressure to your own comfort and you can also give verbal feedback to
make sure your partner knows what's feeling good and what's working if they're using the fist and
you don't like that the flat hand is better just tell them they can adjust but they can't adjust
if you don't let them know again we are going to use counter pressure during a contraction
so during the contraction counter pressure helps cut the pain of that contraction and then when in
our labor do we want to use counter pressure well we want to use counter pressure when contractions
are difficult enough that we have to work through them we have to breathe through them we
can't sleep through them anymore we can't ignore them anymore we can't talk through them anymore
they feel like we need to pay attention to them it's a great time to bring out
counter pressure okay quick check in with you guys if this technique seems as easy as you're seeing
if you can imagine actually making this work and that it is easy then let me know drop me a comment
pause the video drop me a comment actually if you think it's difficult then put difficult so easy
if you're in the easy camp difficult if you're in the difficult camp i need a little check in
i'd love to see a comment from you so number two we're gonna join seth and rachel again to learn
a very easy technique for giving massage are you comfortable enough okay good okay so
easy massage that i like to teach and sometimes we see people want to give a massage and sort of
like do like a random motion which just isn't great having a one direction slow and steady
can be i think both easier and more comforting so one thing that you can do is start at the bottom
and just kind of come up stand over come up and over now this massage would be done
in between contractions so it wouldn't be when a contraction starts so if you're doing this massage
and a contraction starts a great thing to do is just move to counter pressure
and then after the contraction ends you don't even have to talk anymore you just start
that or you have a water bottle and say i have the bottle right here so stuff do you want to try yeah
so it's just slow steady and one direction
yep
yeah how does that feel rachel it feels good yeah how much pressure were you putting
i was putting light pressure light touch massage but it really like rachel can say like
oh i like it when it you know maybe a little bit harder or i like it like that
and this is a great thing to even practice leading up to labor
like practice different massage techniques so a contraction comes
that's right do some counter pressure awesome so let me share the important details of this
technique for the support person use that sos technique that means slow one direction and steady
you want to avoid just random movements random movements does not make a very comforting massage
and this is a technique that you do in between the contractions so during a contraction you're going
to start you're going to stop that massage and then you can always go to the counter pressure
now for the laboring person don't forget communication is great communicate how it feels
and a massage should remind you to loosen your muscles so as much as we can relax during the
labor in between labor we are going to have a more effective labor so when we feel that massage tell
your brain that that is relaxing your muscles okay here we are guys we are at my number one tip for
making this work now i have shared this tip with so many classes in-person classes online classes
and when i do a check-in when i ask people if they are following this tip i'm gonna be honest
they usually say no but here's the real deal the people that actually pay attention to this tip
they are able to use these techniques in labor and to a huge benefit that it really i hear
back from them i'm so glad we followed your tip which is to practice i know no one loves
homework and i'm adding extra things to your do lip to-do list that being said practice makes a
huge difference with this it's just a chance for the two of you to work on your communication
to feel what it feels like where is a good place for counter pressure what feels good
is this massage technique am i doing it right does it feel better does it feel worse
this is not like a huge time burden i'm saying like maybe 10 minutes a week or something like
that it is something that's really doable and it's going to make a huge difference
so i know that you are going to take this seriously and i have a little bonus a little
maybe that bonus maybe a little challenge for those of you who are serious about really having
those strategies dialed in for when contractions start i have an awesome video i'm gonna put it
on the screen here and it is a video all about how to practice for labor using ice yes this is
something i do in my childbirth classes and it's super effective it is a fun activity
if you are loving these videos i would love to have you as a subscriber
hit that subscribe button and notification bell and i will see you here next time