today's video we are going to do a deep dive into one of the best ways to provide pain relief
in labor and that is counter pressure so counter pressure is a great tool to learn how to use
whether you are going to be laboring at home whether you are interested in giving birth
without meds it is a tool for everyone's toolbox and I've got some great tips to
show you today now we are going to go through four different ways to give counter pressure
but I'm also going to share my favorite secret to getting this
actually done in labor now if we haven't met before my name is alice turner i am a doula
a childbirth educator and on my channel you're going to find videos about birth so if birth is
your thing go ahead and hit the subscribe button and you'll be notified the next time the video is
put out now the reason I'm doing this video today is because i put a poll in the subscriber
community about which topic we want to go more in depth on and counter pressure was the answer
so let's get started with that first way of providing counter pressure in labor now
our first method is actually the one that i described in the counter pressure video
that was done for the big wheel of birth series so this video and it is called
the one hand or the flat counter pressure so the best way for me to show you what these look
like is to show you on a real person so i have recruited a model today my oldest daughter lily
so for the one hand or the flat counter pressure we are going to put our flat hand kind of like a
blade right up against the lower back it's actually like top of butt lower back where
those meet right here so applying pressure for as much as we can could even do one hand like this
and the one hand or flat method is going to be great if we want to provide more
of a gentle counter pressure so it's not one that's going to be used if she's experiencing
a lot of back pain or needing some extra pressure it's a great one to start with because
she can let us know whether or not we need more pressure so
flat one hand is going to be our first way to provide counter pressure in labor
the second way to use counter pressure and labor is to use two hands so with our two hand technique
we have the flexibility of covering more of a hip area or the top of the pelvis so we can
put the palms of our hands here and around the sides of our hips so we can get a little more
targeted pressure we can also put our thumbs like this if we want to here i'll show one hand
thumbs like this apply pressure that way so two hand technique you can see it in this picture
so the doula in this picture is using the using their hands to provide counter pressure to hands
and also in this picture where dad is using more of a thumb technique to provide counter pressure
so that's the two hand technique so now we are on our third technique and that is using our fist so
you ball up your fingers into a fist and you can use it to provide counter pressure right on her
back so a lot of times people want the pressure right at the top of their pelvis right here kind
of on one side of their tailbone again it's going to be that lower back top of the butt now as you
can see with this we can provide a lot of targeted pressure so if they are experiencing a lot of pain
in their back this might really be a great one to go to so in this picture you can see that a doula
is providing counter pressure with her fists and while mom is sitting on the ball and she has the
support of her partner in front of her that is a great technique too if you're using a doula
so our fourth our fourth and final technique of providing counter pressure we use a tool
and that is a ball so you can use a tennis ball a lacrosse ball you can use a moon ball
some type of hard ball and you use the ball with your palm of your hands to push down in the spot
that's needed and press counter pressure with that ball so you can also do some massage with the ball
as well and then when the contraction starts you can stop and use counter pressure so the ball is
going to be a great way to have some very targeted pressure the other exciting thing about the ball
is that you can use it by yourself so you can put the ball up against your lower back and lean on it
as you can see in this picture we have a support person that is using a ball
to do counter pressure so this is a great example of how you can do counter pressure in
a kneeling position kneeling and leaning over a ball is a great way to also provide counter
pressure and as an alternative to leaning up against a wall or leaning on something else
so speaking of leaning leaning really helps when you are applying counter pressure so
pregnant person should be leaning so that you don't apply counter pressure and push them
or push them over this picture is a great example of what it looks like if someone isn't leaning and
they're getting counter pressure she does not look happy here i really suggest leaning when
you're gonna do counter pressure you don't have to just lean against a wall you could lean against
a ball like we showed in that other picture you could lean against a counter even a kitchen
counter you can kneel and lean against a couch so many options for board leaning
but that's really a great position so we can apply counter pressure okay so our four ways to provide
counter pressure in labor we have our one hand our two hands our two fists and our ball so now
here is my favorite tip on how to really make this happen in labor so if you've watched any
of my videos this might sound familiar but you've got to practice please practice before the big day
i mean i'm not talking about hours and hours of practice i'm talking about maybe a couple times
maybe for even hanging out watching tv waiting for your show to start
practice these techniques because when you practice them they're going to feel so much
easier more comfortable when you use them in labor so please practice these tips and now the second
way to make sure you get the most out of this when labor actually happens so i'm speaking really to
partners right now so if you're the pregnant person make sure your partner watches this part
specifically don't be a deer in headlights when labor starts you know that expression when the
deer is crossing the street and headlights come they freeze up and they don't know what to do i
don't want you to be like this in labor so when you see someone in labor when your partner is in
labor don't be afraid to try out these techniques don't forget so since you've already practiced
them before it's going to be really easy for you to remember oh i should try some counter pressure
there are four techniques that i should try now if you could use some more great tips like this
check out the supporting her online course for partners it is our signature childbirth
course it's a little bit over two hours and it really packs in some great tips so that partners
can provide some great support so check out the links down below and i'll see you guys next time