3 essential tips to avoid pain medication during your labour: an evidence-based guide
Updated: Jul 13
If you’re currently pregnant, you (like so many others) may want to achieve an intervention free vaginal birth, yet so many birth experiences you hear from friends, family (or perhaps even well-meaning strangers!) just don’t reflect that experience.
Sadly, this is the reality we live in & although this blog post is strongly caveated in that I cannot guarantee this type of birth experience, as an experienced doula & mum of two, I will be giving you some strategic tips which I know can & will help you along the way.
Achieving a physiological birth is becoming more & more difficult within the maternity system and will require SO much more than just a simple birth plan or a ‘I’ll just go with the flow & see what happens’ when game day arrives – it will require strategies that protect the hormonal flow of labour, a thorough intuitive understanding of your own physiology & a damn good birth team. But more of that to come..!
As an experienced birth doula that has supported multiple clients, here are my top 3 tips to support your body do what it was designed to do:
Stay at home for as long as possible.
Stay in your safe place where you can move about freely & keep yourself in upward, forward, open (UFO) positions. Labour pain (in many cases) can absolutely in my experience be easier to work with at home than at hospital & staying at home to allow labour progress for longer is far more likely to result in LESS need for intervention later down the line if you do then decide to transfer into hospital for whatever reason. Research shows us that women admitted during the ‘latent’ phase of labour (before 4cm dilated) are far more likely statistically to experience what we call a cascade of interventions, which includes pharmaceutical pain relief, labour augmentation strategies (speeding up of labour), instrumental birth & c-section.
Oxytocin, the main hormone in labour that causes the uterus to contact (alongside a whole other cocktail of hormones, it’s incredible!) is innately shy. Oxytocin thrives in familiar, private spaces and is very sensitive to changes in the environment (hence when women transfer into hospital, they often report their labour ‘stalls’ or even stops before they become comfortable with their surroundings again). Safeguard your oxytocin. The longer you stay at home increases the likelihood of labour progression.
Staying home also allows you to eat, sleep, rest in your own bed & keeps you in a calm, confident psychological state. A place where you feel more in control & intuitive to your senses. Don’t underestimate that, ladies.
Have a ready to go selection of comfort strategies/ pain management support at home which can, in turn, help you to labour at home for longer (or even birth your baby at home!) believe it or not, there are many things you can use to help manage your pain during labour that doesn’t require hospital pharmaceuticals.
Think & plan your environment. An analogy I tend to use with clients is what was the environment like when you conceived your baby?!
The environment that got the baby in, can help to get the baby out.
Think:
-A birth sling
-A TENS machine
-Aromatherapy
-Birth Ball
-A birth comb
-Water
-Heat packs
Take it one contraction at a time, you’ve got this!
All of these comfort measures are covered in detail in my antenatal support sessions & clients will have access to all of these at home with me as their doula.
Build the best bad-ass birth team (and book a doula)
Last but not least, a bloody good birth team. And no, your birth partner does NOT have to be your mum, your partner or your best friend if you don’t feel they will be supportive to you in this space. People pleasing needs to go out of the window. It’s your time to think about you & what’s going to realistically get you through this experience. You have to have the right people by your side & on your side, willing to advocate for your wishes & listen to you. A team that understands physiology, knows your birth preferences inside out & isn’t nervous to ask questions if they need to (& if that IS your partner, best friend or mum – they have my green flag vote all the way!)
Continuous, one to one support is one of the most effective, evidence-backed ways to protect physiological birth. If this is type of birth you want to aim for, book a doula.
Evidence from Doula UK and major clinical reviews tells us that doula support results in shorter labours, a 39% decrease in the risk of c section and a 15% increase in the likelihood of a spontaneous vaginal birth.
I hope this is helpful – if you’re local to me in Kent and looking for doula support – please get in touch sooner rather than later to avoid missing out on this type of support for your birth. You will never regret it.
Grace x
Healthy Birth Practice #4: Avoid Interventions Unless They Are Medically Necessary
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