7 natural forms of pain relief that actually worked when I gave birth
I used all of these drug free methods during the birth of my son, they worked so well that I didn’t realise I was properly in labour until the hour before he was born
‘Hannah, I think that you are definitely in labour and we should call the midwives’ - said my Husband a couple of hours before my son was born on the landing upstairs.
‘I’m fine, dont worry, I think it’s just Braxton hicks’ - I replied as I was breathing through what I now know where contractions whilst watching Love Is Blind and bouncing on my birth ball. Not a drop of water touched the birth pool that was blown up downstairs.
Let’s start by saying that I do not deal well with pain at all…
I’m honestly so pathetic when it comes to pain, I just don’t cope well with many things, even a simple headache and I’m out, so when it came to giving birth, I thought I didn’t stand a chance. Now, don’t get me wrong, labor was intense, raw, and at times overwhelming, but it was also the most powerful experience of my life, you can read the full birth story of my son here
So, here’s 7 forms of natural pain relief methods that worked well for me, alongside some gas and air during the very last hour.
Drug free pain relief methods that worked well during my home birth and also during my hospital birth first time round too
1/ A TEN’s machine
In hind sight, I should have used this earlier than what I did but I was very much in denial that I was even in labour. The buzzing sensation was a huge distraction and really helped me through the intense contractions toward the end of labour.
Ten’s machines are also known for helping to produce endorphins in the body, these act as pain relievers, the sooner you put a Ten’s machine on, the better as it gives plenty of time for endorphins to build in your system, I do regret not putting it on earlier. Head to my Instagram page to find out how to use a TEN’s machine properly.
2/ A comb
I was really sceptical about this one but my husband passed me a comb and I was gently squeezing it in the palm of my hand. There’s some good science and logical explanation regarding a comb as a form of pain relief, understanding how this works can really help you during labour.
3/ Staying active - moving, walking, bouncing
This is me (below), 2 hours before I gave birth, walking around our estate, I also spent a lot of time on my ball bouncing and swaying whilst holding onto the kitchen table. I remained really active and even gave birth moving backwards and forwards on the birth ball. I really do believe that movement helped me so much, I was always able to find a position that helped me feel more comfortable. I really tuned into my body and listened to what it told me to do, it was absolutely the daily hypnobirthing practise that allowed me to do this.
4/ A fan
This wasn’t on my birth plan at all, considering it was October I was expecting it to be a mild and even cold day but it was blooming boiling and I was sweating so badly. My husband brought me a huge fan and put it straight infant of my face and when I tell you the relief that it gave was immense, I’m not lying. The coldness acted as another distraction and the sound of it really helped me to zone out even more and focus on my body. I’m so pleased that my husband knew exactly how to support me and what I needed, he was the best birth partner.
5/ Hypnobirthing techniques - My favourites are listed below:
Breathing - I was consistently using my hypnobirthing breathing technique throughout each contraction, making sure to give my body plenty of oxygen, I knew that oxygen would help my body to do what it needed to do and make my contractions more comfortable.
Positive affirmations - I listened to these daily during pregnancy to help me create a positive mindset. I repeated the same 2 affirmations to myself over and over again, ‘trust your body Hannah, it knows what to do’ and ‘relax your face, relax your body’. I knew that by following these 2 things, I would work with my body rather than against it, I wasn’t resisting contractions which would have made things harder, I was following my body’s lead, hypnobirthing allowed me to do this.
Hypnosis tracks - I listened to my tracks for quite a few hours before I gave birth, thinking that they would help me cope with the ‘Braxton Hicks’. I even fell asleep at one point listening to them, I had religiously had them on repeat throughout labour so that they would instantly help me get into a relaxed state of mind for labour and they worked so well. Top tip - Hypnosis tracks work far better than relaxation tracks, make sure your hypnobirthing teacher gives you hypnosis audios not just relaxations.
Scent - I used a rollerball of calming scents during pregnancy alongside my hypnosis tracks to help me feel relaxed and calm, I sniffed this a few times during labour to help me get back into the calm head space. Make sure you are using pure essential oils and not just a fragrance.
6/ Being very loud
I roared my baby out, I was extremely loud but I wasn’t screaming. It was a consistent, deep and primal sound, a bit like the sounds of a whale. This helped me so much, I zoned out and went within.
There is actually evidence to suggest that deep, low sounds help with pain relief, you can read more about that in the blog that I did about why screaming during labour isn’t necessarily the best thing to do
And finally:
7/ A supportive husband
Me and my husband had spoken so many times during pregnancy and during our hypnobirthing class (yep, I paid for us to attend a hypnobirthing course, much to my husbands dismay) about how he could support me and what I would need during contractions and he didn’t fail me.
He was incredible, passing me Lucozade when I couldn’t speak so that I would have energy to continue, getting me the fan that I didn’t know I needed to keep me cool, suggesting different positions to help me feel comfortable, encouraging me to go for a gentle walk to help get baby into a good position, making me cheese on toast so that I wasn’t hungry, breathing with me and reminding me that I was doing so well, talking to the midwives on my behalf. I honestly, could not have done it without him and I am so pleased we did the hypnobirthing course during pregnancy so that we had the time to discuss everything that was important to me.
In all honestly, I truly believe that the best natural form of pain relief is confidence and an ability to trust and listen to your body.
Yes, all of the things above helped me but alongside these things, I completely trusted my body to do what it needed to do, I followed it’s lead, I zoned out to everything happening around me and I did what my body told me to do. I was able to relax my mind and body, creating more space in my uterus and more space for my baby too. This all came from hypnobirthing, daily practise of all the techniques and eventually I was able to gain so much confidence. Hypnobirthing really is so powerful!!
