The uterus is a muscular organ that contracts to squeeze your infant out strongly, and the major cause of labor pain is these strong contractions. Feelings of severe contractions in the abdomen and, occasionally, your whole torso and pelvic region, pressure can also be felt on the back, perineum, bladder, and bowels.

 

What Affects Labor Pain?

The discomfort you feel in labor is based on a range of variables, including:

• Strength of your contractions
• If Pitocin has been administered, it induces labor and leads to stronger contractions
• Size and location of your baby in your pelvis
• Whether the baby is face-up or face-down (the ideal birth position)
• The pace of your labor

Your pain tolerance, or capacity to endure pain, is determined by a combination of genes and life experiences, and this also plays an important role in your experience. You may contribute to your perception of pain through social support (or lack of it), apprehension, anxiety, and even the positive or negative labor stories you've read. What's more, you might not change your inherent ability to tolerate pain¹.

 

Mechanisms of Labor Pain

The active method of delivering an unborn baby is labor and is defined by periodic, intense uterine contractions that escalate in frequency and severity.

There are two aspects of labor: visceral and somatic, and its anatomy is well known. In both the first and second stages of labor, the cervix has the main function.

Visceral pain

In the early first and second phases of childbirth, visceral labor pain appears. The pressure is transferred to the cervix with each uterine contraction, triggering elongation and distension and stimulating excitatory nociceptive afferents. The endocervix and lower portion of T10-L1 are innervated by these afferents.

This happens in the late initial phase of labor, and also in the second phase, in addition to the visceral pain mentioned above. It develops because of afferents that stimulate the vaginal area of the cervix, perineum, and vagina and happens due to stretching, distension, ischemia, and damage of the pelvic floor, perineum, and vagina. It emerges during the drop of the fetus, and the uterus contracts more vigorously in a rhythmic and repetitive way during this active period.

The severity of labor pain is enhanced with increases cervical dilatation and associates well with the strength, extent, and frequency of uterine contractions².

 

What are the different methods applied during labor?

Pain management is a personal option during labor. Any combination of the following strategies can be used:

Techniques for Breathing

Concentrating on your breathing will help you control the pain, whether you want to follow a specific breathing method during childbirth or just need to follow some low vocalizations to help you through the more painful contractions.

Water

Water may help ease the pain of childbirth by spending some time in a shower or bath, even if you do not want to give birth in water.

In the first phase of labor, being in the water has been considered successful. It can help alleviate pain and discomfort. If you have access to a movable showerhead, target it directly to the lower back with warm water as it may provide pain relief.

Counter pressure and massage

During labor, several forms of massage can help handle pain. One 2010 research revealed that every hour during labor, a 15-minute massage helped relieve pain and was also related to a shorter labor.

Besides this, perineal massage can help preserve the perineum and allow it for the stretching involved in childbirth.

In addition to massage, many women prefer pressure to be applied carefully on areas of their body to help counteract the discomforts during labor.

Hypnosis or Visualization

Guided imagery, hypnotic songs, and other images can help to calm and alleviate pain during labor.

Movement

Walking, rocking on a birthing ball, or even dancing with your partner slowly may aid in the success of childbirth and ease some of the pain you may feel.

Experimenting with various positions can also help alleviate discomfort, including sitting, standing, or squatting. One analysis revealed that squatting provided the greatest reduction in symptoms, but you should try with what works better for you.

A TENS unit

By inducing the lower back with a transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) unit, several individuals have experienced some pain relief during labor.

Aromatherapy

Peppermint, lavender, or some citrus essential oils can offer some relief during labor if you are feeling sick or anxious.

IV narcotics

For a limited time period, intravenous (IV) medications provide some of the pain relief of an epidural. Nausea, headaches, dizziness, and the delivery of drugs are dangerous for the baby as in the case of an epidural.

An IV narcotic may be a very attractive pain relief choice for a female needing a temporary respite from the severity of birth.

Epidural

It is widely used in the United States for pain relief. Epidural can ease the pain, a mother experiences within 10 to 20 minutes. Epidural is offered by most hospitals, and if the pain is beyond a manageable stage, you can also order one.

Women who receive an epidural experience pressure and not pain. (Once the epidural has been put in place, many women can also sleep while laboring.)

There is a possibility that an epidural may induce a particular form of headache, it may be more difficult to push, your lower half may stay numb for some time after giving birth, or you may respond to the epidural medication used. But according to some women, the pain relief provided by epidural analgesia outweigh its side effects³.

 

Natural ways to help labor along

There are some natural tips like walking, sex, eating spicy food and acupuncture, that can help stimulate labor and that you can try at home yourself.

There is not much evidence to support these approaches, and before doing something to speed up the labor, you should always speak to your doctor first.

No matter what, your baby will make it clear when he's ready to reach you, as you enter the homestretch. So just enjoy the peace of these last days and weeks⁴.

 

References

1. Labor Pain Explained: Stages, Symptoms, and Pain Relief. [internet]. [cited 2021 February 6]; Available from  https://www.parents.com/pregnancy/giving-birth/labor-and-delivery/understanding-labor-pain/
2. The Pain of Labour. [internet]. [cited 2021 February 6]; Available from  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4589939/
3. How Painful Is Childbirth, Really? [internet]. [cited 2021 February 6]; Available from  https://www.healthline.com/health/pregnancy/how-painful-is-childbirth#Takeaway
4. 10 Signs of Labor. [internet]. [cited 2021 February 6]; Available from  https://www.whattoexpect.com/pregnancy/labor-signs

 

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