Birth Skills: Proven Pain-management Techniques for Your Labour and Birth

By Juju Sundin and Sarah Murdoch

Book Overview

Explanations about the physiology of pain and what techniques can help ease it help pregnant women understand what bodies experience during labor and what can be done to actively manage the pain. With a combination of professional advice from a 30-year career in obstetric therapy and recommendations from a program-participant's personal journey, this guidebook offers proven pain-management tips such as movement, breathing, vocalizing, and using stress balls and keywords. All types of birthing methods are described--including short and long labors, natural or epidural labors, and water births. This much-needed resource aids women to prepare for their biggest fear--the pain of labor--and shows them not only how to get through it, but also illustrates the empowerment of managing such pain.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1741750970
• ISBN13: 9781741750973
• Release Date: September 2008
• Publisher: Allen & Unwin
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 2.18 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 8.2" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

This book helped me achieve a natural birth

I used this book for both of my two births and it helped through the pain without medication. In particular the walking, stamping and hitting my fists together in a rhythym. I also used strong visualisation, especially about relaxing your jaw to allow the cervix to open and massaging or hugging your baby with each contraction.

good resource

lots of good tips for the pregnant couple wanting to become conscious and aware of their impending birth. Also see "New Active Birth" by Janet Balaskas, this is the original (and updated) best

Birth Skills

This is a wonderful, informative book on the birthing process. It has practical, physiologically based skills. I feel much more informed about and empowered for the birth of our first child.

A perfect fit for me

I am about to have my second baby at home and really wanted a book to refresh my mind on how to cope with labor. (My first baby was born totally natural in a hospital). With my first I was relying on Lamaze techniques mainly and that was ok but I knew I could find something better without having to spend a fortune on Bradley classes or hypnobirthing. Especially since it was my second baby and I knew all the stages etc. By the first chapter I was hooked, I had used the leg techniques instinctually with my first labor and so I knew I could follow her advice. I can't wait to use the stress balls, imagery with the help of my husband and the "aaahhh" sound too. I think this book is perfect for a mother birthing naturally or one who will opt for drugs. It's a very opened minded book. I think the skills are simple but very important. It's not one minded like hypnobirthing, which may or may not work for you and makes you feel guilty into feeling pain. This book recognizes the pain and will help you to focus on something else that will what Juju calls, "match the pain" and deal with the adrenaline in a useful manner. I really like the phrases she uses throughout the book and I printed them on my computer and pasted them around my house to "coach" me during labor. I wish she had a DVD to go with it, I would buy it in a heartbeat because her classes are in Australia.

empowering

There are some really interesting tehniques in here, that make you feel like you could achieve a natural birth... Due in ten weeks so we will see...