Lamaze Technique For Painless Childbirth
The Lamaze technique or exercises derive from a philosophy that emerged in the 1950s, which was designed to prepare the mother for childbirth. Its ultimate premise is the preparation of the mother to give birth without pain.
The Lamaze method is also known as psychoprophylactic and is based on breathing techniques that promote conscious and painless childbirth.
The objective of Lamaze exercises is to teach women to control their breathing with relaxation techniques based on tactile stimuli such as massage, in addition to visual and auditory stimuli that help to eliminate stress and reduce the perception of pain caused by contractions.
Preparation is done during pregnancy. In these exercises, the father also has a fundamental role because he helps the mother with massages and also with psychological support. In this way, he actively participates alongside his partner in the birth of the baby.
In an attempt to reduce difficulties during childbirth, the doctor devised this series of exercises that help simplify birth, reduce fear and control pain through good stimuli. All techniques are aimed at making childbirth as natural, healthy and safe as possible.
Everything you should know about the Lamaze technique
Breathing Techniques
The Lamaze technique uses several simple patterns that can be easily learned and can be put into practice from now until the time of delivery. We’ll explain more about them below:
The cleansing breath
It consists of a slow, deep inhalation through the nose and a slow exhalation through the mouth. These breaths are used at the beginning and end of each contraction.
slow breathing
This technique is very useful for relaxing. The pregnant woman breathes naturally and decreases its intensity as if she were sleeping.
It’s not a deep breath that fills your lungs, enlarges your chest and abdomen, but something more shallow, lightly lifts your chest with little effort.
breath of breath
This is another slow, shallow breathing technique in which the pregnant woman should also be relaxed. Don’t push yourself beyond what’s comfortable for you, start with a cleansing breath. Then, inhale gently through your nose and on exhalation, blow slowly through your mouth.
Another idea for performing this technique is the following: light a candle and place a small piece of paper a few centimeters from your face. Inhale gently and then exhale gently outward until the candlelight or paper moves.
patterned breath
It is taught to mothers in the following way: they should say “hee, hee” when breathing in and “hoo” when breathing out. The key to this is to maintain a comfortable rhythm with a small, gentle in-breath between each exhalation and then releasing completely.
To put this technique into practice, you should inhale for five seconds, then exhale for another five seconds, take two short breaths, then take a deep breath, with your shoulders relaxed and focusing on the sound and the breath, not the pain.
On the other hand, although this method aims to achieve conscious pain-free childbirth, this does not mean that it is against the use of epidural anesthesia. If the woman requests it, the doctor must administer it.
So is a normal birth without pain possible?
Currently, there is a lot of talk about painless births. However, some experts say that this does not actually exist, but that there are different ways to manage pain at birth.
“The pain will always be there. It doesn’t go away, but you can learn to manage with breathing and relaxation.
The Lamaze technique and prenatal yoga contribute to the practice of breathing which, in turn, will help manage the pain threshold. In other words, your perception will be lower”, explains Nené Molina, a prenatal yoga teacher.
The mother needs to be aware that all women in the world are born with the ability to give birth, says in an explanatory article María Eugenia Rios, instructor of the Lamaze technique, who is dedicated to teaching pregnant women to breathe and change position, the that helps them to face the moment of childbirth.
With the Lamaze technique, the aim is to teach the woman to be aware of her body at the time of delivery so that her breathing can be in sync with the contractions, which is beneficial for her and for the baby.
“Within the preparation for childbirth, there are theoretical classes, in which the pregnant woman learns how labor is and what its phases are. In the courses, it is explained to her and to her family what the Lamaze technique consists of in a theoretical way.
Then, they work in a practical way, and there they are taught the breathing, positions and different messages for the moment of birth”, argues Ríos.
