Labor Pain Relief: Muscle Observation

Video Transcript

"Another pain technique coping device is muscle observation. This is something you can do alone. And you can also, do with a partner. I recommend that you do both. So basically, what you're going to do, is get in a comfortable position. This is a great thing do to before you go to bed. It can help you relax and sleep easier. So lie on your side. Whatever side is comfortable for you. And you're going to start with your toes. And you're going tench your toes, as much as you can. You're going to hold that for ten seconds. And then you're going to relax it. Then you're going tench your whole foot. You're going to hold that for ten seconds. Then you're going to relax it. Then you're going to work your way up. And you're going to go through your whole body. Tensing very muscle, I say. Ten seconds and then relax it. So the goal of this, is to understand how our body when we're in a tense mode. When we're holding in pain. And then, how it feels when it's completely relaxed. Because the more you can relax your body in labor, the less pain, you're going to feel. When you're in the middle of a contraction. If you, all of a sudden tense up and hold everything in. You're going to intensify the pain. It's going to hurt way more. So I want you to get used to the idea of relaxing into it. So you're going to do your toes, your feet, your calves. Your thighs, your butt muscles. Your Kegels, your stomach. Your back, your chest. Your hands and fingers. Your arms and I want you to do your face. I want you to do your mouth, your eyes and your whole head. So you're going to slowly work up, your way. Tensing, holding for ten seconds and relaxing. When you do this by yourself, obviously you're just doing it by yourself. When you're doing this with a partner. What I would have them do. Is whatever muscle group you're tensing, they're going to try to massage it. And then relax it. And then, they'll get used to feeling the difference between tense muscles and relaxed muscles. So they'll get used to seeing what your body looks like when it's tense. So they can identify, if you're holding on to pain. They can rub that. And then, try to get you to relax it. So using muscle observation is a really good pain coping technique."