GentleBirth aims to help women stay in control during labour

WHEN Patricia O’Connor gave birth she eschewed offers of epidurals and other pain relief drugs, deciding instead to rely on the coping mechanisms she had learned while attending a GentleBirth programme which encourages women to use their own strength to birth their baby naturally.

The Kildare woman used gas and air and the GentleBirth (GB) programme when her daughter Saoirse (2) was born.

“I have never been afraid of giving birth and wanted to have my first delivery at home but my husband, William, was too nervous,” she says. “I was anxious about a hospital birth as some have an active management of labour policy and I thought if I didn’t birth my baby as quickly as they saw appropriate, I may end up with unnecessary interventions. I didn’t want an epidural as I didn’t relish the idea and thought it would increase my chances of tearing.”

During labour she practiced the Gentle Birth programme which involved listening to specially-prepared CDs as she encouraged herself to cope with the pain.

“I listened to affirmations on my headphones – words such as ‘I am calm, confident and in control’, ‘my baby is the perfect size for my body’, ‘I was born to birth’, ‘each surge brings me closer to my baby’,” she says. “I breathed through surges (contractions) and as they got more intense I was definitely more vocal.

“William was with me for the birth, which meant I could focus on birthing our baby, while he dealt with any questions from medical staff.”

While the birth of her daughter went according to plan, Patricia’s son Liam (16 months) arrived unexpectedly, he was born in the back of a car on the way to hospital. The methods she learned during the GentleBirth programme helped her to cope with the extraordinarily stressful situation.

“Liam was born very quickly before I got to hospital but it was a great experience – because I was calm and he birthed without pushing,” she says. “I had no drugs, delayed cord clamping and skin-to-skin before being brought to the delivery suite for my placenta to deliver.

“Both deliveries were intense but not incredibly painful. And if we are blessed with more babies I would hope I will have equally as calm gentle births, ideally in our own home.”

Tracy Donegan is a mother-of-two, a doula, a midwife and a practitioner of the GB programme. She says labour can be a calm and enriching experience.

“GentleBirth teaches expectant parents easy to learn ‘brain-training’ tools for a positive birth including cognitive behavioural therapy, mindfulness techniques, medical hypnosis and sports psychology,” she says.

“Hypnobirthing on its own is a wonderful tool and can be very effective but some mums cannot be hypnotised so our brain-training techniques give them more tools.

“Medication definitely has its place in a long labour or one where the mum is very distressed. However, most GB mums don’t feel they need an epidural – but we keep all options on the table as birth can be unpredictable. Our main goal is a fear-free pregnancy and birth. Most GB mums give birth in hospital but only 15% have an epidural, even with inductions. They’re not martyrs but by using the hypnosis techniques they’ve learned and relying on comfort strategies learned by dads, they can stay in the zone.”

Donegan says the brain is a very powerful tool when it comes to helping the body overcome pain. “GentleBirth focuses on changing the way the body reacts to the stretching sensations of birth,” she says. “Mums are quite surprised to hear that the uterus has very few pain receptors and anxiety causes the brain to interpret those sensations as pain rather than stretching.”

Preparation is essential for anyone planning on a drug-free birth with as little routine intervention as possible. “It’s like preparing to run a marathon — you wouldn’t just rock up to the starting line having not trained and expect to complete it. Labour without drugs is a focus marathon but with the right team in place, the right support and preparation it is achievable and hugely satisfying at the end.”

Jene Kelly of AIMS Ireland (Association for Improvement of Maternity Services) says while the idea of pain relief varies, women should be allowed to choose what they need and how they want to proceed with their labour.

“Pain relief should be available in medical and non-medical forms for women should they need it,” she says.

“No woman should go without pain relief if she requests it. Only the woman in labour knows how she is feeling and if she needs pain medication. But it’s important she makes the decision as it can be very traumatising for women to have the epidural or equally to be denied pain relief once they ask for it.

“It’s also important that women are informed of complications or side effects of pain medication in pregnancy so that they can think about their plan before they are in labour. Birth with pain relief is very common in Ireland but an interesting study shows that when women were given the control of when or how much medication to have, they used less than would be given by a health care provider.”

A weekend GentleBirth course costs from €300 to €375. Mums who prefer to work at their own pace can use the home-study course, €69.95, with ongoing support from other mums and a team of birth professionals online. www.gentlebirth.com

Most GB mums give birth in hospital but only 15% have an epidural. They’re not martyrs but by using the hypnosis techniques they’ve learned.... they can stay in the zone.