Saturday, August 13, 2005

All I need is the air that I breathe...

Today we attended a yoga class given by Hayley's regular teacher but unlike the regular Monday evening classes she attends the men are invited along too.

It was a good session. The instructor, Ted, gave out a pack containing useful handouts on good positions during labour and birthing. It also contained a checklist of telephone numbers and items to take to the hospital. Looking down it I realised there was still the odd item missing if labour were to kick in right now. For example, I don't think we are going to want to stop off for "fruit and snacks" or "wet-wipes" on route to the hospital.

The session covered the breathing techniques Hayley has already shown me. These were very good. He also did a visualisation of the whole labour and birth. For this the men sat against the wall with partners facing forwards into the room sitting between their legs so we could place our arms around the bump. I think was meant to be a beautiful bonding experience, but I felt it was a tad rushed and I can't say I found myself transported to the delivery suite: more thinking about the floor I was sitting on and how my left leg was going numb.

He also did the famous ice-cube exercise. This is where you hold an ice-cube tightly in your hand and breathe through the increasing pain for 60-90 seconds: approximately the duration of early contractions. You are supposed to "breathe the pain in, up your arm" and then breathe it out again. He didn't say where exactly you breathe it out. Thinking about the hand with the ice in just made me realise it hurt so I found myself thinking about the trees outside the window. I'm sure that's not how it's meant to be done but it worked for me. Of course, no-one is saying labour is like holding an ice-cube, but in theory the same principle applies. Most of all he stressed that fear will block the body's ability to combat the pain. So breathing to relax will itself help ease the pain.

Overall it was an excellent session, especially the relaxation techniques focused around breathing. Particularly interesting was the alternate nostril breathing (or Anuloma Viloma to give it its correct name): I'm going to start trying that. (Note that pregnant women should not hold their breath as described in the linked article, but simply alternate the breathing through the nostrils as described.)

When you take into account the handouts and general chat about labour at the start I think it was a very useful extra ante-natal class. I'd recommend it to any parents-to-be in their final few weeks.