Labour pain is such an individual thing – we all relate to it differently. What do you relate to?
Pain avoiding
These women take a proactive position – to avoid all pain in labour. Women who have this attitude have taken the cultural message about pain in labour and run with it. They are highly motivated to avoid all pain and have made particular choices that back their intentions for a pain free labour. They don’t want to leave it to chance, they want an epidural at the first contraction or possibly even an elective caesarean. She sees no value in labour pain and does not want to lose control. She believes that in this day and age women shouldn’t have to suffer the barbaric pain of labour. For these women, the epidural has it covered and they’re damn well going to get one.
Status quo
These women take a reluctant position to labour pain. They believe the issue of pain management choices is shaped by whatever advice is offered. She is usually unaware that there is any other choice. She says “Well, I don’t know what to do, so I’m just going to listen to the experts (friends’ family, caregivers). Or “everyone says epidural is the way to go, so I’ll guess that’s what I’ll need”
Wait and see
These women have a wavering position. They have some yearning for a natural birth but also sense the enormity of the challenge so they hedge their bets. They question their pain threshold. She is likely to say “Maybe labour is not so easy. I think I have a pretty good pain threshold, I hardly ever use pain killers except for a headache and I push myself at the gym so maybe I’ll be okay. But I just don’t know how painful it will all be and whether my pain threshold will match it. I’ll wait and see how it goes. I’m not going to be a martyr about it so I’ll just wait till I’m in it then I’ll make some decisions about what I’ll do”. She doesn’t have awareness of the implications of different pain management idea’s.
Aspirational but naïve
These women actively prepare for their birth. They have done the reading, done pregnancy yoga and written a birth plan. She sees overcoming the pain as a mark of her sense of self and an expression of her personal power. She is ready for a natural birth but has overlooked system issues. “I’ve made it clear in my birth plan that I don’t want any drugs and definitely no epidural” – she believes this will protect her. But the system issues such as being in a private hospital with an epidural rate of 70% or lack of appropriate support people means she will crumble. She cannot normalise her crisis of confidence and will be asking for pain relief. And she is disappointed.
Pain embracing
These women are highly motivated towards a natural birth. They know that pain is it’s territory and accept the enormity of the task. They have put into place coping mechanisms that will put distance between them and an epidural. She has been to classes, done hypnobirthing and mentally ready. She is aware of system pressures and has good support who will help her through the tough times. Like the pain avoiding women, they leave nothing to chance. And they are not disappointed.
Myself – I was aspirational naïve.
Warm wishes
Jacqui