[0:00]Hey mama, take a second to imagine a woman in labor. How is she breathing? If you are picturing anything like you've seen in TV shows or in movies, she's probably hyperventilating or she's holding her breath completely, which are two breathing techniques that you really want to try to avoid during labor. So in this video, I want to show you breathing techniques that are going to take you from the beginning of your labor all the way to the end of labor.
[0:30]Correct breathing during labor is one of the best tools that you can use in order to have a smooth labor, but breathing comes so automatically that we often times don't even think about it during labor. You know, we use it during the day when we're grocery shopping, when we're showering, when we're cooking, like we use it all the time, we don't think about it. However, when pain enters the body, our natural response with our breathing in response to pain is to either hold our breath or to hyperventilate. And like I said, those are two breathing techniques that you don't want to use in labor. So what we need to do is take breathing from an automatic thing that we do into a manual thing that we do through our contractions, which are causing us a lot of discomfort. So the first breath that I want to show you is called the destresser breath and you can start it in early labor, um and do it through active labor and even into transition. Um and basically what it is is a breath that takes away the stress and helps you relax. It's a deep breath in and a long exhale. Um and so I'm going to show you how to do it and then I'm going to count for you and then we're going to do it together. So I'm going to put my hands on my tummy and the reason that I'm doing that is to remind myself to fill up my tummy, my whole diaphragm with air. I'm focusing my breath and my energy to where my baby is, because remember you're in labor, that's where your baby is, that's where your contractions are happening, so that's where you want to focus your breath and energy. Um a lot of people just focus on breathing in their lungs, but by putting your hands on your tummy, you are uh practicing to um engage your energy and breath there. So our hands are on our tummy, and as you breathe in, I want you to expand your tummy like a balloon. We are going to breathe in for four to six seconds and exhale for six to eight. And the reason why I give you that little bit of time is because some women aren't going to be as comfortable doing it as long or as short as others. So just do what's comfortable for you. Um we are going to practice four inhale and six exhale. So we're just going to do that together. So as you're inhaling, you want to inhale through your nose and this is going to help you um breathe at a more steady and calming rate. Um and as you exhale, you're going to exhale quietly through your mouth. So, let's start. Um first one, I'm just going to count for you. So, let's get started. Inhale, two, three, four. Exhale, two, three, four, five, six. Okay, let's do it together. So you want to be relaxed. Remember you're expanding your tummy as you inhale and exhaling through your mouth all of that tension. So let's do this together. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Last time, inhale.
[4:02]Exhale. Awesome. Um if you notice we did that uh breathing exercise four times in a row and the reason why we do that is because doing it four times is going to help you get through those contractions, which are lasting about 45 to 60 seconds, um during that active stage of labor. Um and so doing it for that amount of time, like doing the breathing for that amount of time is going to get you from beginning at least towards the end of the contraction as the pain is going down. So you have made it out of active labor and you are now in transition and transition is the hardest part of labor, but it's also the shortest. So your contractions are about 60 to 90 seconds long and are two minutes apart. So they are coming fast and they are coming hard and so breathing manually is going to be really, really important for you. Your cervix is doing the last little bit of dilation in order to get to 10 cm so you can push that baby out. Um and right now women are a lot of women experience the urge to push at this point. But if they start pushing, um the chance of tearing is pretty high and of course, you want to avoid that. So I want to teach you a type of breathing that is going to help you um avoid pushing and resisting that urge. So, that breath um is just a short shallow breath, as opposed to the the long inhale, the deep inhale and the long exhale of the destresser. So that's going to encourage the sensation to uh or that urge to bear down. Um and remember we want to avoid that um at this point. So this breath is just a short shallow one. So that's the kind of breath that you want to be doing. You might think be thinking, that sounds kind of like you're hyperventilating, but it's not hyperventilating is like You're taking two shallow but purposeful breaths in and two shallow but purposeful breaths out. So let's do it again. And that's how you'll get through transition to resist the urge to bear down. Now, if you're not feeling like you need to bear down, but you're still just trying to get through those contractions, go back to that destresser breath and keep doing that until the pushing stage. So during this pushing stage of labor, the inclination for a lot of women is to hold their breath as they're bearing down and pushing. Um but this causes a lot of unnecessary tension and pressure on the vaginal walls, which can potentially lead to tearing. So a better way to um push your baby out without holding your breath is to do the J breath and I'm going to explain how to do that. So this J breath is a lot more flexible than the destresser breath that we did that I had you count in and exhale for um a certain amount of time. This one at this stage, I really want you to do what's most comfortable for you. Um so you're going to either breathe in deeply through your mouth or your nose. Remember your nose is going to probably help you stay more calm and have a more steady breath, um but do what's more comfortable for you at this point. Um and you want to breathe in, so you're expanding your belly, um but breathe deeply and comfortably. And as you exhale, you're going to create a low grown in the back of your throat. And you just want to envision that low grown going all the way down um to your uterus, down your birth canal and then out through your vagina because that's creating that nice J sweep. Um and that's the motion that we want the baby to be making his or her way out of. So I'm going to take a breath through my nose, um and create that low grown and that as I'm breathing down, I want to make sure that I'm tightening um my abs or my uterus um to help squeeze and get that baby lower and out. Um so, let's breathe together. Remember you don't have to do it exactly like me. It is very flexible with this J breathing, whatever is comfortable for you. All right, let's do the breath together. Okay, let's breathe in. And out. Okay, I know that breath sounded a little bit funny, like I was mooing. Um, but that's a good sound to be making. Remember, um I was taking all that energy from the back of my throat and sending it to my baby in my uterus, in the birth canal, and sending it out in that low, deep J breath. And if you do that consistently through those contractions at the end as you're pushing, you are going to have an easier um delivery as you are breathing your baby out instead of holding your breath and bearing down. So a little extra tip for you, if you want to really practice and nail down this breathing technique, do it uh when no one's home while you are pooping. Um, which I know it sounds really weird, but it's probably the closest sensation to what birthing, um is going to feel like if you've never done it before. Um so I know it sounds silly, um but it really does help. So practice this breathing technique while you're sitting on the toilet. Thanks for watching this. I hope that you learned something about breathing techniques and that you'll be able to take that into the laboring space and that while you're feeling discomfort that you don't let your body go into automatic mode and start hyperventilating or holding your breath, but you'll go into manual mode and you'll feel really confident and empowered in your breathing to get you through all your contractions from beginning to the end of your labor. So again, thank you for watching. Make sure you subscribe to this channel if you have any questions, comment them below, hit the subscribe and the little bell so that you don't miss my videos in the future and I will see you next time. Bye.
