Some moms-to-be assume they won't be able to handle the pain of childbirth. In this video, nurse midwife Paula Greer discusses alternatives for dealing with labor pain worth knowing about before the first contraction.
Sometimes patients really surprise me. The ones that I feel will not be able to deal with their pain in labor have much better inner resources than we ever knew possible. Sometimes my teenagers are actually the best patients, on the other hand when I have a patient sitting in my office saying I'm afraid of needles, I can't get my blood drawn, I pass out when I go to the dentist office, I always need a stronger pain medicine please give me the higher dose, can I have my upperedal when I get to the hospital packing lot? They probably already know, that they are a little bit of the pain winy and may be there are going to need that after upperedal in labor.
On the other hand if you've never experienced pain in your life, this is the time that you are going to find out about your inner resources, and you maybe surprised that using hydrotherapy, massage, having a great support system and involving all of your senses, takes you right through the labor process and you end up being very proud of yourself, for having a natural birth.
Paula Greer is a graduate of the nurse midwifery program at Georgetown University and currently working for Baltimore Washington Medical Center in a faculty practice.
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