12 ways to boost your breathing for birth

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Knowing how to use your breathing for birth is an essential skill to work with contractions, to stay calm and to manage any panic.

Relax & Breathe is simple and effective to use – the key to it is to understand how it helps and to practice to make it work for you.

Relax & Breathe is my own take on using breathing and relaxation techniques – I originally used it to manage anxiety and panic attacks and then I developed the technique to use for labour and birth.

By focusing on your breathing, on relaxing your muscles and on developing you own technique relax & breathe can be used for:

  • pain and discomfort
  • energy boosts
  • rest and sleep
  • stress, anxiety and panic
  • a clear head and thinking space

The benefits of breathing for birth

Learning how to use relax & breathe throughout your pregnancy means that you can benefit from it throughout each trimester as well as for your birth preparation. During birth it means you have a skill to fall back on:

  • for contractions and your pattern of labour
  • to help with pushing as part of birth
  • to stay calm during a caesarean
  • to manage an induction of labour
  • to adjust to changes in your birth plan
  • to use if your birth needs to be medically managed
  • to manage any panic points during labour and birth
  • to help boost your energy levels
  • to have something you can use so you can do birth with greater confidence

It doesn’t make birth easy but it does help to make it positive with effective coping strategies and realistic expectations.

breathing for birth

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Janine Smith | A specialist in pregnancy, birth and early parenting

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