Why Most Antenatal Begins With Breathing...

Focusing on the power of breathing.

Having taught antenatal group classes for two years, the main thing clients ask is if there are specific breathing techniques to use for labour (that and if they are likely to poo themselves).

The answer to both of these questions is yes.

We’ll talk about the poo in next weeks blog (but please don’t worry about it- it is perfectly normal and even looked forward to by midwives as I sign that your baby is nearly there). But for now, I want to explain why all antenatal classed include an element of breathing techniques.

During labour, our uterus is busy working. The uterus is simply a muscle, and like every muscle in the body it needs to steady supply of oxygen to prevent it going into anaerobic metabolism. Now if I have just lost you there with my GCSE PE qualification don’t worry, I will explain further.

Usually our muscles work in a state of aerobic activity, meaning that they have enough oxygen to supply the muscle fibers so they can work efficiently with no harmful waste products to hinder them. However, when oxygen supply is too low for the level of muscular activity, then the muscle fibers switch to anaerobic metabolism and a by-product of this process is Lactic Acid.

Lactic Acid is not our friend during labour, as it makes the muscle fibers feel sticky as they slide over one another during a contractions. This friction feels uncomfortable (think cramp) and so can make a labouring woman start to worry that this pain is unmanageable. The sensation of discomfort moves towards pain as her adrenaline rises in response to a feeling of panic setting in. The adrenaline in her body puts her into a state of ‘fight or flight’ as the sympathetic nervous system is triggered and all spare energy and oxygen is sent to the arms and legs to allow her to run away. This is our primitive “shit there’s a saber-toothed tiger coming my way” response (excuse the swearing).

So to prevent this happening, we must focus on our breathing for two reasons:

1- to get enough oxygen into our bodies to support the uterine muscle as it is working really rather hard during labour.

2- to trick our body with slow rhythmical deep breathing (the type we naturally do when deeply relaxed) into thinking that its just another afternoon relaxing in the armchair. We are sending a signal through our breathing rhythm that we are calm, there is nothing to worry about, we’ve got this.

Now as labour progresses there are further breathing techniques we apply to increase oxygen supply, and to also breathe your baby down and out. These vary depending on what antenatal course you do, but all follow the same principles really.

However the main message of this blog is that all emotional and physical power during labour starts with the breath, and if you have ever done any guided relaxation, yoga, mindfulness or such things you will probably already have had some experience of this powerful tool in calming the mind and body.