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Offer suggestions for various positions to use in the labour to help with pain management. |
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Offer natural and alternative methods of pain relief (such as heat packs, showers and baths). |
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Be accepting (or actively suggest) natural therapies you could try or that you have organised to use for pain relief. |
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Possibly not be permitted to prescribe natural therapies (even if qualified) due to the hospital policy, but may utilise acupressure and reflexology. |
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Not generally offer medical forms of pain relief if you become noisy or appear not to be coping. Rather, they will discuss their use when requested by the woman. |
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Usually encourage you to deal with the pain in your own way and to trust your instincts. |
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Give you encouragement in affirmations and help to guide you when they feel you need it. |
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Give you guidance for breathing through contractions - if a particular way of breathing is not working for you or if your breathing is too fast and shallow (known as 'hyperventilation'). |
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Suggest utilising other forms of pain relief such as a shower, bath or heat pack before using the gas or a narcotic injection for pain relief. |
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Consider you and your support team as the 'drivers' for implementing your own alternative pain-relieving strategies, possibly only taking on an advisory role in this regard, providing that the mother and baby are well. |
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Ask you during the breaks between the contractions, when you are more coherent, "Is this what you really want?" if you request medical forms of pain relief during a contraction. |
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Try and gauge your real (rather than your perceived) need for pain relief, by talking to you between the contractions. They may attempt to compare your need for pain relief in the resting phase to your articulated need during the last contraction. This can help your caregiver evaluate how you really are coping and if you genuinely wish to have medical pain relief, or need to transfer to the deliver suite for an epidural. |
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Usually not heed requests from the woman's partner or support people to "give her something", rather waiting for the woman to express her own needs. |
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Possibly suggest using gas before a narcotic or transferring to the delivery suite for an epidural. |
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Bring a portable gas cylinder to you, if you are in the bath, shower or on a mat on the floor and wanting gas for pain relief. |
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Stay with you for a while to make sure you are using the gas mask or mouthpiece correctly and talk you through the contraction. |
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Normally suggest performing a vaginal examination before making a decision about having a narcotic injection or an epidural. |
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Discourage a narcotic injection or an epidural if you are nearly ready to push or the baby is close to being born. |
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Ask you to leave the bath (if you are there) when having a narcotic injection, in case you become excessively drowsy, fall asleep and slip under the water. |
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Arrange for you to transfer to the delivery suite for an epidural if this becomes necessary. They may stay with you in the delivery suite for a while, or until the birth, providing they are not busy in the birth centre. |