I was reading one of the many birth blogs I follow, and came across this wonderful HBAC (Home Birth After Cesarean) birth story about a strong woman who worked very hard to have the birth she wanted second time around! I encourage you to head over to Women in Charge and read about this great birth! But the part that struck me most of all, that I will immediately add to my toolbox when I work with any birthing woman is the following:
My mantra was that I be yoga’s corpse pose in between contractions. It worked. I slept. I had prepared by meditating on a chart given by my hypnotherapist of a typical hour of active labor – a 1.5 minute contraction divided into three equal parts is, 30-seconds rise, 30-seconds peak, 30-seconds fall. Being 3 minutes apart, as contractions usually are in this stage, means that in one hour, there is 15 minutes of contractions, only 5 of which are peak, leaving 45 minutes of absolute nothing – REST.
When you do the math, it really works out to 7 minutes/hour of peak contractions, but hey, the birthing woman was in laborland! 
I just love this image! ONLY SEVEN MINUTES OF PEAK CONTRACTION SENSATIONS IN AN HOUR! We can do that. right? Seven minutes of hard peaky contractions in an hour! You bet, with support, and trust and patience, a birthing woman can do this for an hour, and another and even another, if need be!
I can’t wait to share this mental image at my next prenatal meeting with clients! Maybe I even bring some colored pencils and paper to our prenatal, and we draw a wonderful pie chart or other representation of the seven peak minutes of contractions that occur in an hour of labor!
I will let you know how it is received. And I would love to hear your favorite visualization tip that works well for your clients. Share with me and let me learn!
THIS is amazing! Adding it to my toolbox as well. Thanks for the fantastic information, as usual.
I love this as a concept, but I’m challenged by how it actually works in practice. I understand that this particular woman was successful with it, so that bodes well for other laboring moms. The specific part that I’m having trouble with is how to lie down to take advantage of the non-peak minutes. The energetic move from laboring position (whatever that might be) to corpse pose is one thing. And then, how do you get to sleep so fast before the arrival of the next contraction? Perhaps I’m extrapolating “rest” into “sleep” mistakenly. Perhaps 45 minutes of intermittent rest is still of great value at this stage. I really would like to understand this so I might use it at my next birth.
Julie,
i don’t think it is about lying down, or sleeping! I think it is an awareness that the pain of the ctx will come and go, and you will get a break and during that break youl allow yourself to relax and rest deeply as much as YOU can! This was just this woman’s particular image that she used to get through labor! I like to think that the take away point, is that peak discomfort in total time will be small compared to the entire time of labor! Women are strong! So Strong!
Yes, I see, that’s the thing to focus on: the proportion of discomfort to total labor time is small. And I do recall that relaxation is attainable between contractions depending on which stage of labor. The chart and proportions presented here are representing active labor. How does a woman find any way to relax during transition, or does she? And yes, I agree, women are strong!
Ah, transition! Another animal indeed! Reality: transition is tough. Only way through it is through it! Head on! Staying in the moment, ctx by ctx, breath by breath! The good news about transition is that it is the shortest phase of labor! Women who are non-medicated and focused on going all the way without pain medication will often ask for meds at this point, but with support and surrender to the process, I frequently see that they stop asking and just move forward! It’s hard, but you can do it! Using whatever works for that woman in the moment will be what she needs! Extreme inward focus? relying on others?, serious vocalization? Who knows! The magic is in the woman, her baby and her body working together! And it is always an honor to watch it happen!