Sophrology for easy delivery
If you are pregnant and preparing for delivery, you are probably looking for ways to make things easier. While there are many methods and tips for this, which you can read about on our website, did you know you can also use Sophrology for easy delivery? Now, perhaps you don’t know what this means. Let us try to explain.
These days, it is often said that the most important thing for safe delivery in the world is the stable mind of moms. To put it the other way around, fear and anxiety about childbirth can prevent you from having an easy delivery. But you can use Sophrology as a method to overcome anxiety and experience an easier delivery. Now we should dig a little deeper into that this method.
What is sophrology?
“Sophrology” is a practice for achieving well-being through some mental and physical exercises for relaxing. As it continues to prove effective, we see this method being more and more by pregnant women. It is said to make you feel less afraid of childbirth and eliminate the anxiety of labor pains.
In Latin, “Sofro” means studying to stabilize the mind. As this implies, Sophrology is a discipline that can remove anxiety and maintain a stable feeling. Inspired by a Spanish psychiatrist, it is a very popular relaxing method in France for helping pregnant women who are closing the childbirth in dealing with labor anxiety. As it is quite easy to learn to use this method, experts support trying it along with meditation.
To make the best out of Sophrology, many people recommend taking a proper sophrology study. Maybe not in a classroom, but through a digital media platform like the internet, so you can easily study at home. Since this is a recommended method for pregnant moms who are about to give birth in a couple of months, it would be best to be home. Unless you are not going to be studying it a long while before you will need it.
Learn that fear increases pain
During childbirth, if the mother becomes too tense, her uterine ostium will not open properly or the birth canal will become stiff, which will lead to dystocia. This tension is a phenomenon that arises from fear and anxiety, and it is said that 70% of childbirth pain comes from this fear.
Is childbirth pain like menstrual cramps?
Of course, moms who are about to experience their first childbirth can only hear the pain from other moms and cannot actually know it. And some people who have experienced this pain in childbirth may tell you that it was very painful. Hearing such descriptions certainly can make an inexperienced mother afraid, or anxious at the very least.
To put it in words, the labor pain new mothers can be worried about is a kind of a contraction that happens in the uterus. Essentially, it is the same type of pain as menstrual cramp pain. So, perhaps moms can consider it as the return of the menstrual pain they are used to, after a pregnancy break.
Try to see the labor in a different way
For most new mothers, the idea of labor is directly linked to pain, and consequently, fear and anxiety. It is no surprise that, for these mothers, the excitement of childbirth can mostly consist of being scared. Of course, this doesn’t mean that these mothers are any less excited about meeting their babies. It is just because their excitement is shadowed by fear.
So, it might help to try and fix this balance. Any time you feel such fear, remind yourself that the pain you may experience will mean you are about to meet your baby. You may think “Duh, I know that. I am excited for my baby.” right now. Of course! But it can get difficult to think this way when you are anxious and focus on your fears. So, keep reminding yourself labor means meeting your baby, again and again. And don’t let negative thoughts regarding your labor.
Learn how to breathe
During your sophrology study, you will learn how to breathe as one of the training methods when you get nervous. Because, when you get nervous and can’t control your breathing, you run out of oxygen, which means you can’t send oxygen directly to your baby.
Through sophrology studies, you can learn various breathing technics, such as the basic breathing method of inhaling through your nose for 3 seconds, holding for 2 seconds, and exhaling through your mouth for 5 seconds.
After learning the breathing technics as a relaxing method, you will be able to relax your body and mind with exercises such as yoga. Imagination training is also helpful while relaxing through controlled breathing. When the mother calms down, the mother’s veins can carry enough oxygen to the uterus, then to the placenta, through the umbilical cord, and to the baby.
Are there any hospitals for sophrology childbirth?
Although Sophrology is more popular in Europe, its popularity is spreading every day. These days, many hospitals and yoga centers provide sophrology services for pregnant women all around the world. In fact, you can probably find some in your local area if you contact the hospitals and yoga centers around you.
That being said, sophrology is something that you mostly do yourself. So, even if your hospital doesn’t have a service for it, you can do it yourself without any problem. It is not necessary to change your hospital over this factor. You can do enough at home to create an image of your pregnancy, relieve anxiety, and breathe when you are nervous. And you can continue your practices at the hospital when the time comes.
Even when the hospital staff can’t support your sophrology practices in a special way, they would not prevent you to do what you need to relax. We should also mention, that some hospitals claim that mothers who have learned sophrology experiences fewer problems during labor and show faster recovery after childbirth.
