Contractions Are My Friends

I sort of had one of those "aha" moments in between our last birthing class and reading this thing about uterine muscles. Y'all are gonna think this is a no-brainer but it just goes to show how much our world tries to find the quick-fix and get rid of pain rather than a) looking at the root of it and/or  b) looking at the usefulness of it - and it almost suckered me in.

In our last class one of the pregnant women asked, "How can we get rid of uterine cramps (a.k.a. contractions)?" The instructor said something like, "You can't, you're supposed to have them. Contractions are what are helping to push the baby out." Duh, right? (Although at the time I was on the edge of my seat thinking that there was a magic solution of getting rid of these dreaded things called contractions.) And then I read this in my book "Hypnobirthing" last night,

"There are three layers of muscle in the uterus. The two layers with which we will be concerned are the outer layer, with muscles that are vertical and the inner layer with muscles that are horizontally circular."

 

"The circular muscles  of the inner layer are found in the lower portion of the uterus. In order for the outlet of the uterus to open and permit the baby to easily move down, through, and out of the uterus into the birth canal these thicker muscles have to be drawn up and back.

The stronger muscles at the top of the outer layer of the uterus are vertical fibers. They go up the back and over the top of the uterus, drawing up the relaxed circular muscles. In an almost wavelike motion, these long muscle bands shorten and flex to push the baby down, through and ultimately out of the uterus.

When the laboring mother is in a comfortable state of relaxation, the two sets of muscles work in harmony, as they were intended to. The surge of the vertical muscles draws up, flexes and expels; and the circular muscles open and draw back to allow this to happen."

We want to have contractions, if you want to have a baby. These contracting muscles are major players in pushing a baby out of the womb. In this Hypnobirthing book the author talks about how stress and fear are possible causes of extreme pain because they want to fight against these muscle contractions. But what if we work with them and let them do their job? Can it make labor less painful? I will report back to you after the birth and let you know if contractions are still my friends. Although I might have completely blocked the entire labor out by the time I report back to you! We shall see! (This is the most epic science experiment I've ever taken on.)

Image from: http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/myometrium