Dr. Bradley’s 6 Needs of a Laboring Mother
Chiqui Brosas on Dec 05 2007 at 9:22 am | Filed under: General
Dr. Robert Bradley was the doctor who fought for the husbands to be with their wives in the labor room and in their births. He taught them their roles and called the fathers coaches. They play a very important role in the success of the women’s natural birthing. They are the ones who remind their wives to stay calm, breath, relax and focus. When he was a medical student, he was surprised to find women screaming and going out of control during labor. As a child, he was a farm boy. He observed mammals give birth; horses, cats and dogs. There must be something right that they are doing that we women are not doing properly. According to his observation, these are the six items he discovered.
1.) Darkness and Solitide. Most animals give birth at night and in the dark. This is when they are most relaxed and safe against predators.
2.) Quite. Noise distracts concentration.]
3.) Physical Comfort. As a coach make sure the laboring mother is comfortable with lots of pillows if necessary, ice chips for her dry mouth, extra blankets if she is cold, rubbing her aching back, to changing positions very 2 hours and to void, among other things.
4.) Physical Relaxation. Remind the mother to release all flexed muscles,
especially those that are not so obvious. Even the tinniest muscle is worth relaxing in labor. She is genuinely limp and totally relaxed to the best of her ability. Not just quiet and still but being mindful and involved.
5.) Controlled Breathing. We know that panting is tiresome and could lead to panic. Holding of the breath can cause more pain. The best is to use normal breathing that is rythmic, quiet and abdominal.
6.) Appearance of Sleep and Closed Eyes. Not asleep but being mentally alert and deeply concentrating at what’s goin on in her body instead of escaping from the contraction has helped a lot of laboring women.
