My Most Used Tools for Labor!
Average Read Time: 5-6 minutes
During my time as a doula, I’ve gathered so many different tools that help bring comfort to my clients in labor. These tools and ideas have come from all over: amazing nurses, smart doulas, thoughtful trainings, and my own experience as a middle school teacher (truly, no one needs more comfort than a middle schooler going through it!).
With this blog, I want to share some of the tools I’ve seen work pretty consistently in labor.
CAVEAT: every person is different, and requires different comfort! Some birthing people want to be surrounded on all sides by their birth team, some want to be left alone, some want gentle touch, some need the toughest hip squeeze of all time! As you start to think about your own comfort in labor, think about what tools already work for you. Maybe you have a favorite massage tool, a tennis ball, or a comforting pillow. Maybe a picture of a loved one, or a blanket with your dog’s face (thank for the inspiration on this one from a former amazing client of mine). What is going to make you feel safe, loved and respected in your place of birth? What tools do you need to feel this and what already works for you?
Ask yourself these questions to help you prepare. Then, add in some of these tools, just in case <3
The Washcloth: These are generally in plentiful supply at any hospital or birthing center! I use them in a wide variety of ways:
Soak the washcloth in cold water and put on the forehead, chest or back of neck to help cool someone down.
Run it under hot water and gently use it to rub the birthing person’s face, forehead, neck, etc.
Do a bedside bath! Use a wet washcloth to help the birthing person feel a bit cleaner (think armpits, face, back of knees - anywhere that might be sweating from the exertions of labor!)
Essential oil diffuser - put a few drops of the birthing person’s favorite smell on the cloth and lay it by their head. The reason I like this over a traditional diffuser is that if that smell becomes too much, the washcloth is quickly removed from the area!
The Comb: This ancient coping technique utilizes acupressure points as well as the gate control theory of pain management!
Take the points of the comb and align them either with the lifeline of the palm or the crease between the palm and the fingers. Squeeze during a contraction!
The gate control theory - If you have painful/intense sensations in one place, it can distract your brain from pain in another place! While you’re squeezing the comb, your mind is focused on the comb, and less on the contractions in the uterus.
Hot Packs/Rice Socks: Hot packs can be found at most hospitals, and rice socks are easy and cheap ways to bring that same comfort to home! They can be used in a wide variety of ways.
Hot packs under the armpits can sometimes help with the shakes of labor! Shaking tends to happen both right before and right after the second stage of labor (pushing!), or with an epidural. My success rate with this trick is about 50% - sometimes it works to help the body relax enough to stop shaking temporarily, and sometimes it doesn’t - but it never hurts to try!
Put the heat on a place of specific pain - I use rice socks a lot when a client is having back pain during their labor.
Cold packs: Similar to a washcloth, I use this to help clients who are feeling overheated. Specifically, I put this on the back of people’s necks, as this is a quick place to provide relief from heat.
Pro-tip: at many hospitals, the cold packs are covered in a pad-like material, since they are generally used for recover after birth. You can rip off the overcoat so that you can get right to the cold underneath!
Alcohol Wipes: This trick I learned at my second ever labor from a L&D nurse. The smell of an opened alcohol wipe under the nose can help with the general feeling of nausea.
However, if the birthing person needs to throw up, do so! The alcohol wipe is meant to support nausea, but won’t prevent throwing up, if that’s what your body needs to do.
This short list is the tip of the iceberg of tools that can be used in labor! Stay tuned for a blog all about the TENS machine, another tool I use frequently!
Want more inspiration? I teach childbirth education at Chicago Family Picnic, and also do private classes on demand! Reach out here to connect!
