Breathing Techniques for Birth

Often mothers worry that during labour and birth, they will lose control of their thoughts and emotions. In our Hypnobirthing Australia™ Positive Birth Program, one instant relaxation technique we teach parents is breathing techniques.

The quickest and easiest way to calm down is to be mindful of our breathing. Our minds might drift but we can always rely on our breathing to anchor us.

We teach mothers three different breathing techniques that they can utiltise during and in-between surges and in the latter part of birthing.

What are the three different breathing techniques?

The first breathing technique we teach birthing mothers is relaxation breathing. Relaxation breathing is a breathing technique used in between surges, to start off any relaxation practice, and to calm down/reduce anxiety anytime in our lives.

The second breathing technique we teach birthing mothers is surge breathing. Surge breathing is used as it states during surges. This allows you to manage surges easier.

The third breathing technique is breathing/bearing down. This breathing technique is utilised during the latter part of our birthing during surges, when you have a feeling of pressure like you need to do a ‘poo’, during what is traditionally referred to as the ‘pushing’ stage of labour. When it feels right you will reach a point in your labour when it no longer feels right to inhale slowly during surges. Your body will instinctively want to draw a shorter breath in – then breathe/bear down when you exhale. It is important to trust your instincts.

If you want a taste of the instant relaxation techniques plus more that you will learn inside our Hypnobirthing Australia™ Positive Birth Program head over to our YouTube channel by clicking here.