Catch Your Breath! An Exercise to Connect With Your Breathing

People often ask us how they should breathe in labor. We usually say, "You already know how to breathe. You've been doing it a long time and have been doing a good job at it!"

As a labor coping technique, it's not so much how you breathe, but how you use your breath. Your breath can be a tool that allows you to focus your attention, connect with your body, and release tension. Connecting with your breath can be a challenge if you've never done it before, but practicing it regularly during pregnancy will get you well on your way to effectively coping with your labor.

This exercise will teach you how to connect with your breath and use it to help with relaxation during labor and birth. Get into a comfortable position, either sitting or lying down. You can close your eyes, or keep them open.

•  Notice your breath. Just notice how it feels when you breathe in and out. Don’t try to change your breath in any way, just feel it. Place one hand on your chest, and the other on your belly. Notice how your hands move. Does one hand move more than the other?

•  Now try to slow your breathing down. Make each inhale and exhale as long (not necessarily deep) as comfortably possible. Notice if there is a difference in how your chest and belly move.

•  Imagine that you have a balloon in your belly. With each inhale, try to expand that balloon as much as possible. (Hint: You have to relax your abdominal muscles to expand your balloon) Feel how your hands move differently on your belly and chest. Feel the expansion in your belly.

• Move the balloon into your chest. Let the balloon expand your chest and ribs with each inhale. Feel the difference in how your hands move.

• Now expand the balloon from your belly up into your chest. The expansion starts in your belly, then moves up into your chest. Notice how this feels. Notice how your hands move. Place your hands on your side ribs. Notice how your ribs expand outward with each inhale.

• Try to move the expansion into your back. Let each inhale expand and relax your back muscles. Notice if your hands move differently.

• Place your hands on your lower belly. Feel the expansion from your lower belly up to the top of your chest. Focus your attention on your lower belly, and let your balloon expand that area as much as possible. Feel the expansion extend down into your pelvis. Feel how it expands into your cervix and birth canal. Let your breath relax and open all of these muscles.

·         Practice this exercise regularly so it will be easy for you during your labor and birth. Use it to send expansion and relaxation into any area of your body that is holding tension, and to open and allow your baby to be born smoothly and easily.