I have seen a few tears, heard a moan or two, "grunts" with bearing down, and brows knit. But those are signs a good observer does something about. It calls for help to prevent the developing of higher stress, a lack of confidence, and obstruction of labor which indeed will bring on the screams and desperation. That kind of labor is uncalled for and would rarely occur in a home birth where attendants and/or a husband applies some wonderful therapy, among other measures, to assist the mother who is willing to bring precious children into the world. She deserves this help. This help DOES NOT INCLUDE DRUGS. It doesn't need to do so.

It is well known that sustained tension in childbirth is prohibitive to relaxation, therefore breeds intense discomfort, that builds greater amounts of pain. Pain retards progress in labor. It "freezes up" the muscle that are trying to accomplish something–that of gradually dilating the cervix and pushing the baby out. The mother wonders why all these hurts are happening–she may even expect it to be part of having a baby because that is what the movies portray or she may have heard this kind of distress while walking down the halls of a maternity ward.

What is the first thing a person does when he mashes his finger or gets belly cramps? Of course, his hand rushes to hold the hurt. That is nature's way of easing the pain. Therapists have known for years that applying pressure or rubbing an area does wonders to soothe and release undue tension. When the tension is gone, the circulation returns, and normal functioning resumes. It is the same way with the onset of contractions, but we have prescribed ways of "rubbing" and giving pressure to give the most advantageous effect.

Once I was in the adjustment room of a Chiropractor when his wife came in and asked that he rub her feet and ankles to get rid of some tiredness and hurts. When she lay on her stomach and he was taking off her shoes she said, "This always kills me-but I feel better when he quits!" Sure enough he started "digging and rubbing and wrenching" as usual–and she was groaning and flinching and begging for easier treatment. He thought he was doing her a favor by going about it the way he was.

I dared to speak up and tell him not to do that. "How do you expect the tension to release or go away if you are causing so much more tension?" He looked up, not slowing down too much. I explained that to soothe away the tension or to apply only enough pressure to relax the person, and that can be half of what his application in the moment was, would ALLOW the hurt to go.

This doctor's ego, though very large, was not in his way. He listened and thought about what I said. A few months later I was in the office again and in considerable pain myself for some reason. He adjusted my frame, then as he was working on another patient, he would return to me and with the slightest gesture barely touched the sides of my legs, in a directed way, then later the outer areas of my hips, then later my rib cage area and I could not believe the instantaneous and progressive relaxation that occurred, leaving a wonderful feeling of well-being. Tension melted so obviously I asked what on earth he had done for me.

The doctor's reply was, "You taught me that. You explained a principle in therapy I had never considered. Recently I heard of "Touch Therapy" and thought of what you said that day I was working on my wife. So I took classes and learned this Touch Therapy. I have heard nothing but good from the patients who had problems that called for it."

See in POLLY'S BIRTH BOOK: Obstetrics For The Home, Unit 111, Parturition,Aids for the Laboring Mother, to get the details of using acupressure where, when and how to apply. Under some circumstances this therapy will help give approximately a centimeter of extra space in the birth canal.

How much better it is to have a sense of accomplishment in labor, a sense of confidence in the mother that she CAN give birth without torture. How much better it is that a care giver is there to give her help that will still leave her aware of birthing but without the concern that drugs will offend that baby in any way.