Dear All,
I too have been lurking for some time, and have some thoughts on teaching
'breathing' in antenatal classes.
Firstly, all women know how to breathe, and after holding (not teaching)
"Preparation for Parenthood" sessions for 10 years have gradually stepped
away from this concept. I prefer to devote some time each session to
assisting women to getting in touch with the power and the ablility of their
own body to give birth.
This does involve turning out lights, relaxing with pillows, beanbags etc,
and practicing total body relaxation, but the emphasis is not on the
breathing, but on building a woman's confidence in coping with stresses that
may arise. This includes talking about inner strengths, the power of love of
her unborn child, and the power of her body working as it was designed to
do. I believe that some women have no confidence in their own ability to
give birth, and teaching them how to 'breathe' isn't going to help much.
Cheers,
Mary Doyle.
-----Original Message-----
From: Carey and Gaye Riebau <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Sunday, 22 August 1999 13:49
Subject: teaching breathing in antenatal classes
>Dear all.
> Have been 'lurking' for a while and now would like your opinions on
>teaching breathing in AN classes. I have been a midwife in the hospital
>system, for nearly 20 yrs and also taken the AN classes for nearly 3
>years. From my experience working with woman in childbirth I probably
>don't think a lot of using 'breathing', haven't really seen it to work,
>But I have an enthusiastic new physio who thinks she/I should be
>teaching this in classes. I do talk about breathing/ relaxation but not
>in any great depth. Wondering if anyone has seen any studies, research
>on this issue, any books? ( I have Andrea Robertson's "The Midwife
>companion") which mentions this issue.What does ' Guide to effective
>care in childbith' say? have 'lost' my copy.
>TIO GAYE
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