Curriculum Topic: Group Activity, Educator Demonstration, Practice
Activity Type: Labor & Birth, Labor Support, Healthy Birth Practice 2
Purpose: Learn pain-reducing strategies to cope with pain during childbirth using the Gate Control theory.
Supplies: Various examples of comfort tools: massage tools, rice-roll, heating packs, ice packs, tennis balls, stress ball for squeezing; hairbrush or scalp massager, fan, tastes (hard candy), smells (unlit votive candles, essential oils, lotions), sound (playlists for music or white noise), visual (photos, phones, art), etc.
Instructions:
Display various examples of comfort tools to use while describing Gate Control theory. Brainstorm and discuss various positive stimuli the students think might work for them. Include all the senses, and rehearse the techniques mentioned.
Talking Points:
Before presenting the Gate Control theory, it is helpful to become familiar with the article Nonpharmaceutical Pain Relief by Suzanna (Hilbers) Alexander and Susan Gennaro. A copy of this paper is included in the Lamaze Educator Learning Guide. Your understanding of the neurophysiologic basis for pain-reducing strategies is important. Presenting labor pain in a positive light and teaching rationale for pain-coping strategies will help students reduce fear and build confidence in their ability to handle labor pain.
By using and alternating various comfort measures such as heat, cold, pressure, and movement, parents can modify painful stimuli coming from a contracting uterus, dilating cervix, stretching ligaments and vagina, and pelvic pressure. The painful internal stimuli travel along small-diameter nerve fibers, while the more pleasant tactile sensations travel along faster-moving, large-diameter fibers. Pain relief is achieved when “the gate is closed” to the painful stimuli due to the processing and interpretation of the positive stimuli by the brain.
It is important to emphasize that the pain management techniques taught in childbirth classes are also useful in many other situations. Sometimes during a class series, a class member will share that they experienced a migraine headache, workshop injury, or dental work and found that techniques practiced in childbirth classes eased the pain. Using the strategies successfully in practice and/or in real-life situations increases students’ confidence in their ability to manage their own pain. It is important to stress that the "Gate Control" phenomenon, while powerful, does not completely remove the sensation of painful contracations. A more realistic expectation is that, by using Gate Control techniques, labor pain will be "diminished, reduced, dulled, tolerated, more easily coped with, takes the edge off, etc."
Reference: Adapted from the Lamaze Toolkit
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