Читать книгу Blooming Birth: How to get the pregnancy and birth you want - Lucy Atkins - Страница 80

When labour hots up you’ll become very serious about your contractions which will probably be longer and more regular than before. This kind of contraction can feel overpowering. Women talk of ‘sledgehammer’ contractions, ‘fierce’ ones, feeling pain around their middle, in their back and sometimes up and down their thighs. This sounds scary, but when it is happening, if all is well and you feel safe, your body will somehow be coping. You will soon be unable to talk through this kind of contraction and you’ll have to focus on breathing and making noises. Remember, too, that each contraction lasts less than a minute and there are breaks between them for you to ‘regroup’ mentally. By this time, if you’re having a hospital birth, you are either in your delivery room or on your way there. Your partner may be baffled if you were cracking jokes before, and have now gone silent, concentrated or snappy. (Partners should remember to follow your lead – if you’ve gone all introverted and they’re still jesting, they’re not going to be helping you much.)