Birth Skills: Proven pain-management techniques for your labour and birth

by Juju Sundin, Sarah Murdoch

Every pregnant woman's essential, step-by-step guide to taking charge of their labour and birth by Australia's leading expert in advanced labour pain management with her best-known client, Sarah Murdoch.

Genres: Nonfiction, Parenting, Health, Family

289 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 1, 2007

Reviews

[Lindley Walter-smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

A practical, evidence-driven and most of all non-judgemental workbook, with lots of personal stories, for women contemplating a pain-killer free birth. Unlike most natural birthing books, it is practical, positive (rather than focssing on bashing the medical industry) and genuinely empowering.

This book presents lots and lots of skills to help you work through the pain, as well as proper, scientific bases for why it helps and useful information of the processes of labour. Best of all, it acknowledges that everything doesn't always go to plan, including stories from women who ended up with interventions and epidurals anyway, with respect for their choices and for their decision to at least give it a go first. There's no woman-blaming here, just lots of help and encouragement.

As a side line, I attempted some of the pain coping skills when suffering from muscle cramps the other night, and was astonished at how well they worked to make the pain bearable and enable me to unlock my muscles. It gives me a lot more confidence and a lot more positivity about approaching my own labour without planned pain medication.

This was a library borrow, but I have already bought the ebook edition to read through again as I prepare for the birth of my own baby.

[Taylor Farrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok this got me through my natural birth of an 8.7 pound bebe so 5 stars!!!


This was extremely practical and I appreciate learning about new skills and ideas for partner involvement during birth. The use of the word pain so much and too many anecdotes at times increased my anxiety, so knocking a star for that. I still think this is very useful info presented in a non-judgmental/ not pretentious way!

[Caitlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Retroactively coming back to review this post childbirth. Bumped up to 5 stars as the skills in this book - and my own grit and determination - got me through a super fast labour (3 hours!) with baby in a posterior position unmedicated. I was in another dimension of pain but layering many of the techniques in this book got me through each contraction.

[Josie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I might wait until after birth to rate this one… I loved all the practical tips though and the positive framing of interventions if needed (as can be difficult to find media that is pro physiological birth without shame for interventions).

[Fiona · Rating 4 out of 5]

There comes a moment a few weeks before the due date where you start to really doubt your confidence and all aspects of your (in my case) very chill pregnancy go flying out the window. So forget all the orgasmic/waterbirth/playlist/birth intention stuff and let's get on with the PRACTICALITIES of how to birth. Physiotherapist and obstetrician Juju Sundin along with Sarah Murdoch (but don't let that put you off) have written a really practical how-to guide to the physicalness of birth. When the task at hand suddenly seems overwhelming, it was great to have a really supportive book to dip into which broke it down into labour stages and relief options for coping with both. Along with Spinning Babies, I drew on Juju's positioning techniques during several times during labour. A great read for those deep in the third trimester and going WTF have I done.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative and empowering. I am actually looking forward to labour and birth now, something which I never thought I would ever feel!

[L L · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven't been reviewing all the books that I've been reading or skimming related to baby/raising a child, but this book was so excellent that I thought it'd be worth including here. (Interestingly enough, I stumbled up on from a buried-deep in a paragraph mention Lucy Jones' Matrescence.)

I highly recommend this book for anyone planning to give birth, epidural or not (since it has good strategies for managing early labor and sometimes, epidurals fail or are not available).

A friend of mine encouraged me to look into pain management techniques if I was hoping to give birth unmedicated. The logistics of attending a class like Lamaze or Bradley got away from me and then I was turned off by the marketing and high costs of some of the online programs. So I finally opted for this book and it was incredibly useful.

Sundin's book is based in evidence-based practices in managing pain through different stages of the labor process. She also provides an in-depth physiological overview of what happens during the birth process. She reviews a wide ranges of strategies and tactics, and encourages the reader to practice several of them since it's hard to know in advance what will work best. There's also a good number of birth stories in the book.

For me, she strikes the right balance between Hynobirthing/Ina May that tend to exalt childbirth as this wonderful natural thing that shouldn’t be painful if we just have the right attitude about it (though to be fair to Ina May, she doesn't say that), and the overly medicated pregnancy-as-illness perspective of modern medicine. Instead, Sundin provides a very practical, realistic and grounded overview of birth and gives concrete advice on what can help people manage through each stage. I also appreciated that she recognizes epidural use not as a failure, but as a good option in certain circumstances for managing pain and moving labor along.

I had a very positive unmedicated birth experience and I largely attribute that experience with being able to apply skills from this book.

[Lauren Beckett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant! I’ve done two hypnobirthing courses to prepare for each of my births and whilst I find the philosophy (or science?) of it super helpful, I’ve realised I’m not the sort of woman who is able to birth in silence and I can’t agree that it’s not painful as hypnobirthing claims.

This book gave me practical things I could do to help with the pain when the hypnobirthing breathing didn’t cut it anymore as things intensified. I felt in control and layered each technique whenever things seemed to intensify. This meant that we didn’t call the midwife until the last hour as I managed to get to transition without even getting in the pool.

5 hours in established labour, I had a drug free water birth at home without even a tear. I’m still euphoric months on! Many thanks to this book and an awesome midwife. Thank you Juju - I’ll recommend you to every pregnant woman I know!

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

No matter what type of birthing situation I encounter, I found this to be a helpful guide. It gave enough detail to be useful without including descriptions or photos that were frighteningly graphic. I appreciated that the author provided ways to deal with labor & birthing pain, but did not belittle anyone who chose or required an epidural or a c-section. Very empowering.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started this book at 35 weeks - I was highly fearful of giving birth and convinced the only way I could have "control" over the pain of labour was to have an elective c-section. I'm now 39 weeks and am no longer fearful - instead, I feel equipped to attempt a vaginal birth by using the skills outlined in this book.

[Bianca Ammendola · Rating 4 out of 5]

The constant reference to 'pain' during child birth stressed me out, but I was able to employ most of Sundin's techniques to experience a pain free natural birth.

Highly recommended to anyone who's pregnant.

[Bernd Schiffer · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did not like this book at all. Read only the first couple of chapters, skimmed through the middle part, left out the end. Reason for dislike in one word: repetition. To be fair, the author tells you right at the beginning that they will repeat stuff, although she said it would only be the important parts. Seems like she thinks a lot of her stuff is important. The repetition is just aweful. Here is a small, but for me most annoying example:

"You will learn what to do with the fear. You will learn what to do with the panic. You will learn what to do with the stress. You will learn what to do with the pain."

You could sum that up in "You will learn what to do with fear, panic, stress, and pain." After reading the first chapters, I had the feeling that one could just sum up each chapter in a paragraph or two without leaving out any important parts of the book. Couldn't stand it anymore, and gave up reading. Won't recommend it.

[Irina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great technics for the first stage (active) labour and birthing. Unfortunately, if your pre-labour (before you start dilating) is prolonged and painful, you are advised to avoid movements, lay down and stay as relaxed (what do you mean you can’t?!) as possible. Visualisation, vocalisation, breathing are the only ones that are left to work with; however, they stop working after 24h.

The second stage labour technic called “Coffee plunger” was a savior for me and helped to push an over 4 kg baby quickly, without assistance (forceps/vacuum) and without episiotomy.

[Kylie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is empowering for whichever birth experience you are seeking. It is positive, insightful and leaves and understanding about pain and what can be done about it. This perspective resounds with what I believe about birth. So excited to experience my birth- no matter what the story unfolds to be. This helped take the fear out of the possibilities.

[Joel]

Never mind.

[Rambling Reviews · Rating 3 out of 5]

Look I'll be using some of these techniques I'm sure, but there's some outdated information (around pushing, particularly) and the constant exhortation to respect caregivers just really pissed me off.

Explicitly telling women to comply with the experts in this context ignores the huge number of women who experience birth trauma, and one of the key reported reasons is NOT that they 'ended up with a c-section' it's that they weren't listened to, or that they were coerced into decisions they didn't understand (because no one explained what was going on) or didn't want to make (because they knew making a different decision — such as refusing induction at 39 weeks with no clinical indication FOR induction — would have been better for them). Constantly reiterating to women that they should essentially blindly follow their caregivers, instead of respecting the expertise of their caregiver while ALSO respecting their own right to bodily autonomy and informed consent, is probably the most outdated concept in this book.

None of this is to denigrate professionals in this field. But obstetrics is a bafflingly practice-based (rather than evidence-based) profession that simply refuses to acknowledge good quality research and consumer demand (the demand for birth centres and midwifery group practices, for example, FAR outstrips the supply of them; women are choosing homebirths in increasing numbers; yet obstetrics as a field seems determined to ignore this or write these women off as 'don't know any better' or 'hippies').

Can you tell I haven't had good experiences with obstetricians?

Lastly, the book is extremely repetitive. I get what she's trying to do, but that kind of repetition would work far better in a group session setting than it does in a book.

[Camille Viva · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is very repetitive, although I'm not sure that's a bad thing. I think the repetition could help make some of the points easier to recall during labour. That said, I do think many of the repetitive personal stories could have been cut out as they truly feel more like anecdotal filler than useful repetition of techniques.

I found the analogies about how to push and avoid tearing the most helpful helpful. The rest of the book didn't really teach me anything new about pain management - the advice in my opinion can be summed up as
- Freezing up makes pain worse, movement helps channel your adrenaline and make pain better
- You can distract your brain from the pain by overloading it with other sensations, e.g. breathing/counting techniques and foot + hand work (hand work may be esp useful since your hands have many nerve endings)

I'm not sure about all of the mantas about 'healthy pain', etc. But again, I haven't experienced labour yet so maybe they will help.

As a side note - I did appreciate that the book doesn't look down upon epidurals or champion unmedicated births. Although this attitude does indirectly come through in some of the women's stories which bothered me a little bit since I truly believe that there is no shame in getting an epidural and that how much pain you feel is not a competition or achievement.

[Giulia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Juju's book provides people and their birth partners a breadth of clear and practical pain management skills to take with them into their birth experience. Published in 2007, it now does read, at times, quite dated despite the actual techniques being just as relevant today. I also found it overly wordy, and at times redundant. And I believe this book would benefit from being republished so it can be both condensed and modernized to make the content more accessible by a broader audience. Similarly the contributions of Sarah Murdoch reflecting on her personal experiences could be omitted or condensed.

However if you forego reading it cover to cover and rather just focus on the pages that summarize how to practice each skill within each chapter, the book is well worth reading in preparation for birth. Personally I used several of the techniques while labouring and used it as a helpful resource for birth prep, including writing my birth plan and hospital bag packing list.

Midwives are still recommending this book as it covers much more than they can communicate during standard hospital organised birth education. So investing is republishing a revised edition of this book would definitely be worthwhile.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really practical, useful guide about coping with pain in natural childbirth. Not just the explanation of the physiology, but a multitude of techniques with movement, vocalisations, position changes and so on, to empower women and give them more tools than just 'relax, breathe'.

Juju is unafraid to talk about the degree of pain experienced in labour - some women may find this harshes their vibe, others might find the honesty refreshing. She also offers no guarantees that her techniques will provide a natural childbirth - plenty of the stories included involve epidurals, forceps and sections.

A realistic and frank book overall, that I'll be recommending to women who ask about coping mechanisms for labour.

[Špela · Rating 2 out of 5]

Initially it looked as amazing book, but ... too hard to distinguish what’s essential and what not, and this made all I have learned useless during the labour as I was for example doing the exercises with the ball (to override the pain signal) and at the same time subconciously I was contracting my muscles instead of accepting every contraction as it is. I have only realised that when the third person asked me why I was doing this with my hands and the ball (like the book suggested it, after 38 hours of active labour!!). This advice unfortunately made my labour painful as hell and I didn’t dilate ad fast as I should.
So - overall I regret I have bought and read this book.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Third time reading in preparation for the impending birth of my third child. Empowering, practical, and informative. We all know labour is going to hurt, but in what way? Why? And what can you do to help yourself? The point isn’t to have a ‘natural’ birth, it’s to be informed about what’s actually going to happen and have some tools at your disposal should you choose to use them.

This is the only labour/birth book I have ever read and both of my first two births were completely drug free and - more importantly - I felt absolutely capable and in control. If you’re pregnant then do yourself, your body, and especially your mind a favour and read this.

[Sara Srinivasan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book had very practical tips for managing (and avoiding) discomfort, fear, tension and pain during labor. They were the kinds tips only a physical therapist would know. For example: grasp a pull up bar (or a door) above you and let yourself hang down to relax your lower pelvic region during labor. Also: whatever you do, try to focus on moving your legs. I wish I had this book for my first two births. This book helped me give birth to my third baby without medication or intervention (in a hospital setting). Then again, I had already given birth twice before so I had less to be afraid of and knew the drill. I still recommend the book.

[Elisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely found this useful for my birth! Loved feeling like I had some semblance of control. Without it I’m sure it would have felt like everything was happening to me, rather than me being an active participant. It also helped me to understand the whole process of giving birth and gave me some idea of what to expect - though not completely as it was an experience unlike any other and I don’t think anything could possibly have totally prepared me! I used vocalisations to match the pain, movements like swaying and stomping, and visualised planting one foot in front of the other as if I was hiking up and over a mountain when the contractions came.

[Melody Cox · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just given birth...

... and these skills really helped! I used hypnobirthing at first followed by the skills here towards the end in the more intense phase - and managed an unassisted all-natural quick birth despite having an undiagnosed breech baby. I’m sure it was in part because of this. I recommend the chapters on movement, vocalisation and the push action as these were the ones that helped me the most, although as the author says, everyone is different. So glad I bought it.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great, pragmatic strategies that can help you manage pain during labour delivered in a non-judgemental tone. Dispersed amongst practical skills and lessons are birth stories from those who have used these skills, saying what things they did and didn't find useful. It's realistic, and acknowledges that there are so many ways you can give birth and manage pain, both medicated and unmedicated, with or without interventions. It accepts all as variations of normal but gives you skills to distract yourself from labour pain regardless of the route you go down.

[Irene · Rating 3 out of 5]

More like 2.5 stars. The problem with this book is that it's packed with interesting and useful information about how to handle pain and expectations in birth, but it's also incredibly repetitive and there are too many personal stories (including Sarah Murdoch's), to the point you stop being able to tell them apart.

It didn't have to be this long; I rarely say this, but I wish someone had turned this into a blog post.

[Stephanie Godfrey · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are some great tips and advice but this booked could have been effectively summarised in one chapter. Far too much fluff, too many unrelatable stories, the whole thing just seemed like one big promotional ad for Juju.

I did not enjoy this book, and whilst I appreciate some of the learnings which I’m sure I’ll use during my labour, I felt my time would have been better spent reading other more resourceful, scientifically grounded research.

[Karin O'Grady · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a refresher read for me, before the birth of my third child. I completely recommend to have a read, take from it what you will. Every birth is different and from my past two I have used completely different skills out of this book, though I must say sec be time around there was no shock factor.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this incredibly helpful and valuable going into my second delivery. My first was arduous, long, and traumatic. I totally attribute the skills in this to this delivery being quick, controlled, and empowering. I did find the book a bit redundant, but I think that was intentional. The stories from other women were really great.

[Ali Pearson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting techniques which seem to make sense. It is an easy read and repetitive (on purpose), to allow you to pick up some tips and tricks which may help you in labour. I have noted some for when I have my first soon, as this way if the calm birth method does not work I can add these in to my plan.

We will see how I go!