2025 Childbirth Tip and Trends: Chidlbirth Breathing Techniques:
Great … In the AI response, breathing techniques are mentioned for pain management and relaxation but what does that mean? What breathing techniques? Words have power but words can mean different things.
We know just saying: ‘breathing techniques’ doesn’t explain how! We breathe all the time so what are ‘breathing techiques’? Some of us use meditation breathing, others may have asthma and feel breathless, and others might have given birth before and screamed the whole time through painful contractions or never made a peep. How do we make sense of generalizations and learn how to use our breathing during the birth of our baby.
Think of it this way. What do we know about human breathing? We breathe In and we breathe Out.
Simple, right? Let’s see … What are the 4 ways all humans breathe?
If you find yourself PAUSING, don’t feel bad. This question has been asked groups since the 1970s … thousands of pregnant families, childbirth educators, midwives/doctors, doulas an others. You would think they would know the answer to this simple question: What are the 4 ways humans breathe? The PAUSE just exists.
Sure, sometimes a person will peep up: ‘We breath fast or slow’ or ‘we can breath into our chest or belly’. Yup. However, what are the 4 ways we all breathe?
In/out nose
In nose/out mouth
In/out mouth
In mouth/out nose
‘I know that!” … Yes, we all KNOW this but no one comes up with that in all the hundreds and hundreds of classes and thousands of people. Why is that?
We know but we don’t KNOW. And, that means, we don’t KNOW what are the best ways for women to breathe in labor to manage pain and feel in control. Or how to use breathing skills to work through the activity of giving birth via a cesarean. Yes, surgical births are births and going to hospital, waiting to be prepped and lying on the table during surgery is an activity that takes time. WE CAN ALL USE BREATHING SKILLS TO WORK THROUGH THE ACTIVITY OF BIRTHING OUR BABY.
So, let’s now ask this question:
What are the variations of each of these 4 ways we all breathe?
No joke. Each of these 4 ways has variations. It’s up to you to play around with this knowledge. It is KNOWLEDGE and this breathing knowledge helps in all areas of life. You get to experiment with variations of:
In/Out Nose and In Mouth/out Nose and In/Out Mouth …
We’re only going to discuss In Nose/Out Mouth
It turns out that in IN NOSE/OUT MOUTH has the most variations. Do you know what some are? Don’t peek. If you KNOW then you know. When you know more, you have broader and more effective breathing skills.
One dad said: ‘Once I learned the 4 ways we all breathe, and the variations of each, I was able to work and exercise more effectively AND when I had a tattoo done, I used my Directed Breathing!”
In Nose/Out Mouth … We usually don’t breathe this way instead mostly we breath In/Out nose … however, here are some of the variations
- We can breathe in our nose and blow out our mouth slowly with pursed lips … this variation is used to relax and during birthng women often count their slow blowing exhale 1,2,3,4. This helps us focus. DO THIS 3 TIMES.
- When we breathe in our nose and we slack jaw out our mouth … We use this form of breathing to relax as well. We can experience deep relaxation by letting go of the built up internal energy. DO THIS 3 TIMES.
- While doing sports or climbing up stairs … It is very common to shift from in/out nose to in nose/out mouth when we are exercising or climbing up. NOTICE THIS AND WHEN YOU SHIFT FROM IN NOSE/OUT NOSE TO IN NOSE/OUT MOUTH
- Sex … go ahead do this now. In nose and out mouth with a big, beautiful AH! When women are pushing, this is often the sound they make. DO THIS NOW. BIG IN NOSE INHALATION AND BIG ‘AH’ MOUTH EXHALE.
- Moan … Birthing women are not happy. Her birth coach can hear when this happens and help her return to ‘coping’ breathing. DO THIS NOW: Nose inhale and moan on your mouth exhale.
- Scream … Birthing women are really, really not happy. DO THIS NOW: Inhale your nose and scream on the exhale. The birth coach can hear and see this and ‘model’ coping breath skill. She’ll follow.
That’s right, this way we breathe (in nose/out mouth) has lots of very different useages. How does this help birthing women and birth coaching dads?
WOMEN:
- When you’re coping during labor, then you’re using the variations of in nose/out mouth that are calming (1,2,4 )
- When we are not coping we are using (5,6)
- Some women only use In/Out nose throughout birth
MEN:
- When women shift from #1,2,4 to # 5,6 then model #1,2,4 and she’ll follow you
- Some women like eye contact, some don’t
- No birthing woman wants to get out of control. Her breathing will tell you
- However, you will never know what a woman is ‘thinking’ no matter how she breathes. That’s another story for another time.