The two most popular methods of natural pain relief during labor are the Bradley Method and Lamaze, and each has its strength and weakness at curbing pain. Speaking as someone who has tried both, I know which was much more effective in my case, though everyone is different and the other one may be more effective in your case. It all comes down to what kind of assistance you need during labor to help you with the pain.
Lamaze is the method usually taught in childbirth classes, and has become the standard method for labor pain relief. It has been taught in the U.S. since the 1950s. It is an interesting method based on breathing patterns, with deep and shallow breath patterns. You keep track of the pattern by counting the breaths and focusing on that instead of the contractions. This can be helpful, in my experience, during early labor but not so much after the contractions become extremely intense and close together. Lamaze is not usually taught with an emphasis on no medical interventions, and many women do the Lamaze method until it is time for their epidural.
The other problem that I found with Lamaze is that after learning Lamaze during childbirth classes, I had been under the impression that the method actually helped with the pain or curbed it in some way. I found during the heat of labor that it did not, but was really just a way of concentrating on something else so that the contractions weren’t as overwhelming. Once you figure out that it is just a distraction method, it becomes much less effective. But again, there are some women who say it works well for them. If what you really need is to be distracted, then this is the right method for you.
The Bradley Method is less well-known than Lamaze, and is not as common in childbirth classes, but has been gaining popularity in the last couple of years. The Bradley Method centers on the relaxation of muscles. Getting the body relaxed as possible can be achieved by tensing and relaxing muscle groups in order to feel the difference between their tensed and relaxed states. Once you can tell what the muscles feel like when relaxed, it is easier to keep them relaxed and move on to other muscle groups. The difference between breathing and tensing and relaxing muscles is that relaxation actually does lessen the pain. If you read my article “Childbirth Pain: What It is and How to Cope,” it describes how childbirth pain is intensified with tense muscles.
The Bradley Method lowers the amount tension and pain, and lessens the chance that you will need pain medications that can slow labor. I found it to be extremely effective even into transition. I also found that it can be used at other times than childbirth. It is effective in the dentist chair and other times when you are anticipating pain.
Everyone’s experiences will be different, but based on mine and those of other women I have known, the Bradley Method beats the pants off Lamaze. I believe it would be beneficial if the Bradley Method was a standard technique taught in childbirth classes, or even taught alongside Lamaze to give women the choices they need to make labor as comfortable as possible.
