Use A Hair Comb For Labour ᴘᴀɪɴ Make You Surprise
Grasping a regular plastic comb could be tremendously therapeutic, according to childbirth ᴇᴅᴜᴄᴀᴛᴏʀs.
Using a comb for birth
How does it work? Well you’ve heard of ᴀᴄᴜᴘʀᴇssᴜʀᴇ. ᴀᴄᴜᴘʀᴇssᴜʀᴇ applies pressure on specific points on the body to ᴛʀᴇᴀᴛ health problems naturally and restore the harmonious flow of energy. There are several pressure points you can use for relief during labour but perhaps the easiest way would be to hold a comb that hits those points for you. The teeth of the comb are held to the base of the fingers which helps to relieve ᴘᴀɪɴ. It also plays a part in the ᴘᴀɪɴ gate theory where it ᴅɪsᴛʀᴀᴄᴛs ᴛʜᴇ ʙʀᴀɪɴ into focusing away from ᴄᴏɴᴛʀᴀᴄᴛɪᴏɴs ᴀɴᴅ ᴛᴏᴡᴀʀᴅs ᴛʜᴇ sᴇɴsᴀᴛɪᴏɴ in the hand.
It’s the ᴠɪʀᴀʟ ʟᴀʙᴏᴜʀ ᴘᴀɪɴ ʀᴇʟɪᴇF ᴛɪᴘ that has pregnant women whipping down to their nearest Kmart for a hair comb. The little-known technique delves into acupuncture points to help combat the ᴘᴀɪɴ of childbirth.
US-based birth photography company Fox Valley Birth and Baby shared a photo of a labouring woman gripping not only her birth partner but a simple hair comb.
“It also plays into the gate control ᴘᴀɪɴ theory. This theory states that the brain can only focus on a select number of sensations. Because the nerve endings are closer on your hands they reach your brain faster. Helping your body forget about the ᴄᴏɴᴛʀᴀᴄᴛɪᴏɴs.”
We checked this ʟᴀʙᴏᴜʀ ᴘᴀɪɴ ʀᴇʟɪᴇF ᴛɪᴘ with our expert midwife, Edwina Sharrock from Birth Beat, who said, in theory, it would work, given that gate ᴛʜᴇᴏʀʏ ᴀɴᴅ ᴀᴄᴜᴘᴜɴᴄᴛᴜʀᴇ are both true.
How Do I Use It?
Simply grip the comb in your palm, teeth to your palm. You might find that you won’t need the comb until active labour, when your ᴄᴏɴᴛʀᴀᴄᴛɪᴏɴs are strong enough that you can’t talk through them and you need all of your brain to focus. This is a good time to use the comb. Tell your birth support to give you the comb because you may forget to ask for it.
