Quick and easy birth tip: Use combs!

Did the idea of a comb being a birth tip catch your eye?

Sure; maybe you find it relaxing to have someone comb your hair, but you can also use a comb to help with pain relief! When you squeeze a comb into the palm of your hand you are using the Gate Theory of pain management.

❤️Here’s a very simplified explanation of Gate Theory: before pain messages reach the brain, those messages encounter “nerve gates” in the spinal cord that open or close. When the gates are open, pain messages get through more easily and pain can feel more intense. When the gates close, pain messages are prevented from reaching the brain and may not even be experienced.

❤️For relief during childbirth, the “gate” is the dorsal horn of the lumbar. It relays information related to touch and pressure from muscles. So when we apply sensory stimulation (such as heat, cold, water in a bath/shower, firm pressure, intradermal water blocks, Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS), and massage), the fast fibers are activated, endorphins are released, and the transmission and perception of pain never reaches the brain. The good news is that all of these methods can be used by the person in labor or offered by a partner or doula.