"A child will be born in the center of the pain"

The beginning of this week I had a lymph node that was very painful. It was interesting because I found myself responding to the pain in the same way I did with labor. I started my deep breathing and pacing. I took a shower, and longed to have my husband near me if only to hold my hand. I turned off the lights and I started to internalize the pain-analyze it from all sides. I could do this because I had learned to accept pain as normal and useful.

I used to work for Hospice, which dealt a lot with pain issues. It was interesting because I noticed that quite often those that were the most at peace were not always those who were in the least pain. It seemed that those who were the most at peace were those who had learned to accept pain into their lives and who had stopped fighting it. I think the same thing applies to labor. It is by accepting the pain and working with it, not to push it back, but to help it accomplish its purpose, that we find the most peace and satisfaction with our work.

"Birth is painful to Mayan women. But the pain is universally recognized as a normal part of childbearing. A child will be born, it is said in the Yucatan, in ' the center of the pain.' Pain is seen as the very hallmark of labor progress rather than as a symptom to be treated or an evil to escape."

**quotes come from the book Easing Labor Pain by Adrienne B Lieberman, 1992