I'd love to share my positive birth story with you to help convince others of the amazing benefits of using the TENs machine during labour.
My TENs machine arrived on the Monday and I had baby on the Friday so not a lot of time to play with haha! Thank goodness I ordered it when I did.
On the Thursday night I had a small show followed by my waters breaking about an hour later. I only felt a small twinge down the side of my belly at this stage. By about 11pm I had mild period like cramps so popped a couple panadol and hopped into bed. I couldn't sleep though as I was too excited and nervous! By about 2am I hopped out of bed and the pain had increased slightly to a mild cramp. I had read to start using the TENs in the early stages of labour to reap more benefits so sitting in front the mirror I placed the 4 pads on without too much trouble actually!
I started off quite low and immediately loved the feeling of the continuous pulses to ease the pain. I stayed out in the lounge watching TV and coping fine on my own. By about 5am the pain had changed to more of a pressure low down on my belly and they were now more definitive contractions so I began to use the boost mode during them. Using the boost mode through a contraction was highly effective, taking my focus away from the area of pain and easing my whole body through those moments of intensity. I found it so helpful to focus on switching between the two modes and it helped take my mind away from what I was feeling.
By 7am contractions had become really intense and I was getting pretty vocal. I had ramped up the level to about a 1/3 and found it very effective. At this point I phoned my midwife as I was thinking I should be heading in soon. As this was my first baby I didn't know what to expect from my labour and what established labour would feel like let alone gauge how far along I could be. I decided to jump in the shower and was so scared to take off the TENs as I didn't know what a contraction would feel like without it. I didn't last long in the shower and was relieved to get the TENs back on and in business.
At 9:30am we left home to head to River Ridge East Birth Centre. It was the worst ride of my life, made worse by road works and speed bumps but again it was super helpful to hold the unit and switch between the modes as a way to keep myself focused. We arrived at River Ridge at 10am and as I wanted a water birth the TENs was removed at 10:15am when I hopped into the pool. I laboured in the pool for 1.5hrs and birthed my daughter at 11:40am without the need for any other pain relief.
The TENs machine was instrumental in my labour and me achieving my dream of having a drug free delivery. The TENs was everything I had hoped for and more. I will 100% recommend using the TENs machine for labour especially for those wanting to take the natural path. I will absolutely be using the TENs machine for my future births and will feel so confident knowing that I'll have effective and hassle free pain relief.
I found hiring the TENs pain free. Jane runs a highly organised and efficient business. The TENs machine was accompanied with easy to follow instructions and was itself a high quality, reliable product. 10/10 - Thank you so much!
Happy new mum, Ellen