News — TENS

My midwife and antenatal class had recommended a TENS for non-medical pain relief (avoiding medical interventions was my strong preference, given how light headed morphine can make me and how keen I was to labour in the birthing pool, which would not be possible with an epidural).  I looked into a couple of hire services online and am so glad that I chose Natal Care - the machine arrived promptly, was very easy to set up and test, and it was a great relief that it came with a return envelope so I knew sending it back would be a...

We asked one of our lovely new mums, Kimberley some questions about her labour. Here's some of her advice for a positive, prepared labour. What techniques, tools and people helped you during labour? A:  I had a bag of tricks at the ready after reading JuJu Sundin's book called 'Birth Skills'. I didn't end up needing many of them since my labour was so quick, but what I found helpful was my husband distracting me by counting, a heat pack on my shoulders, walking/stomping around the house, squeezing a stress ball, and listening to this calming music over and over again....

All the LOVE for this feedback from Catalina. Empowering! "Thank you so much for your service. The Tens machine was amazing and I had it on for 13 hours of my 16 hour labour (2nd baby). I managed to give birth with no other pain relief which is what I wanted. It was so empowering and gave me control to work with my body and contractions and manage the pain better. My little girl Aria came into the world on the 1st of Sept and we couldn't be more happy. Thanks again!!" Catalina TENS Hire anywhere in NZ: www.tenshire.co.nz

How long was your labour? 9 hours and 7 minutes. Where did you labour? I was at home for the first 4 hours (around 8pm -12am) and then we went to Birthcare around midnight. What type of pain relief did you use at home? I used the TENS machine at home. Without the tens machine I feel as though it would have been a whole lot harder. I tried the shower and a few other techniques, but the TENS helped the most.  What helped you through the contractions? As well as TENS, the gas was extremely helpful in the beginning...

Low-Intensity TENS & the Gate Control Theory When using TENS at a low-intensity level, it is working through the Gate Control Theory. The Gate Control Theory suggests that there’s only a certain amount of stimuli that can get through to the brain. In other words, there is a ‘gate’ that only lets so much sensory information through. So, with TENS, you’re ‘flooding the brain’ with this sensory buzzing feeling so that the brain can’t really perceive the sensation from labour contractions as much. High-Intensity TENS & the Diffuse Noxious Inhibitory Control Theory When using your TENS on the high-intensity setting...