If you have had a baby before, you would agree with women that labour pain is not so easy like reading a book.

At the start of the induction process for women to kick start labour, you could try and manage on your own but as it progresses and the pain increased with much contraction, you would clung tightly to the frame of the bed, praying that it would come to an end soon and your baby would be born.

Hours flew by and the pains continued coupled with the discomfort from doctor’s regular reach into the vagina at the height of contraction to check the length of cervical dilation. In all this, you got a lot of comfort from holding your mum’s hands or maybe a friend or midwife and when hubby came around, he would have his fair share of hand holding to offer.

The type of hand-holding comfortableness sure has a very far reaching effect than the reassurance. A new study shows that holding the hands of your partner helps to ease physical pain. It fills the distressed spouse with the reassurance of love, care and support even during labour.

Researchers from the University of Colorado noted that touch serves as a form of painkiller. This was tested with 22 husbands and wives who have been together for a while, they found that when there is a pain, and the other partner touches or holds the hands of the one in pain their brains work together, which reduces the pain. The more the empathy husband, has the less the pain the wife feels even without them touching. Not everyone has the mind to do that in Nigeria, even myself couldn’t have imagined doing that at that very risky period of ones wife. Not that some doesn’t know the important or wouldn’t offer to hold their love ones, but due to the fear of the unknown and maybe a lot of cases around the hospital would make a man become very fearful and not able to do all that. With all that been said, let’s look at how that can be done to ease the pain of your wife while in labour.

Husbands and fathers can offer more than hand holding to their wives during labour. Here are tips that can come in handy at such a time.

Stay with your wife at the beginning of labour or as much as you are allowed
Offer to massage of her shoulders and back
Clean her face when needed
Be on the ground to help her move around
Speak words of encouragement and comfort as labour progresses
Provide emotional support by showering her with words of encouragement as labour intensifies.
Help her use relaxation and breathing techniques
Continue to be supportive even when things do not go as planned e.g. she may need to have a caesarean section when a vaginal delivery fails
Be your wife’s mouthpiece and speak to health care providers concerning what your wife would want while providing information to her about what is happening
Do take care of yourself, so she does not have to worry about your needs.