VOCALIZING IN PREGNANCY

FEBRUARY 7TH, 2011
By ADMIN

Vocalizing – for example singing or chanting – exercises muscles throughout the body and is thus a very good way of building up strength and stamina. It also develops lung capacity. In fact, any form of vocalization, if performed with good use in mind, can help to improve your use and bring you back into a more balanced state. Making sounds can be used as a way to connect into your inner self, which should help you to tune into the natural rhythms of birth.

For a great many women making sounds makes it much easier to cope with the intensity of contractions when they are in labour. It is a way of tuning in to the pain, and of expressing it, instead of the pain becoming internalized as tension in the body. Vocalizing involves focusing on the sound you make and using it as a way of keeping control. It is important that you do not let it turn into screaming, as screaming is extremely exhausting and can make you feel even more distressed. You are also likely to have a sore throat after the birth, as letting the breath out in an uncontrolled rush damages the vocal chords.

It may sound artificial to suggest that you practise making sounds before the actual labour, but in fact it is important that you do. You need to learn to connect your voice into your body, and you need to train up the correct muscles for producing the voice. If you are using your voice well, the abdominal muscles and the action of your lower ribs will be providing the breath for the sound. If you are using your voice badly, you will be pushing the sound from your upper chest and throat.

An ideal exercise for preparing the voice for labour is the whispered ah. Chanting and singing are also excellent. If you are practising the Alexander Technique with a group of pregnant women you will find that chanting together, or singing rounds, is an enlivening and uplifting experience. The antenatal classes run by the French obstetrician Michel Odent at the clinic in Pithiviers, France, used to be group singing sessions. It is thought that singing and chanting release endorphins , the body’s natural way of suppressing pain and anxiety.

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VOCALIZING IN PREGNANCYVocalizing – for example singing or chanting – exercises muscles throughout the body and is thus a very good way of building up strength and stamina. It also develops lung capacity. In fact, any form of vocalization, if performed with good use in mind, can help to improve your use and bring you back into a more balanced state. Making sounds can be used as a way to connect into your inner self, which should help you to tune into the natural rhythms of birth.For a great many women making sounds makes it much easier to cope with the intensity of contractions when they are in labour. It is a way of tuning in to the pain, and of expressing it, instead of the pain becoming internalized as tension in the body. Vocalizing involves focusing on the sound you make and using it as a way of keeping control. It is important that you do not let it turn into screaming, as screaming is extremely exhausting and can make you feel even more distressed. You are also likely to have a sore throat after the birth, as letting the breath out in an uncontrolled rush damages the vocal chords.It may sound artificial to suggest that you practise making sounds before the actual labour, but in fact it is important that you do. You need to learn to connect your voice into your body, and you need to train up the correct muscles for producing the voice. If you are using your voice well, the abdominal muscles and the action of your lower ribs will be providing the breath for the sound. If you are using your voice badly, you will be pushing the sound from your upper chest and throat.An ideal exercise for preparing the voice for labour is the whispered ah. Chanting and singing are also excellent. If you are practising the Alexander Technique with a group of pregnant women you will find that chanting together, or singing rounds, is an enlivening and uplifting experience. The antenatal classes run by the French obstetrician Michel Odent at the clinic in Pithiviers, France, used to be group singing sessions. It is thought that singing and chanting release endorphins , the body’s natural way of suppressing pain and anxiety.*55\346\2*