The Fear-Tension-Pain Cycle during Birth

Birth is unavoidably painful.⁠

That's what we are told and that's what we expect.⁠

But what if there was more to birth than the pain and what if the pain doesn’t necessarily have to end in suffering but could be avoidable?

What do you think of when you hear the word BIRTH?

I like to ask my clients this question because everyone has a different image in mind, made different experiences or heard different stories around birth.

Even though the answers vary, one word always comes up: Pain.

Most of our “birth education” comes from films and tv shows where we see screaming and suffering women giving birth on their backs or we hear dramatic stories from friends and strangers. We made birth a pathological process that belongs into the hospital and under the supervision of technical equipment.

Our society, seldomly, talks about birth as a medical process. As a result, fear and pain are embedded in our minds when it comes to birth and we subconsciously approach birth fear, dread or insecurity.

Birth is unavoidably painful - That's what we are told and that's what we expect.⁠

The “Fear-Tension-Pain” Cycle

Grantley Dick-Read was the first person to introduce a connection between fear and pain in labour. In the 1920s, he described what has become known as the "Fear-Tension-Pain" cycle. He suggested that fear causes a woman to become tense, and that tension increases pain. The increased pain, in turn, increases fear, and the cycle repeats. (1)

When we enter birth with fear and see pain as a threat, our body releases adrenaline and our muscles tense up in preparation for a ‘fight or flight’ reaction. When our muscles tense at the same time a contraction is moving throughout our body, the result is pain. Instead of working with the contraction by embracing it, we work against it by tensing up. The more painful full a contraction becomes, the more we fear the next one and tense up even more…

The good news is: It doesn’t have to be that way!

Breaking the Cycle

Dick-Read suggested interrupting this cycle in two ways:

• Reduce fear by educating women about what is happening during childbirth

• Reduce tension by promoting relaxation, thus reducing the pain. (1)

I have seen women giving birth without suffering and experiencing unbearable pain and I believe it can be possible for you too.

Some ways to break the cycle:

• Learn about the physiological process of birth and your body’s great ability to give birth so you can start to build trust in your body and the birthing process and enter birth with more confidence.

• Identify and work through your fears surrounding labour and birth in your pregnancy. You can do this alone, with your partner or a birth professional who you trust.

• Learn breathing and other relaxation techniques that can help you relax during labour and cope with the pain.

• Find a care provider and birth place that promotes undisturbed birth.

• Find a midwife or doula who can provide continuity of care in your pregnancy and birth.