Comfort Measures for Labor

Build a labor comfort toolbox that supports your body, preferences, and unique birth experience.

The Comfort Measures for Labor Guide is a practical, reassuring 22-page digital resource filled with tools for movement, touch, breathing, relaxation, and coping throughout labor.

This guide recognizes that comfort doesn’t always mean removing every sensation. Sometimes comfort means finding the position, rhythm, environment, or form of support that helps you move through each moment.

Inside, you’ll explore:

• How to build a flexible labor comfort toolbox
• Basic needs that can influence comfort, including hydration, nourishment, rest, temperature, and bathroom breaks
• Movement and laboring positions
• Ways to use a birth ball safely
• Touch, massage, counterpressure, and hip squeezes
• Water immersion and shower techniques
• Heat and cold therapy
• Simple breathing and vocalization techniques
• Relaxation between contractions
• Creating a calm, comfortable birth environment
• Comfort measures after receiving an epidural
• What to try when a technique stops working
• Coping tools for emotionally overwhelming moments
• Practical guidance for birth partners

The guide also includes:

• A quick-reference “Partner: Try This First” page
• A personalized comfort-planning worksheet
• A one-page labor toolbox for easy reference
• Gentle reminders that changing positions, requesting medication, adjusting preferences, or needing additional support is never a failure

This resource can be reviewed during pregnancy, shared with your partner or support person, and kept nearby during labor. It is designed to support hospital, birth-center, and home-birth preparation while encouraging communication with your individual care team.

What You’ll Receive

• One 22-page downloadable PDF
• Instant digital access
• Printer-friendly design
• Practical education, checklists, and planning pages
• Tools for both the birthing person and their support team

There is no prize for using fewer tools and no single “right” way to cope with labor.

Move when you want to move. Rest when you can. Make sounds when you need to. Ask for support. Change your mind. Come back to your breath.

Please note: This guide provides general educational information and does not replace individualized medical advice or guidance from a qualified healthcare professional. For personal use only.