A drug-free birth doesn’t have to mean no pain relief. Using a TENS machine can provide effective, non-invasive pain relief. In fact, 1 in 5 women in the UK use TENS in their labour! Australian women are now catching on and increasingly using TENS as a safe, effective and drug-free pain relief option for labour.
TENS stands for transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation. It works by producing electrical signals to stimulate nerves via self-adhesive pads. This nerve stimulation releases endorphins – your body’s natural pain killers – disrupting the pain signal to the brain and reducing the pain sensation.
Using a Labour TENS for pain relief in birth offers several advantages. It is drug-free, non-invasive, small and portable. As it is fully operated by the labouring mother, it can enhance her feeling of control during birth. A Swedish study found that TENS was the only pain relief required by 70% of labouring women, but it is also safe to use in conjunction with other pain relief methods including heat packs, massage, gas and pethidine. TENS cannot be used in the shower or bath.
In her work as a doula and for the births of her own second and third children, Birth Partner’s Nicole Ronay Sundin found a TENS machine to be a very effective form of pain relief. Nicole also realised that use of a TENS machine helped mothers to be less fearful about the experience of giving birth and feeling more in control of the process of labour.
Studies have also suggested that use of a TENS machine can reduce the duration of labour (Tishchendorf, 1986).
Birth Partner offers TENS machines for both sale and hire, sent straight to your home anywhere in Australia. Our hire pricing starts from just $50, with an eight-week hire period as standard, so you don’t have to worry about baby coming early or late. When you pre-book, you receive a discount and we will reserve a TENS machine for you. This will be sent to you a month before your due date, and it is yours until a month after your baby’s due date. If you think if you’ve left it a bit late, don’t panic. We will do our best to get a TENS to you – we’ve even been known to deliver TENS machines to labouring women at local hospitals!
We offer a range of TENS machines to suit various budgets and how you expect to use the machine. To make it easier for you, we also have some great TENS package specials.
Ordering is simple on our website – just select the TENS machine you’d like, email us your due date and pay your hire fee via our secure payment gateway. We’ll then reserve your TENS and get it posted off to you, anywhere in Australia. If you need help ordering, email Nicole or call her on 0402 405 889.