Holding a partner’s hand could ease pain during childbirth

Not sure if we'll ditch the epidural just yet...

Anyone who's been through it might doubt this, but there could be a very simple way to ease pain during childbirth. A new study has found that holding a partner's hand while in labour can help to relieve pain. In a study of 22 couples, researchers at the University of Boulder, Colorado in the US have found that when an empathetic partner held the hand of a woman in pain, their breathing and heart rates would sync, helping the woman's pain to subside.

“The more empathetic the partner and the stronger the analgesic effect, the higher the synchronisation between the two when they are touching," lead author Pavel Goldstein told the Sun.

He said he came up with the idea from watching his own wife in labour.

“My wife was in pain, and all I could think was, ‘What can I do to help her?’ I reached for her hand and it seemed to help,” he said. “I wanted to test it out in the lab: Can one really decrease pain with touch, and if so, how?”

He explained that couples mirror each other and are often 'in sync' wth one another, though pain can interrupt this sychronisation. This study suggests that physical contact can re-sync couples.

“It could be that touch is a tool for communicating empathy, resulting in an analgesic, or pain-killing effect.”