cope with it, quickly and as I say efficiently. Breathing goes right out the window when you're in the midst of it, as does TENS and massage, aromatherapy etc, but simple (and I guess old fashioned) things like counting backwards from 10 as you ride that pain wave, keep hydrated and remembering to mentally cross off each contraction once its over, I found very useful. Just wanted to add that, as someone else has said, any birth with a healthy mum and a healthy baby at the end of it is a successful one...the route to that point is a bonus if it has gone how the parents want it to Also, pain during childbirth feels (to me) different from other sorts of pain. Firstly it switches off between contractions and [largely] afterwards, secondly you can rationalise is, and thirdly it feels almost constructive, rather than destructive...a curious distinction to make, but there's none of the normal panic about damage that would normally be associated with that much pain. Can I suggest a pain relief method that works for me? It takes a fair amount of practice and concentration (I guess it's like hypnobirthing, but I know very little about that myself) but you can teach it to yourself; to learn, pinch yourself really hard so it actually hurts, and concentrate on that pain. Then breath firmly - you'll find that when you're actually concentrating on the firm regular breathing, at any given instant you can completely ignore the pain.