Denise at Ordinary Grace is currently my Favorite Person in the Whole World. She loaned me her copy of the book, Back Labor No More by Janie McCoy King. In an email to me she writes, “I figured the math/engineering side of you would get a kick out of testing her hypothesis.” I am so transparent. The first thing I read was the back cover which had this to say About the Author:
“As a math major…Janie McCoy King developed a thorough understanding of vectors and their application to natural occurrences. Little did she guess that childbirth would lead to her most significant application of this knowledge. {snip} In 1985, faced with her fourth delivery, and painfully aware that back labor was no minor inconvenience, she analyzed her three prior birth experiences and began to see vectors at work in labor and delivery. When she applied this insight to her fourth delivery, the results were remarkably effective. The pain was abolished, and her son, Thomas, was born within twenty minutes.”
My husband will attest to the level of excitement that paragraph generated in me. I think I said something along the lines of “Math majors rule!” The book came just as we were leaving for the Renaissance festival, and I read it while Bill filled the car with gas. I read it while he drove down winding country roads until I thought I would puke. I read it in the parking lot of Petsmart while my two youngest children slept, and Bill bought a dog toy in the hope of distracting Greta from hunting the moles who live under our yard. By the time he returned to the car, I had learned the technique she describes to change the direction of the vector of labor pains directed at the back instead of at the pelvis.
I especially LOVE the cautionary words which warn a woman to not try the technique in any place other than where she intends to give birth…like in a car on the highway in a traffic jam.
Yes, I really look forward to testing her hypothesis.
I’ll let you know how it goes.
Reit This Way 
Good luck! It sounds like an interesting read. I’ll have to remember that one, for next time. 🙂
You just make me laugh!!I read it the same way as you…just could.not.put.it.down!!
Oh my gosh! I thought when you posted the words “back labor no more” meant you had your baby! I sincerely hope it works for you, but hey, maybe you won’t even have that back labor thing to begin with? A girl can dream!
That’s how I felt about my first homebirth. I’d done all this reading, spent so much time altering my birth image…invisioning, reading stuff, wondering could this work like they say it can? It worked by golly. It did for me. This back labor no more sounds interesting. I love hypothesis…makes the whole experience like a science project of sorts.
I used the technique in delivering my fourth in June and it did help. I have had back labor with all my deliveries. I was induced and able to rock in a rocking chair for most of the labor. During contractions I would lift my belly to get the right vector to help her along. It went well until they realized her cord was wrapped around her neck and I had to move to the bed to push her out. All was well and all is well now. I recommend trying it.
You crack me up, Mathgirl! You got linked on the forum or I might have missed this one, but I have been checking in when my morning sickness doesn’t keep me from the computer (too often). I may have to add this book to my library…