I was clearing space in the freezer yesterday and the pain of the ice was biting deep into my palms, it was most unpleasant. I started thinking about a woman on the Rollercoaster Homebirth website who said she'd been practicing her breathing while holding an ice cube.

I also heard that that was the thing to do - somebody asked the Community Midwife in Holles Street about breathing techniques, and practice, and she responded with 'you can practice breathing all you like. Try practicing your breathing while you're holding an ice cube, and you'll find out about pain management'.

I left a note on the Homebirth thread to point out that this is bollocks, and stop all these poor women going around freezing the hands off themselves. The pain of holding an icecube is completely non-analogous to the feeling of a contraction - you manage them in completely different ways. I'd far rather have a contraction than hold an ice cube, personally. As Tracey Donegan, a doula, hypnobirther, and birth writer said when she followed up my comment, holding ice is not a natural function of the body, the pain is to tell you to let it go before you damage your skin. She doesn't know why this inane idea is still being taught in ante natal classes.

What I learned in my private, alternative, natural ante-natal/yoga class was much more useful - it's the ha-ha-ha-blow breath - three short 'hah' breaths followed by one long blow. It's incredible, and gets you through any huge transition stage surge.

I find the best thing to do with an icecube though, is put it down, and run some water on your hand.