Continuing our series with Josh and Amy, I wanted to offer up something simple, but extremely useful for laboring moms. Sometimes, the basics are the best.
(I suppose this should have been a video instead of a still photo, but you’ll get the idea of appropriate movements here.)
Amy has a couple of choices as to how she can move her body and what supports she could use, or not use.
Movements can be fast or slow or somewhere in between. The rhythm is all up the the laboring mom.
She can move her hips side to side, like the carriage return on the top of a typewriter.
She can move her hips forward and back.
She can move her hips in a circle.
She can bounce up and down on the ball. Most of my students LOVE bouncing on the ball. Not only does it help with pain management but it is silly and makes them feel like little kids.
For support, Amy can hold her partner’s hands, hold onto the back of a chair, or the guardrail of her hospital bed. She can choose to hold onto nothing at all, if she’s comfortable with that.
Why should you sit on the ball?
Comfort – it’s softer than a chair. Sometimes we don’t want firm pressure on our perineums (ya know, that space where your labia and your glutes meet up…) i.e. your bottom.
Pain is the body’s signal to move, therefore moving relieves pain. It’s almost impossible to hold still on the ball and that’s a good thing! You move, you feel better.
Moving your hips, moves the baby. We can facilitate baby’s movement through the pelvis which makes birth go faster!
Protip: The ball should be sized to your body. When you sit on it, your knees should align with your hips at a 90 degree angle.
Check out the rest of the labor posture series with Josh and Amy:
- Rock Your Labor with these Birth Ball Pro-Tips
- Birth Ball Pro-Tips for Labor – Part 2
- Three Techniques to Keep You Calm During Labor
Want to know more?
In, Confident Birthing, my Lamaze class, we go over these labor postures and a host of others to make you more comfortable, speed labor along and teach your partner how to best support you during birth.
Can’t make a group class? Private childbirth classes are available either in-person or via Skype to get you ready for baby.
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