Can I just tell you how much I love this squat! It’s the only squat you can do for an extended period of time in comfort. The brilliant thing about this squat is that it’s available to the vast majority of women during labor, no matter what your level of fitness or your fatigue level. […]
Standing in Labor to Manage Contractions
Standing labor postures keep you active and moving, which helps to facilitate baby’s decent and rotation though the pelvis. These postures also help you to manage pain. In all phases of labor, before pushing, it’s generally better to be active and upright during contractions. Standing and leaning over something, in this case a chair, allows […]
Help Open your Pelvis in Labor with Kneeling and Lunges
I’m a big fan of labor postures that involve a mother kneeling. Though we can get the same benefit from standing postures that are similar, the kneeling versions avoid the issues of balance, potentially falling, fatigue, sore feet, etc. I’d encourage moms, if they are in the hospital, to kneel on the bed, as opposed […]
The Lamaze Method Failed Me
Recently, I met a mom in a bar with her baby. Yep. A baby-in-a-bar. Eh, why not? Anyway, she and I got to talking and I told her what I did for a living. She then said something that made me take pause. She said that she’d taken the hospital’s Lamaze class, but “it didn’t work […]
Birth Ball Pro-Tips for Labor – Part 2
In part one of this series, we talked about standing postures, with the birth ball (i.e. exercise or yoga ball) on the wall. Here, we continue beyond the seated postures and move into kneeling and using your ball. Kneeling, in a modified child’s pose, leaning over the ball. Josh and Amy are the models here, […]