In many childbirth classes, and sometimes, in a doula’s prenatal visit with a client, there are ice cubes. I saw ice cubes in my training when I became a Lamaze educator and ice cubes in various professional development workshops. So what gives? The ice is given to pregnant people and their partners to simulate the […]
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 […]
Seated Labor Posture with the Comfort of a Partner
Next up in our series with Josh and Amy is a seated labor posture which is a perennial favorite. It allows dad or the birth partner to sit down and allows the laboring mom to rest as comfortably as she can with the touch of her partner to comfort her. Here, you see Amy sitting […]
Seated and Moving with a Birth Ball
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 […]
How do I know if I need pain medication in labor?
One of the most common questions I hear from my Confident Birthing students is: I’m planning on a natural birth. But, what I want to know is, how do I know if I’ve reached my limit? How do I know if I need pain medication, an epidural, or if I can push through without? My […]