ACTIVE BIRTH POSITIONS
Our Active Birth Workshop or Antenatal Private Session is led by advanced childbirth educator and senior yoga teacher, Suzanne Swan. Suzanne has been doing this work for over eighteen years and her experience affirms that having the partner involved in the birth process, working hands on as a team with the mother, promotes a positive birth experience and enhances family bonding.
Women are most familiar with lying on their backs, regardless of their ethnic background, which highlights the need for women to learn about different positions during pregnancy and labour in order to increase their range of choices. The best place for you to learn about different options for labour is in our Pregnancy Active Birth workshop where you become comfortable with the range of movement and learn by doing rather than just reading from a book or pictures. The action of changing positions may give you a sense of control by providing focus, relieving the stress of feeling overwhelmed during labour.
Guide for movement in labour
by Suzanne Swan
During labour, listen to, and trust your body – it will let you know what to do. Below are suggested movements which you can adapt according to your particular needs (the variations are endless). Read here for the latest evidence on birthing positions.
1ST STAGE - UPRIGHT/FORWARD is optimum
EARLY LABOUR - Utilise positions for opening the pelvic brim: pelvic tilting, circles, bouncing circles and rocking on a birth ball, stair walking alternated with kneeling resting over ball. Visualise the pelvic inlet being widest from side to side and opening from front to back.
ACTIVE LABOUR - Utilise positions for opening the mid-pelvis: side lunges and lifting one hip ,stair walking, stopping for contractions, alternating legs, sitting on a toilet. Visualise the mid pelvis being widest from front to back and opening from side to side.
Remember to make yourself comfortable – use lots of pillows to lean on, sit on, under knees, ankles etc. Alternate between upright and resting positions to conserve your energy ( maybe every 3-9 contractions - depending on their strength).
STANDING: Lean against wall, partner, over furniture, window sills. - Hang from beams, branches, etc. - walk, dance, rotate/rock hips, - Have a shower.
SITTING: In partner’s lap, straddle a chair, sit on the floor, toilet, bed, back to back with partner. Sit on chair and lean on kneeling partner Cross legged on the floor.
SQUATTING: Opens pelvis/intensifies contractions - Use during or in between contractions. - Lean back against your partner - Squat leaning onto cushions/sofa - Squat using a stool - Can put pillow under heels - Squat against a wall – in the shower.
KNEELING: - Use pillow/mat for knees. - Onto beanbag, chair, partner, bed, etc. - Upright and rotate hips. - In the bath while partner pours water on you.
HANDS AND KNEES: - Lean onto someone else who is on all fours and have them rotate hips. - Rotate pelvis, rocking - Good for fast delivery, backache/posterior labour. - Kneeling forward (as in all fours) will moderate contractions - Kneeling upright (squatting) will intensify contractions. Can be used if there is an ‘anterior lip’ Listen to your body and do what feel comfortable
For evidence based information on labour & birth positions visit Pregnancy, Birth and Baby a national Australian Government service operated by Healthdirect Australia.
The 3 R's in Childbirth Preparation: Relaxation, Rhythm & Ritual
by Penny Simkin
The 3 R's approach to childbirth preparation is a simplified approach based on observations of labouring women and how they actually cope with pain and stress in labour. Some cope well; others are overwhelmed in labour. There are three characteristics common to women who cope well:
1) They are able to relax during and/or between contractions. In early labour relaxation during contractions is a realistic and desirable goal; later in labour, however, many women cope much better if they don't try to relax during contractions. They feel better if they move or vocalize during the contractions, or even tense parts of their bodies. It is vital, however, that they relax or are calm between contractions;
2) The use of rhythm characterises their coping style;
3) They find and use rituals, that is, the repeated use of personally meaningful rhythmic activities with every contraction.
While women draw heavily on the coping measures they learned in childbirth class, those who cope well usually do more than that; they discover their own rituals spontaneously in active labour. If disturbed in their ritual or prevented from doing the things they have found to be helpful, labouring women may become upset and stressed.
Women are most likely to find their own coping style when they feel safe and supported, and are free from restrictions on their mobility and their vocal sounds and are also free from disturbances to their concentration, such as other people talking to them or doing procedures on them during contractions. Following are some examples of unplanned spontaneous rituals discovered by labouring women:
• One woman felt safe and cared for when her mother brushed her long, straight hair rhythmically during the contractions. another rocked in a rocking chair in rhythm with her own pattern of breathing.
• Another wanted her partner to rub her lower leg lightly up and down in time with her breathing. another wanted her partner to count her breaths out loud and point out to her when she was beyond the number of breaths that meant the halfway point in the contraction.
• Another dealt with her back pain by leaning on the bathroom sink, swaying rhythmically from side and moaning while her partner pressed on her low back.
• Another, who had rowed crew in high school, used a visualisation in conjunction with her breathing pattern: each breath represented a stroke of her oar, helping her to "glide smoothly" through the contraction.
Another let her breathing follow the rhythm of her partner's hand moving up and down ("conducting"); she focused entirely on the partner's ring with its blue stone as her guide.
Once a woman finds a ritual, she depends on it for many contractions. Changing the ritual or disturbing it throws her off. Don’t disturb the labouring woman!! Most women change their ritual from time to time in labour, when a change of pace seems necessary.