Stand Up and Walk Around
Being upright encourages gravity to help baby descend and get into a good position. Benefits include:
- Increasing comfort
- Shortening labor length
- Reducing interventions
Rhythmical movement, as well as the sensory enhancement of walking in nature or in a familiar neighborhood, can ground us in our experience. Moving through intensity with a sensation (walking through pain) can give us the sense that we are going somewhere with it, and not stuck at its mercy.
Lunging
This can be on a step, chair, stair or other raised surface. Keep one leg with your foot facing forward, and the other leg at a right angle on the raised surface. Gently lean into your lunge towards your raised knee, and then back again.
Benefits:
- Opens up pelvic area
- May help baby rotate
- Relieves back pressure
- Useful in stalled labor
Sitting
Sitting on a toilet helps use gravity to relax perineal muscles and feels familiar! Sitting on a chair or firm birth ball can also be a great way to rest while gravity assists. Gently swaying back and forth can bring rhythmic movement to assist with pain sensation.
Side Lying
This can feel good especially with a pillow between your legs to support your hips. Benefits include:
- Can slow labor that is moving too fast
- Lowers chances of tearing
- Can bring oxygen to the baby
- Can be used with an epidural
Squatting
Keep feet wide and steady on a flat, stable surface. Hold on to furniture, a support person, a rebozo or a bar for stability.
Benefits:
- Increases pelvic diameter by as much as 2cm
- Uses gravity to encourage descent
- Can feel like a natural position of strength for birth
Slow Dance
Combines the benefits of standing with restfulness. An intimate and rhythmical way to slow down and move or sway to contractions and music. The sensory enhancement of music and intimacy with your partner can bring a rush of endorphins and oxytocin.
Kneeling on Hands and Knees
Many women find this position very stabilizing. Benefits:
- Chance for greater comfort and rest between contractions
- Great for helping baby rotate
- Good position for massage and hip squeeze for back pain
- Allows for a wide range of movement that feels stable
Rebozo
A woven cloth used by women and midwives in Mexico for generations. In labor, the rebozo can be placed around your belly while on hands and knees - gentle jiggling and vibration can assist the baby and bring fascia release.
According to Spinning Babies, gentle sifting with the Rebozo aims to:
- Relax tight uterine ligaments and abdominal muscles
- Help a baby rotate in pregnancy or labor more easily
- Help a birthing person relax in labor