Gravity Is Your Friend!

When out and about it happens that women will come up to me and say, “Do you remember me? I was in one of the classes you taught.” Well, I’m not always the best with names, but compound that by the fact that the last time I saw these women they weighed quite a bit more, were a decidedly different shape and I taught over 300 couples and you might understand how I would not recognize them.

But, if someone comes up and says, “Gravity was my friend,” then right off the bat I will say, “What class were you in?” Because, as we all know teachers have pet phrases and that is one of mine.

One of my all time pet peeves when I began teaching childbirth classes was that women were passive, wanting to show up and have someone birth them. But, I had a bit of a different philosophy. I figured the right way to birth was with as little interference as possible and being actively involved. This can be inferred to mean any number of things. But one of the things I always teach is to use gravity, movement and different positions to aid what’s going on.
So, here are a few tried and true birthing positions:

• sit on a toilet… you naturally relax the pelvic floor and you don’t worry as much about the “mess” of birthing
• sit backwards on the toilet… ditto for above, plus you get a bit more stretch and you can lean against the wall
• stand in the shower
• take a bath if your bag of waters is intact
• dance… anything from belly-dancing, to hula, to some slow dance or a good swing dance to some old fashioned Glenn Miller… the hip movement not only encourages baby to move, but it often takes some of the stress of that area and relieves the pain and/or pressure
• rock in a chair… again, movement and gravity
• sit on a birthing ball (exercise ball for you health gurus) - just be sure someone is in front and/or behind you to support you… after all your center of balance is a bit different
• squat… use a chair, bed, person, railing… again, a person behind you or in front of you will help with the up and down between contractions
• hands and knees… Cat backs and tail ways, again encouraging a baby to move, this time turning if they are in a “sunny-side-up” position.
• if nothing else, stand up and lean on the wall in between walking.

There are occasions where these positions would be contra-indicated: prolapsed cord, placenta-previa, pre-term labor, and a very fast labor. Always listen to your health care provider, remember, I am neither a doctor nor a midwife.

The point is, birth is not static. Each action of the baby can be helped or hindered by your movements or lack thereof. There are times to be still, and there are times to move. In early labor, and much of active labor (think 0-8 cm. dilation) you have a good number of hours in which to make gravity your friend.

Happy birthing! Kim

Doula's Position Matters

Recently I attended the birth of a client whom I had worked with previously. It is an ideal situation, and one I hope to enjoy again. God has brought together a team of us that work well together and we all enjoy each other as well. What a gift.

Despite the fact of this being a repeat however, I did learn something very important. The doula’s physical position may play as important a role as the mother’s. As a matter of fact, should the doula be in the wrong position things may not go as planned. Although we knew the “right position” for this mother for delivery, I somehow managed to get myself on the opposite side of where I should have been. Eventually, through this mom moving on her own I ended up in the right position and all worked out okay. However, had she not moved things might have had a different outcome. So, here are things that I need to think about positionally:

1. Does my position help the laboring couple?
2. Can I change my position to be more effective?
3. Can I maintain this position for long periods of time?
4. If the answer to 3 is no, Is there someone who can trade off with me?
5. Is there a better, more effective position to accomplish what needs to be done?
6. Is my position causing a separation… physically or emotionally… between the laboring mother and her main birth partner?

These questions can all be asked and answered fairly quickly thus allowing me to be a more effective labor support person. What are things you have found that help you?

Happy Birthing!
Kim