3 resting positions for labour (and why you need them)
As you’re starting to prepare for labour & birth, you might have heard about the benefits of an ‘active birth’. That to make your labour as effective as possible, you should be as active as possible during labour, using gravity and movement to help your baby engage and progress down. And that is true... to a certain extent.
Because what it doesn't mean that you HAVE TO be active ALL THE TIME. Listening to your body's intuition and your need for REST is equally important.
That's because:
Labours can be long journeys (especially the first time around) for which you need to preserve energy to help you go the distance
Finding rest between surges helps you avoid accumulating tension, and so stay as comfortable as you can (as well as preserve energy)
And importantly, resting positions can still work with gravity and create optimum space for your baby to engage/rotate through the pelvis, i.e. work in your favour with minimum effort!
So here are my 3 favourite positions that you can use to find rest - for a short or long while - during the first stage of labour.
These are equally fabulous to adopt in late pregnancy to encourage your baby to move or stay into an optimal position (more on this in this other blog post!), or simply to enjoy a much-needed rest, of course!
3 - Calf & foot stretch
Another close relationship that might seem strange and yet true! Any tightening in the calves, legs, feet (and buttocks too) will automatically tense and tighten the pelvic floor! And unfortunately, we tend to clench these a lot, especially when stressed, in challenging situations (such as labour & birth!) or simply by being too stationary (spending most of our days sitting at a desk, for example). Taking regular leg and foot stretches helps reduce the build up of tension, which will in turn make it easier to release the pelvic floor. These stretches are also fantastic to alleviate leg cramps and sciatica, so common in pregnancy, and prevent your arches from collapsing.
From an all fours positions, extend one leg back, tuck the toes under and press the heel gently away from the body. Then untuck the toes, rest the top of the foot on the floor, and shake/wobble your leg from foot to buttock as if your were a rag doll. Repeat a few times on each side.
If you’d like to explore more yoga-based labour and birth positions supported by pelvis biomechanics and birth physiology, why not join me for my next birth preparation online workshop?
The workshop is also available as a private session for you and a birth partner, entirely bespoke to your needs, either in-person in your home (London/Surrey only) or online. Just get in touch if you would like to learn more.