I’m going to tell you a secret about birth positions.
Like any juicy secret, I’m sure you will want to share it with your friends. It’s okay. You can tell others.
Ready?
Gravity pulls objects towards the center of Earth. Yup, it’s that simple. Birth positions that use gravity are more effective for most women.
Despite having this knowledge, women in this country primarily deliver their babies while lying on their backs.
Why? Because we have been duped. We have been programed through our media culture to believe that this is how babies are brought into this world. We’ve also been taught that your water breaks all over, you rush to the hospital, flying through red lights and stop signs, only to deliver your baby five minutes later in a heavily make-uped puddle of sweat.
It wasn’t until the mid to late 1800’s that women in industrialized nations started lying flat for delivery. Over time, this birth position has evolved to reflect a more reclined, rather than flat position.
So what’s the big deal with this birth position?
Just as movement is important in labor, the same is true during the pushing phase as well. No position is all good or all bad. In fact, for some women, lying down flat is the only way to get the baby to engage under the pubic bone.
The problem arises when we view pushing positions in the singluar.
So what should you do?
Push in a variety of positions.
Try standing, sitting upright on the hospital bed or on a birth ball. Lie on your side with the top leg propped up. Squat.
Squatting can open your pelvis by 20-30 percent.
You can sit on the toilet for a few pushes, because our body is used to voiding in that position. Your perineum and pelvic floor are used to relaxing in this position.
Set the hospital bed up so the head is fully upright, then kneel on it so you are facing the head of the bed. This position will allow gravity to bring the baby down; it will give you a place to rest your head between contractions and it will give you something to hold on to (the backside of the bed) while you are pushing.
Push in any position in which you feel good! Try out a few and find the one or two or five that work best for YOU.
Often during deliveries, the hospital staff will ask the patient to push on their back in bed. This is standard practice. It does not mean it’s what you have to do. Talk to you provider prenatally about your intentions to push in a variety of positions. If they don’t seem supportive, consider that their training probably didn’t include exposure to alternative pushing positions. They may not know or be comfortable with anyone they haven’t seen. Open dialogue is important. You are a consumer and are entitled to hire someone who will do the job you ask them to do. If your current doctor isn’t the right match, find someone else.
Your doula will bring many of these ideas with her and she will help you get into a position you like. You don’t have to worry about keeping it all straight.
