BEFORE CHILDBIRTH
1- Lie down or sleep in positions that allow your belly to serve as a hammock for the baby.
Lying in this position gives more room in mama’s belly and encourages the baby to settle into the hammock formed by the belly for better fetal positioning.
2- Sit with your knees lower than the level of your hips.
This allows mama to sit on her sitz bones that are situated at the bum crease rather than sit on her tailbone. This will help lengthen the lower back and open up the pelvic outlet where the baby will have to exit during a childbirth through the birth canal.
3- Swap the chair for a birth ball when sitting in front of the computer, at the table and even in front of the television.
A birth ball strengthens the lower back and gently releases the pelvic floor muscles. Remember to keep your knees lower than hip level!
4- Sit facing the back of the chair.
This will put you in a better position to sit on your sitz bones, while bringing your belly forward to form a hammock for your baby.
5- Always sit in positions that keep your pelvis symmetrical.
Uneven postures over time can tighten and twist the ligaments of the cervix, thus bringing the cervix to a twist and prolong labor.
6- Take nice brisk walks several times a week.
This lengthens the psoas (the muscles forming a large pair of inner wings that extend from the spine in the lower back down to the thighs). The strength of the lower back will increase and the psoas will become more supple promoting better fetal positioning and descent.
DURING CHILDBIRTH
7- Make good use of your core muscles to facilitate your vaginal delivery.
Effective muscle contraction of the transverse abdominis and the thoracic diaphragm will help your ability to push the baby out.
8- Keep your pelvic floor relaxed and supple.
This will make it easier for the baby to exit through the birth canal.
9- Lying on your back is not the optimal position to give birth.
Squatting: “squat”, hands and knees: “on all fours” and lying sideways are all better positions for delivering a baby than lying on your back, which prevents motion at the sacrum.
10- Place an intravenous solution bag (filled with fluid) or a water pad under your sacrum during childbirth.
If you don’t have the option (although you should) of giving birth in a position other than on your back, a cushion placed under the sacrum will increase its mobility to facilitate the baby’s descent through the pelvis.
