During the second stage of labor, a pregnant woman may want to consider various normal labor or birth positions to help them during pushing as well as actual birthing to ease the pain. This is partially due to research findings that labor positions may affect the perineal outcome.
There are a few labor positions women can opt for when doing a vaginal delivery. We hope that this article will be able to shed some light on the risks and benefits of your birthing and labor position options. That way, you can make the best choices for your birth plan and ease the pain of labor.
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1. Squatting Labor Positions
Squatting is not only a great help during labor but is also one of the more popular and normal birth positions to ease the pain. This position allows gravity to help you when it comes to actual labor and delivery.
Why it’s great:
- Squatting speeds up dilation during labor.
- It reduces the need for forceps or vacuum delivery.
- Squatting births can help reduce the length of labor.
- Squatting can widen your pelvic opening by 20 to 30%.
Why it might not be safe:
- The Baby’s position may not be right for squatting (breech or transverse).
- Squats can be taxing on your body because they can strain the ankles, knees, and hips.
- It can lead to more tearing if done without a birthing stool or other aid.
2. Reclining Labor Positions
Labor and childbirth can be long and arduous, resulting in moms needing to take breaks in between. The normal labor position that offers this is the reclining labor position because the mom-to-be can relax on the bed, and this labor position also helps ease the pain.
There are various ways to achieve this — you can lie down in bed, recline against a wall, a chair, or another person. You can also enlist the help of your husband to keep your back supported while he gives back rubs between contractions.
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Why it’s great:
- This position can help reduce tension and relax the muscles to ease the pain.
- It’s a good alternative when the mom-to-be is tired but doesn’t want to lie down completely.
Why it might not be safe:
- It may work against gravity, resulting in longer labor.
- When on your back, your uterus might compress major blood vessels, potentially depriving the baby of oxygen and making you feel dizzy or queasy.
- If your baby is posterior, this will cause your labor to hurt more.
3. Birthing Stool Labor Positions
A great tool to help moms try out different normal labor positions to ease the pain is a birthing stool. Women can squat on it, get in the all fours position with it, and use it to support their arms.
Moms can even rock back and forth with it depending on the stool’s design. The best part about it is that you can even use it during a water birth. There are some birthing stool models that are suitable for water.
Why it’s great:
- It can help the baby to drop into the birth canal much faster.
- Birthing stools help to relieve pressure on the back.
- It can help to increase the dilation of the cervix.
Why it might not be safe:
- Women may experience increased blood loss.
- It may increase the rate and severity of perineal tears.
4. Birthing/Squat Bar Labor Positions
Like the birthing stool, a birthing bar is a tool that attaches to the bed to help support various normal birth positions. With a birthing bar, you can sit up at any time and squat, leaning on the bar for support.
Delivering moms can wrap a towel and use it as a rope to help when they are pushing. It can help give moms the resistance needed to push especially when they have been in labor for a very long time but are not making much progress.
Why it’s great:
- Offers resistance for moms to push
- Can help shift the baby if needed
- Uses gravity
- Can ease and less painful and more productive contractions labor position
- Relieves backaches
- More restful than standing
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Why it might not be safe:
- Women need to think ahead of time about how they want to approach this tool.
- Increased tearing is possible if used in a squatting position and when pushing the wrong way.
5. Birth or labor positions with an epidural
Epidural anesthetics is one of the most commonly used anesthetics during delivery. This epidural anesthesia will numb the whole area between your breasts and knees. This will make you wonder how can you push the baby out with ease.
When the laboring time is drawing near, laboring mommies might experience the urge to push. This urge overwhelms a pregnant mom, and that she may not have control over it because her body does it.
Meanwhile, at other times, it can simply mean pushing into the second stage of delivery, rather than not doing so.
For other preggy mommies, an epidural might help dissipate or eliminate this urge to push in the second stage of labor. This explains the theory of laboring down or waiting to push until the baby is approximately far down into the pelvis.
This laboring down can allow mothers to rest, and expectedly avoid:
- fetal distress
- prolonged pushing
- some wrong fetal positions or the baby will have ample time to rotate in the appropriate position
- the mother can reduce the feeling of extreme exhaustion brought by pushing efforts
However, according to Very Well Family’s notes from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), they no longer recommended the concept of laboring as of 2019. They suggest that a pregnant mother should start pushing when her cervix is completely dilated.
Pushing labor positions with an epidural
Because an epidural paralyzes the mother, she cannot assume any other positions because she can hardly feel anything because of numbness.
This may limit the pregnant mother’s option to try other labor positions possible, which can delay the process of laboring. It may vary from mommy to mommy. Some moms may have more movements than others.
However, while we are talking about a mother’s delivery or labor position to alter, she might need a surrounding company for support.
With good support, there can be several positions a mother can use during her delivery or birth:
- Kneeling at the foot of the bed, leaning over
- semi-prone
- semi-sitting with legs as support
- side lying
- supine lying with stirrups or legs as support
- supported squat
Why it might be used with caution:
This labor position can ease the pain, obviously, the mother is numb. But remember, when helping a pregnant woman with an epidural needs caution in overextending her legs or other joints.
It could possibly cause harm and danger to the pregnant body because of the inability to feel pain, and could never tell when and whether to stop if her joints are overextended.
6. Sitting positions to help dilate faster for labor
There are many medical approaches to induce labor with ease and without pain, but mommy can help encourage her to dilate faster by keeping her body relaxed and loose. These sitting positions will help to help dilate during labor.
Dilation is described as the widening of the cervical opening. The dilation of the cervix alarms a pregnant woman is go into labor.
During the last stages of pregnancy, doctors will perform cervical exams to track the progress of the pregnancy and measure the dilation of the cervical opening.
In the first stage of labor, the cervix will dilate at 10 centimeters wide. Dilation is commonly a gradual process, but the cervix can rapidly open and extend over 1 to 2 days.
There could be a few factors that can help encourage dilation to occur faster.
Sitting position using an exercise ball to ease pain
Using an inflatable, large exercise ball, called a birthing ball, can help in encouraging dilation.
Sitting on the ball position, rocking forward and backward, or moving in circles can help mothers keep their muscles during the labor in the pelvis relaxed and loose for the delivery to ease the pain.
7. Holding the legs during labor
It is a crucial position but it is possible. Always remember that the position of your body is important for pushing. We may notice that in the previous positions, the mother should be curved forward, and her head is down.
Curling forward and chin tucked in helps the baby move smoothly in the curves of the pelvis, and can induce labor and ease its pain.
In many other positions, like the position where the mother holds her legs during labor, notice that the mother needs to grasp her legs behind her knees. To do this, she must pull her legs back.
It is also effective that while doing this, her elbows are out as if you are rowing a boat. If others may help the mother, they must not push her legs back or apart. This labor position might also help you to ease pain during delivery.
Despite the various normal labor positions moms can choose, they are meant to help ease the pain of delivery of your baby when opting for normal vaginal delivery.
Moms can always choose the method that they are most comfortable with after discussing options with nurses and OBGYNs. However, your baby’s life and safety should always be the top priority whatever decision you make.
If your baby is not in the optimal position for your planned delivery, be flexible and accept changes. There is no shame in delivering via the caesarian section.
Additional information by Nathanielle Torre
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