Side Lying Since it is gravity-neutral, it may work to slow down your labor or birth. It can also be used for taking pressure off the perineum and lowering the risk of perineal trauma. This position may be used in conjunction with epidural anesthesia or other medications.
If upright positions are tiring, or the contractions are too fast or overwhelming, an all-fours labor position can help. It gets gravity to work for you, slows down contractions, and eases back labor, which occurs when the baby is positioned with the back of their head pressing against the rear of your pelvis.
Labour can sometimes be slower than expected. This can happen if your contractions are not coming often enough, are not strong enough, or if your baby is in an awkward position. If this is the case, your doctor or midwife may talk to you about 2 ways to speed up your labour: breaking your waters or an oxytocin drip.
Spending most of your time in bed, especially lying on your back, or sitting up at a small angle, interferes with labor progress: Gravity works against you, and the baby might be more likely to settle into a posterior position. Pain might increase, especially back pain.
Side-Lying
Giving birth on your side can be a great way to get some rest from pushing between contractions. While lying on your side, open your top leg up and hold it behind the knee, or ask your support person to help hold it in order to keep your pelvis open.
Side-lying release
Not only can this position be used to help engage the baby into the pelvis and to encourage cervical dilation, but it can also be used during labor to help ease discomfort.
Sitting upright on a birth ball
What it's good for: Helping your cervix to open or your baby to descend. This is a restful position in which you can rock or sway your way through labour. These movements may help to ease back pain and help your labour to progress.
Lying on your back in labour
In addition to this, when you're on your back, you're not working with gravity – you're working against it. So your surges (contractions) are having to work so much harder (and therefore labour could take longer - and that's not something you want either, is it?).
We can't emphasize enough how important it is to rest in these early stages. Remember that the average first labor is 18-24 hours... if you are not resting and sleeping some in these early stages, chances are you'll be feeling it when active labor hits.
Slow effacement can increase your time spent in labor. The cause of slow effacement is usually inefficient uterine contractions. Sometimes, certain medications used during labor (such as morphine, when given early in the labor process) can weaken contractions, slowing the birth process.
Labor that progresses too slowly may involve slow movement of the fetus through the birth canal because the fetus is too large or is abnormally positioned, the birth canal is too small, or the uterus contracts too weakly or too strongly.
On knees leaning over ball, or on hands and knees
These movements open the pelvis to allow the baby to rotate into an anterior position. Also try: sitting backwards on a chair or toilet seat, leaning into a pillow.
Getting up and moving around may help speed dilation by increasing blood flow. Walking around the room, doing simple movements in bed or chair, or even changing positions may encourage dilation. This is because the weight of the baby applies pressure to the cervix.
Sometimes being dehydrated can cause contractions. Try taking a warm bath. Sometimes this can relax your muscles so your contractions slow down or stop.
Early labor
Contractions are five to 15 minutes apart and last for about a minute each. Go to the hospital once they're five minutes apart for one hour or more. Your vaginal discharge might be clear, light pink or bloody.
They ripen the cervix and trigger contractions. Paracetamol use could potentially be responsible for long and exhausting latent phases of labour due to the paracetamol inhibiting vital prostaglandin production.
Hands and knees is also a gravity-neutral position. 1 It is a great position to help get a break from the intensity of contractions. It is also a helpful position if you have a cervical lip. If your baby is in a posterior position or you are experiencing back labor, this position can reduce discomfort.
Lie down tilted towards your side. Place a pillow at your back for support. Sometimes lying down for an hour may slow down or stop the signs and symptoms. Do not lie flat on your back, because lying flat may cause the contractions to occur more often.
Certain upright positions such as squatting position and sitting position, may correlate with perineal trauma and greater blood loss. Lithotomy and supine position should be avoided for the possible increased risk of severe perineal trauma, comparatively longer labor, greater pain, and more fetal heart rate patterns.
Insert your index and middle finger and push your fingers deep inside as far as you can to reach your cervix. Be as gentle as possible to prevent bruising or complications. Assess dilation. You're considered 1 centimeter dilated if one fingertip fits through your cervix, or 2 centimeters if you can fit two fingers.
During menstruation, the cervix dilates for less than a centimeter for a few days. However, in childbirth, the cervix can dilate up to ten centimeters! The cervix is essential since it is the passageway that flows things out of the uterus through the vagina and out of the body.
You or your partner can lightly touch or bump your cervix with a clean finger or sex toy. During sex, you can use positions that let your partner's penis or strap-on go deep into your vagina and touch your cervix.
The Butterfly Pose
This is a very common pose for exercises to induce labour even during pregnancy, and you might already be doing this. For additional support, you can place your palms under your knees. When you inhale, pull your chest out and make a natural curve with your spine.
Walking and exercise often make it to the top of the list of things to try. While there's no research that says it will induce labor, 30 minutes of moderate exercise at least five times a week can be helpful in any stage of pregnancy.