Positions for labor

Movement and Gravity

One reason many women choose natural childbirth is the idea of being tethered to a bed for many hours is frightening. Epidurals come with a whole lot of wires and tubes and make the mother immobile. Movement in labor helps your body to open and assists the baby in rotating to fit through the mother's pelvis. If you lie in bed for hours then your labor progress may be much slower than if you were changing positions, moving and using gravity to help the baby descend.

There are multiple positions that women can assume in labor. The best and most effective positions are the ones that use gravity and movement to help the baby descent. Gravity and movement are helpful in many ways; they help shift the baby into the proper position for birth, can apply more direct pressure on the cervix increasing dilation, and they can help open the pelvis allowing more room for the baby to come through.

Positions in which a woman is upright or forward leaning are going to have the biggest impact from gravity. Many upright positions also allow for plenty of movement during or between the contractions. Women can rock, sway, or do hip circles easily from these positions.

Using a birth ball/exercise ball can also be very helpful for birth. Birth balls allow for lots of movement and are quite comfortable for a laboring woman to sit on or lean over.

A woman and her partner should practice these positions in advance to get a feel for how to best relax and how the partner can best support her in each position. Women will try a variety of positions over the course of the labor. Partners should encourage moms to change positions every 30 minutes to encourage the baby's descent.

The Mayo Clinic has a nice slide show of some of the positions for labor.

Here is a link to a pdf from Injoy with photos and tips for labor positions.

Happy birthing!