Techniques
What can we do on bed rest?
Sometimes a physician or midwife will suggest that a pregnant woman be on bedrest. Fetal positioning becomes a concern for women aware of the effects gravity and fetal positioning. There are plenty of fetal positioning techniques that can be done during bed rest.
Here's a list: Address maternal positioning and posture with Rest Smart. Address Balance with the Abdominal Release; and the Sidelying Release. If there are no high blood pressure, the Forward-leaning Inversion becomes possible. Some Daily Activities are done on one's back to stablize the pelvis. One has the time for exploring Psoas Resolutions on the www.coreawareness.com website and that is very recommended.
The usual time for establishing a vertical lie (head down or breech) is in the second trimester. There are some indications in the literature that bed rest may increase OP babies, but it isn't universal. Adding balance to the pelvis can only be helpful and may move the mother towards the "easier" side of the birth spectrum.
The Inversion
The Forward-leaning inversion is a classic here at Spinning Babies. Getting into an upside down position can increase the symmetry of the lower uterine segment; release spasming ligaments causing pelvic pain; or help a breech, an oblique (diagonal lie) or posterior baby reposition themselves.
Daily inversions in pregnancy may promote optimal fetal positioning. Done correctly, the ligaments will respond!
Rebozo Sifting, or jiggling
Sifting, or jiggling, the entire abdomen between contractions can relax tight ligaments and help a woman relax into her labor. The hospital has muscle relaxants and narcotics to relax a woman who is either tense emotionally, or simply tense in her abdominal fascia, prolonging labor. But this simple and fun technique from the Yucatan Peninsula helps relax mothers with no drugs at all. Do it daily or weekly in pregnancy, and between contractions during early and early active labor.
Abdominal Release
The Abdominal Release is also called the Diaphragmatic Release. Its a simply myofascial technique that can be learned by the partner or friend.
The Diaphragmatic Release helps the broad ligament relax giving baby more room to get into position for labor.
Techniques for Pelvic Pain
Fetal Malpositions often begin with an imbalance in the mother's pelvis. While this is not always true, it is often true. Over the years, women have contacted me about both malpositions and pain reported they also have pain or significant discomfort somewhere in the pelvis and/or lower back. Learning from others and seeing the results, I now believe that the imbalance causes the pain and the malposition. It's not the malposition that begins the pain! Treating the cause of the pain often solves the fetal malposition as well, since then baby can often slip into an improved, or even optimal, fetal position.
Dynamic Body Balancing
So much of what I learned about Balance was defined for me by Dr. Carol Phillips, DC. I thought I'd introduce you to Carol's work.
The first video shows a pregnant woman with a significant sciolosis of the spine who had been helped to come into Balance by Carol's techniques the month before. Carol does her series of checks on each part of her body. The baby has moved into the Left Occiput Anterior position and the womb is "centered" since the previous visit. Ideal!
Can these activities cause a bad reaction?
Occasionally, the question arises, can maternal positioning and the techniques featured at Spinning Babies cause a baby in a good position to get into a "bad" position. For instance, could doing these techniques when baby is head down make the baby flip head up. Or, could they turn a baby who's in an anterior position to a posterior presentation? Is there any harm in doing these?
I am inclined to say no. With exceptions....
Pelvic Tilts
The Pelvic Tilt
The pelvic tilt, done with the mother on hands-and-knees, is good to relax the lower back after a long day. This gentle rocking exercise keeps the pelvic joints loose, too. But is it good to help a posterior (forward facing) baby get into a better, anterior, position for birth?
Hands & Knees
Hands and knees position, all fours, knees and elbows and kneeling over a birthing ball. Crawling and stretching exercises, too! These are similar positions that actually assist the baby with the movements of birth. Read how making your belly the perfect hammock can help prepare for labor and make progress for your birth. This is the safest position for birthing a breech baby, read why!
Birth Balls
“I asked (at the hastily arranged private tour) about birthing balls,
they said they had them, they really liked them, and there was NOTHING
like a birthing ball for getting a posterior baby to turn, really opens the pelvis...”
The Abdominal Lift and Tuck
The Abdominal Lift is of the most effective early labor techniques was popularized by Janie McKoy King, a Texas Engineer who wrote Back Labor No More. I learned it from Penny Simkin at her Birth Doula Training.
I added the words "and tuck" to remind the user to tuck their pelvis. By this I mean do a standing Pelvic Tilt. By this I mean flattening the lower back.
Walcher's to "engage" baby
This is a technique to use only occasionally in labor. Walcher's Position is used to engage a baby that is high, not really in the pelvis yet, yet contractions are regular and strong. The baby may be stuck at the brim or inlet of the pelvis. I don't know if it works in pregnancy, before labor. But I know that if you can use this position through and between three contractions in labor that it will bring the baby into a normal pelvic brim. Contractions make it work.
Open-knee chest
Sometimes a posterior or asynclitic baby is jammed in the brim of the pelvis, but a bit crooked, stalling progress. The birthing mother is working hard and it seem that the baby just can't rotate and can't descend. Penny Simkin, physical therapist and world known chidlbirth educator and doula, teaches us the Open Knee-Chest correctly.
Penny says, wouldn't it be nice to back the baby up and start over?
The Open-knee chest is one way of doing an inversion to back the baby out and start again. (Left, Penny Simkin, PT, teaches us Open-Knee Chest)
Click to open the pelvis and start over with a good fetal position!
Standing Release
What: Standing Release
Sometimes called a Standing Sacral Release, this myofascial release was fine tuned by Dr. Carol Phillips when a pregnant woman couldn't tolerate lying down for the abdominal release (diaphragmatic release).
Side-lying -hanging leg- Release
This is not just lying on one's side and leaning your leg over! Read carefully how to do this dramatically helpful technique. Do 1-2 times in late pregnancy and once in early labor to reduce labor length. Stall in labor? Do the pelvic floor/side-lying release in any long labor. Use this technique at 5-6 cm or more, even pushing, for the asynclitic baby.
Psoas Release and Resolution
Please let me refer you off my site to CoreAwareness.com with Liz Koch. I'm really excited about her work and she can tell you the best.
http://www.coreawareness.com/qanda/hands-on-techniques-psoas/#more-826
What: The psoas (so-as) is a large pair of muscles from the spine between the pelvis and the ribs that wrap like cradling wings around to the front of the pelvis and drop down to attach at the lower end to the top of the thigh bone. They help us walk upright, support our abdominal organs. The tone of the psoas pair can have an effect on the descent of the baby and even fetal position.
The Lunge
The Lunge opens the midpelvis. It is a good technique to be used in labor, during a contraction, for:
• Helping an occiput posterior baby rotate or descend
• Helping an asynclitic baby descend
• Overcome a stall in active labor
Roll-over
A series of poses for labor when progress is slow. Contractions help this technique to work effectively. Penny Simkin and Ruth Ancheta call it the Roll-over and it is featured in their Labor Progress Handbook.
At Spinning Babies, I've said, when you want to move the baby, move the mother. This technique literally rotates the mother to help the baby rotate! We've used variations of this technique for many years. The mom shown here is in a variation of the Hands and Knees position, the start of the "Roll-over."
