Laboring Positions : Partner Edition!
Get that oxytocin flowing by connecting with your partner with these partner-based laboring positions.
❤️Rocking squat: Whenever I introduce this one in a prenatal yoga class, the students love it! The gentle rocking motion can feel very relaxing, and it’s an accessible way to squat since your partner takes a lot of your weight.
❤️Slow dance: Oxytocin, the “love” hormone plays a vital part of labor. When you are feeling safe and connecting to your loved one, your oxytocin levels rise. Slow dancing not only offers that intimacy of connection, but also helps you find rhythm and movement which can help move labor along.
❤️Dangle: This pose helps you relax and release your body while staying upright and utilizing gravity to help your baby descend further into your pelvis.
❤️Double hip squeeze: This can help release pressure and pain in the lower back and can be done during a contraction in a variety of positions; all 4’s, sitting on a birth ball and leaning over another surface, or even standing. The partner takes their hands to the sides of the pelvis (the ilium), and squeezes inward the hips.
❤️Sacral press: Some people find having pressure directly on the sacrum can also help alleviate back pain. (As a doula, I used to apply a hot water bottle to the sacrum for pressure and heat)!
❤️Massage: You do not need to be a massage therapist to lovingly stroke your partner’s back during labor. This can be done in a rhythmic manner to help release tension and stress (and once again, get that oxytocin pumping)!
❤️Shaking the apples: A lot of people find that they clench and tighten their butt and pelvic floor during contractions. This vigorous shaking helps release that unwanted tension. To do this, your partner will place their hands on either the inner and outer or front and back of your thighs and give them a good shake!
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This also helps kidney stones