Natural Birth

Exercise Ball to open pelvis?

rachuwrfrachuwrf member
edited June 2014 in Natural Birth
I am 28 weeks with my 2nd LO and hoping to do a VBAC. I had a c-section the first time due to failure to descend (he never engaged the pelvis after 27 hours and 4 hrs of pushing). The VBAC board is very slow, only a couple posts a month, so I thought I'd try here. I have heard that exercising on a ball helps, but how? How often should I do that? Are there specific exercises? What about evening primrose oil (once I am full term)? What does that do? Any other tips or tricks?
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Re: Exercise Ball to open pelvis?

  • aetgaetg member
    I feel like more information here would be helpful.  Like, were you induced?  Did your water break?  Did you have an epidural, making it more difficult to get in the right position.  I think a few more details would help us give you better info.
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  • Maybe check out Spinning Babies for exercises that might help.

    Evening Primrose Oil (EPO) is used to help ripen the cervix.  It can be taken either orally, vaginally or both, but as you said it is recommended to wait until full term or close to it.

    Another thing you might consider is drinking Red Raspberry Leaf Tea and/or taking caplets.  RRLT is used to tone your ute so the contractions are more effective.  I found this to be quite effective particularly the second time around when I took the caplets, it can also help you postpartum.  With my first, my postpartum nurse said she couldn't believe I had just had a baby because my ute shrank down so fast, of course I have no way of knowing for sure, but I suspect it was the tea.  I also have a cousin who used it with a similar outcome, she said her doctor actually took note of the tea because he was so impressed.  

    Staying active or at least upright as much as possible while in labor will be a big help as well.  I sat on an exercise ball for hours while in labor with my first.  Pushing in different positions can also help, lying on your back is considered the least ideal position because it narrows your pelvis.  I will admit I pushed on my back both times though, so no judgments from me, just throwing it out there :)  
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  • You could also look into acupuncture and/or chiro experienced in Webster technique, they can help with positioning.  I did acupuncture and adjustment when pregnant with my first, I was surprised my insurance covered 90%, so you might check into that as well.
  • Yes my water broke at 38 weeks but contractions did not start, so I was given pitocin. Labored for 27 hours and finally reached a 10 and pushed for 3 hours but he never came down into the birth canal. He was sunny side up and had the cord wrapped around his neck twice.
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  • I spent most of my time during the last trimester of my pregnancy sitting on an exercise ball (eating dinner, watching TV, surfing the internet) or walking. Also did some spinningbabies.com exercises, which I can't recommend enough for ideal fetal positioning! Of course there's no way to know if I would have had a different outcome if I had not done these things, but I can tell you that my son was ideally positioned for birth and I had a short labor with only 16min of pushing to get him out. So while there are no guarantees, yes, I think any exercises to open your pelvis can really help!
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  • When did you start taking the Red Rase. Capsules?
  • *LrCg**LrCg* member
    My water broke with my first & I never had contractions for over 14 hours. Luckily my midwife doesn't do internals so there was no risk of infection & she just monitored me while I went around my business. I actually cleaned my house & scrubbed floors until labor started. Being upright & active was very helpful. Also DS had his cord wrapped (majority of babies do & its rarely a big deal). I would recommend using a provider that doesn't do things by the clock & "allows" you to be mobile & use different birthing positions.
  • joyfuljes said:
    When did you start taking the Red Rase. Capsules?
    I started drinking the tea at the beginning of the third tri and started taking the capsules at 34w.  My MW wanted me to wait until then because she said while they don't put you into labor it might make it harder to stop labor if you went into labor prematurely.
  • mlrafiki said:
    I spent most of my time during the last trimester of my pregnancy sitting on an exercise ball (eating dinner, watching TV, surfing the internet) or walking. Also did some spinningbabies.com exercises, which I can't recommend enough for ideal fetal positioning! Of course there's no way to know if I would have had a different outcome if I had not done these things, but I can tell you that my son was ideally positioned for birth and I had a short labor with only 16min of pushing to get him out. So while there are no guarantees, yes, I think any exercises to open your pelvis can really help!
    I did the same thing starting about 6 weeks before I was due.  My water broke and I sat on my ball for 3-4 hours before going into the hospital- it helped a lot during the early stages of labor. I have been trying to do some yoga this time around and I've heard great things about the spinning babies exercises and adjustments by a webster certified chiro- all help keep your pelvis aligned which could help during the birth process.
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  • mrs.JLmrs.JL member
    An exercise ball is good for keep the pelvis moving but swaying is good as well. If you make it to the pushing phase, and want to open your pelvis a squatting stance will give you an extra 10%.
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