Birthing positions

frasey · April 2014

Hey ladies - looking for some ideas here. When DD was born, the MW had a birth stool we used. And it was awesome. This time around tho, no one in my new MW's practice has one, and I can't find any rental places anywhere near here. I've googled Making a Birthing Stool and whatever - DH is fairly handy, but... I dunno.

Anyways, I guess my question is: what pushing positions are there that I can use at home that would give similar results? I see things like a squat bar, etc, but we're not planning on going to the hospital, and just plain squatting sounds... difficult.

Maybe this is way simpler than Im making it out to be. I dunno.

jmknox · April 2014

Here are the Bradley method positions/options they gave us- hope this helps https://mamasandbabies.blogspot.com/2010/05/position-change-and-movement-during.html

barnwife · April 2014

Honestly, I think you will have to see what feels right in the moment.

Once I got to the pushing stage with J., only pushing on my back (yes, the least recommended position) felt right/good. So that's what I did.

With A. I was in the birth tub and semi-reclined against the side.

With S. I was sitting on the toilet until I realized that he was crowning. I told DH to catch the baby (MW hadn't arrived yet) and stood up.

Basically, after 3 births I figure that it's good to know a variety of positions because you don't know what will feel right in the moment.

marriedinaugust · April 2014

I used the squat bar at the hospital but you can accomplish the same thing by "hanging" on your husband. Get into a squat and raise your arms and your husband holds your arms.

aylafsu88 · April 2014

I pushed in the side lying position. I wanted to squat but when it came down to it I was to tired and wanted to rest more. I found the side lying position to be pretty comfortable. My doula held my leg up and helped support it so I did not have to bring it up and down. Have you considered buyig your own birth stool? I looked into it since the hospital did not provide them and I think they are only $50ish dollars.

frasey · April 2014

ok thanks guys - some good suggestions!

@aylafsu88 yes we looked into that, but have not found anywhere near here or online that sells them, esp for such a reasonable price.

@birthjunkie13 - no pool.... but we do have a ball.

And Dh seems to think he can make something that will work similarly, so we might try that. I will look more into the link and other positions.

@barnwife - yeah I totally hear you! but thats why Im doing this - I want options!

ah625 · April 2014

I used this position, but with my knees on the bed. It was awesome, and delivering a baby that was almost 2lb heavier than my first was much much easier for me.

MandMLeona · April 2014

With my first I was standing in our dry tub with my feet about shoulder width and my knees spread wide. With my second I was on hands and knees until pushing, then I squatted over the side of the birthing tub.

Summer889 · May 2014

My midwife told me that the toilet makes a great birth stool!

wifeofadam · May 2014

I agree with PP - just do what feels right at the time.

With one of my homebirths, I pushed while squatting in the birth tub. With the next one I wanted to be on my hands and knees.

frasey · May 2014

SO Dh finished making a stool out of 2x4s and a toilet seat. Its basically a toilet without the bowl and water. Awesome. And it cost like $5 to make. Im glad its here as an option!

@Summer889 - I know! I spend the majority of my last labour on the toilet, moved to the stool for delivery. Worked awesome

jenn43 · May 2014

ah625 said:

I used this position, but with my knees on the bed. It was awesome, and delivering a baby that was almost 2lb heavier than my first was much much easier for me.

I actually tried this position after seeing it on this post- it was great. Only downside is that my feet went numb after a couple minutes. The nurses put the squat bar on the bed so I could face forward and lean back to a sitting position between contractions, but by that point I was already crowning. Gravity helped tremendously!

allrightmeow · May 2014

This was great information ladies.

halfthetree · May 2014

I birthed my daughter on my knees, leaning on my husband who was sitting on the edge of the bed. I was able to catch her myself and he kept me stable.

Birthing positions

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