Labor of Love | Part 1: Movement and Partner Support for Birth
Does squatting really open the pelvis wider than lying down? How on earth is a baby going to fit out of there? Don’t I have to lie on my back while I’m pushing the baby out? How can I use movement if I’ve had an epidural? What if I want to labor on hands and knees?
Come together with other expecting mothers and birth partners to discover answers to these questions and more. Together we will practice movements, postures and breath practices that support the labor and birth process.
Learn why breath and movement help us cope with the sensations of birth, and how movement helps the body adapt to birth and the baby finds his/her best way out. Discover how the birth partner’s physical support and hands-on techniques can help the mother throughout labor. And discover the powerful connection that is built between birth partners as they learn to breathe and move together.
Below you will find a sample class meditation audio recording as well as a video about Choices In Birth that we encourage families to watch as early in pregnancy as possible. (This topic is explored in more depth in the Informed Choices workshop.
Can’t thank you enough for your classes on labor/delivery. I was able to deliver him lying down on my side. Your pushing info along laboring techniques all came in very handy. [Our doctor] said we had done our homework!
SYLLABUS
- The Awareness Scan (birth meditation)
- Why Move in Birth (group discussion)
- Baby positioning
- Baby descent
- Uterine Function
- Comfort (physical and emotional)
- Facilitating more likelihood of Vaginal Delivery, whether planning medicated or unmedicated birth
- Supporting the Laboring Parent: Tools for Birth Support People
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- Feeling the Breath (partner exercise)
- Understanding a laboring person’s experience and needs
- Reading the signals of a laboring parent (group discussion)
- Practicing Movement for Labor
- Dance, baby dance: move those hips!
- Forward leaning
- Side-lunging/asymmetric poses
- Squatting
- Pushing + Birth
- Movement for parents choosing epidurals
- Pacing Yourself in Labor: What to Do When
*Supplemental Resources found in the expandable box include instructional videos on hands-on manual supports techniques for birth support, including the “Double Hip-Squeeze,” “Sacral Pressure,” and more.
Class Homework
•Practice Awareness Scans (pg 1) and Belly Breathing (pg 3) through the course of your week
•Practice Feeling the Breath (workbook pg 6) 1-2x this week
•Practice hip circling + swaying and slow dance movements
•Explore chapter 5 in your Understanding Birth Web APP
•If not taking class 2b, watching The Pushing Stage of Labor Video and practice pushing exercises (in video and on workbook pages 7-8)
Class Resources
Manual Support Techniques:
•Double Hip Squeeze 1
•Double Hip Squeeze 2
•Sacral Pressure
Supporting “Optimal Fetal Positioning” in Pregnancy
A “Good fit between mother + baby”
•Prenatal Yoga at Open Circle
•Dancing for Birth at Open Circle
•Spinning Babies Daily Essentials
•Breech Turning Movement Techniques
Supporting “Optimal Fetal Positioning” in Birth
A “Good fit between mother + baby”
•The Miles Circuit
•Spinning Babies Suggestions for a Variety of Baby Positions
Supporting Comfort, Strength and Mobility in Pregnancy + Birth
•Prenatal Yoga at Open Circle
•Dancing for Birth at Open Circle
•Prenatal Yoga with Jane Austin (video)
Understanding the Pushing Stage of Labor (video)
•Finding the Push (exercise; video minute 57:53)
•Observing the Push Awareness (exercise; video minute 59:29)
DATES
COST $65/birth team ($10-$65 IBP)
PROBLEMS REGISTERING ONLINE?
Step by step instructions can be found here:
Class Registration Instructions