What do you want to be like when you are admitted to the waiting room from the emergency room or the maternity ward on the day your baby is due to come out? Raise your hand if you want to “lie down” in the hospital bed!
After entering labor, many mothers want to lie motionless in the hospital bed in the waiting room because of painful contractions, nervousness and physical and mental exhaustion, and silently pray for the opening of the uterus to be fully opened and the first stage of labor to be finished soon. If you want to hear the doctor say “ten fingers are open” sooner, if you want to be sent to the delivery room to start the baby mode, you have to take action.
It is clinically recommended that the mother take a free position while waiting for labor to relieve the pain of contractions and speed up the progress of labor. The so-called free position is the freedom to adopt various body positions and movements to make yourself in the most comfortable state. The correct use of free position during the first stage of labor can relieve contraction pain, enhance contractions, reduce cervical edema and speed up the progress of labor. How can you not learn this skill of giving birth with less pain and faster delivery?
Free position basic position
The basic free positions include lying, sitting, standing, walking, kneeling, lying down, squatting and dancing, each of which has special effects. You can sit up, walk down to the floor, squat, kneel, there is always a position that is suitable for you and will make you feel less painful.
Walking down to the floor can reduce back pain and also use gravity to speed up the descent of the fetal head and accelerate the labor process.
Sitting on the bed can also use part of the gravity to speed up the fetal head descent and also make get a good rest.
Squatting on the floor can use part of the gravity and the pressure of the upper trunk to promote the descent of the fetal head and speed up the labor process.
Kneeling on all fours can effectively relieve back pain and also help adjust the fetal position.
Nowadays, the free position is very much promoted in the clinic. If your condition allows and there is no abnormal labor condition, the medical staff will urge you to walk on the floor more often and move around, not always lying in bed. If you feel that standing, squatting or sitting is still a bit monotonous and boring, you may want to dance with your birth companion, that is, leaning on his body to sway and move your body at will, this is the man dance, dancing to give birth can be very effective in relieving pain, speeding up the fetal head descent, and also let your glass heart be protected and comforted by your father.
Free body position progression
1.Effective position for strengthening contractions
In order to strengthen contractions and speed up labor, you need to keep your upper body in an upright position to take a sitting or squatting position. The body in an upright position can enhance the pressure of fetal gravity on the cervix, reflexively cause oxytocin delivery and strengthen contractions. Sitting and squatting can expand the pelvic space, accelerate the expansion of the uterine opening, with the upright body position, can jointly promote the progress of labor.
2.The effective position to correct cervical edema
Cervical edema can prevent the fetal head from descending, mostly related to fetal head compression and premature force. Forward leaning position or hand and knee position can make the fetal head move, reduce the pressure of the fetal head on the cervix, promote the blood circulation of the cervix, improve the condition of cervical edema, reduce the resistance of fetal head descent and speed up the progress of labor.
Forward leaning position: both knees on the ground (with soft pillow or knee pad), body leaning forward, hands on the birthing ball or soft pad for support.
Hand-knee position: both knees on the floor (with soft pillows or knee pads), leaning forward and supporting the body with both hands to shift the fetus’ weight forward. Compared with the forward leaning position, the tilt of the hands and knees position is greater, but need to pay attention to rest and position change, hands should not be pressed for a long time.
3.Effective position to correct pelvic tilt
When the human body is standing, there is a certain angle of inclination between the pelvic entrance plane and the ground, and the angle is too large to affect the fetal head articulation. When waiting for delivery, you can take a flat position, semi-recumbent position, sitting back to reduce the pelvic tilt angle.
4.Effective positions to relieve contraction pain
A number of free positions can effectively relieve contraction pain, and the positions need to be changed from time to time during labor to achieve better pain relief.