Birthability Blog
Everything birth
When we hear or think of birth, more often than not we are reminded of TV shows and movies where a pregnant woman is rushed down the hallway – huffing, puffing and screaming through contractions while being told to “push” laying on her back with her legs in stirrups!
Upright positions during birth (sitting, kneeling, squatting, and all fours) have been the topic of much research in recent years, and the results of the research are dramatically in favour, these are the advantages of upright positions.
As a Birth Educator I teach the value of labouring and birthing in an upright position. It is also one of the key Healthy Birth Practices I teach in my Lamaze classes – Healthy Birth Practice #5: Avoid giving birth on your back and follow your body’s urges to push.
Choosing the right birth class is probably one of the most important choices you can make. What you learn about birth will help determine how your birth unfolds – not knowing your options means you have no options to choose from.
Most care professionals seem convinced that they know best, that mother’s do not know how to give birth and that birth is a medical emergency – when most births are not! They skim over information or just expect the mother to be a mind reader or get frustrated when she will not comply, when she will not do what they have told her.
