Helping Labor Along

Once labour has begun, it can slow down or even stop. Many things can disrupt labour so here is a list of tips to help establish labour and speed it along.

Being upright - when upright the babys head will put more pressure on the cervix to encourage dialation.

Movement - moving your hips around will encourage the baby into the perfect position in the pelvis. Try standing and slow dancing with your partner, gently swaying hips. Try bouncing on an excercise ball and moving hips around in circles on the ball.

Visualisation - with each contraction imagine your cervix opening and your baby descending.

Relaxation - this one is very important. If you are uptight and frightened and fight the contractions your body will too and you wont dialate properly. It is also possible though unusual for a mothers cervix to start to close up again when she is too scared and frightened and not relaxed enough. Ina May Gaskin spoke of this occurance and I think I may have experienced it myself. When I was labouring with my daughter the labour moved along very very fast so that the sudden speed and intensity had me frightened and scared. A nurse said I was 9cm and called an ob who checked me 10 mins later and said I was only 7cm. I cannot emphasise enough the importance of embracing each contraction and relaxing through them. Relaxing through pain may sound difficult, I recommend deep breathing with an open and relaxed mouth, this really helps.

Hydration - so important to keep your fluids up in order to keep up your bodys energy levels! Have someone on water duty to give you a sip between each contraction. Powerade or similar is a good idea.

Choose your support people - you must be completely comfortable with those you choose to support you during labour. This includes hospital staff as well. If a member of staff is bothering you then ask if someone else is available. A woman needs to be in a completely comfortable and relaxed environment with only good and encouraging support.

Note to support people - offer alot of encouragement to the labouring mother until she tells you to shut up. Wait until after each contraction to tell her how brilliantly she managed it. Massages are a brilliant idea to help her relax, especially in the lower back area. Burning some clary sage oil (to encourage good contractions) and lavender (to help mum relax) is also good along with some nice and calming music.