# Things that really helped



## mayurid12

Hi ladies,

I am a first time mom, in my 27th week (third trimester), i live in a place where there no Prenatal class or borthing classes, i have gathered all the information online and mainly BnB ..

I need to know:
1) what were the poses that really helped during labor
2)right breathing techniques
3) also what exercises helped before labor 
i am currently walking , but i dono how much i should walk (minutes) ..

Any other advice for first time moms , i want to have a natural birth 
my ob is not very helpfull..

Thanks in advance aldies


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## Eleanor ace

*1) what were the poses that really helped during labor*
Leaning and rocking was good for me. With DS I leant over a work surface at the hospital and rocked from side to side. With DD I knelt and leant over my birthing ball and rocked me hips.
*2)right breathing techniques*
I just focussed on breathing slow and even and concentrating on keeping calm and collected. Blowing hard can help- like you're blowing the pain out.
*3) also what exercises helped before labor *
With both pregnancies I walked quite a lot (probably 3 miles a day at the end, but more until my SPD got too sore). Swimming was really good- it felt awesome to be weightless in the water and was relaxing too. It doesn't put pressure on your joints so it's a good pregnancy exercise. You can get pre-natal yoga and pilates DVD's which are probably worth a look :).

I'd recommend watching birth's on Youtubes (search for ones which describe themselves as positive!), they're really helpful for getting an idea of how you might feel, techniques which work for other people and stages you go through (such as transition- I hadn't heard of transition until my antenatal classes with DS).

Good luck :).


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## chulie

Is there a library in your town? maybe you could get some books??? or even online books that will help because then it will show you pictures as well? instead of someone trying to explain? hahahaha..might be hard


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## krysb

Squat 300 times a day, youre going to give birth quickly. - Ina May Gaskin

I'm 31 weeks now but my wife gave birth to our son 11 months ago. She squatted very frequently at the gym and was on her feet a lot walking (as a nurse). During labor she said that spending some time laboring in the tub was very helpful (at around 5-8 cm) and being on all fours was also helpful.


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## MindUtopia

Anything upright will help you - all fours, squatting, walking, standing, etc. Just talk about these different positions with your partner so they can remind you to try something different if one thing isn't working. You never know until you do it what might feel right for you. I planned to give birth in the pool kneeling. Turns out I didn't like that. I ended up spending the whole time I was pushing walking around my house (had a home birth) and stopping to kneel or squat when I wanted to push. For me, squatting really helped! 

I'd highly recommend practicing some sort of hypnotherapy (natal hypnotherapy, hypnobirthing, etc.). I did natal hypnotherapy and it was amazing. You don't learn breathing 'techniques' per se. You just learn how to let yourself relax and when you're relaxed, you'll stay breathing slowly and calmly. And staying in control of your breath is THE key to managing any discomfort in labour. Something that also helped, which my yoga instructor taught me, was 4-6 breathing. Breathe in for 4 counts and then out for 6 counts and focus on letting your body relax on the long out breath. I practiced it when I was pregnant (actually anytime I was constipated and needed a poo!) and it really helped. 

As for exercise, I just walked and went swimming. I think the swimming was good for relaxation more than anything else and actually I swam for like an hour the day before I went into labour. 

If you're planning a natural birth, Ina May Gaskin's Guide to Childbirth is great! As was a little book I found called Natural Birth by Kristina Turner. And read LOTS of positive birth stories! And do whatever you can to steer away from induction unless you really need it (and just cause your doctor says so doesn't necessarily mean you do). It's so much easier and safer to wait for spontaneous labour, even if you're overdue.


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## Dream.dream

I found the bet thing to be squatting , sitting on the toilet and I ha then put the be into semi reclined position an I leaned against it while I was up on my knees and swayed 

The more you an stay up right and move your hips the better


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## w8ing4bean

I basically spent 9 hours on all fours with hubby applying pressure on my lower back. Then once we got to the hospital i got in the pool on my knees leaning over the side. Woulda loved to have had her there, but ended up flat on my back with legs in stirrups :-( :-(

As for breathing, at my nct classes we were told to imagine the letter J, blow down and out, as u bear down to push. I hope that makes sense.

The only exercise i did really was walks with hubby, but i couldnt go very far! The day i went into labour we'd done 2 short walks. Xx


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## snowfia

For birthing positions, anything upright will cause gravity to help. I was on my knees leaning on the back of my bed with DD and loved it. I've also heard a lot of women squatting and finding that really good.

Concentrating on slow, calm breathing helped me as it stopped me from panicking and I had something to concentrate on other than the pain.

Squatting and walking I think helped me.

My best advice would be to make sure your birthing partner knows exactly what you want. If you want to do it naturally, make sure the doctors/MWs etc know that so they don't try and give you anything that you don't want a such.


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## xolynn

Rocking back and forth from foot to foot really helped for me(like a penguin lol), my water actually broke naturally while doing this and I had an induced labor. Also sitting on the birthing ball and rocking back and forth worked well too. When the pains got worse I found that concentrating on one object/picture/anything and just staring at it and breathing slowly helped a lot too...in the end I got an epidural though when I was at about 7-8cm. But really though labor was a lot easier than i had expected...its like your body just takes over and knows what its doing and all your fear is gone. And I was a nervous wreck the afternoon before induction started but once things got moving I was calm and collected.


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## BunnyN

Walking, walking walking! I also lay on my side a lot in early labour when I needed to rest. Having my husband rub my lower back and putting heat on it helped a lot and swaying my hips in a circular movement. Being on my back was about 10 times more painful than any other position for sure. It's a good idea to have some things in mind but you just wont know what is the best position until you are actually in labour. Some of the positions I thought would be good felt wrong on the day. I squatted for a lot of the pushing. Squatting on the floor with my husband sitting on the bed behind me to help support me worked best. 

I found breathing slowly worked for me, other techniques just felt awkward and unnatural but they work for some. Just don't hyperventilate or hold all your breath in. When I had to stop pushing because the cord was around the baby's neck the MW told me to take rapid shallow puffs which works very well to stop you from pushing because it is hard to push and breath like that at the same time. 

I read in a book to imagine you are pushing down like a coffee plunger. I remembered that when I was pushing and it actually really helped. Making noise during contractions helped distract me from the pain until close to the end of labour when suddenly I just wanted to be quiet and concentrate. 

I decided I didn't want to do classes and I didn't feel like I missed anything. I did read quite a bit in books and on the net. The only thing I think I would know how to do better next time is to relax into the contractions but I don't think a class would have helped learn that anyway, it kind of takes practice. It gets to a point when you can hold back the pain by fighting against the baby moving down. In the latter part of labour letting the baby come down put a lot of pressure on my back and I kept wanting to brace against that pain. When I worked out how to relax and let the baby move down it was much more painful for a short time but things progressed faster. I actually didn't find pushing very painful. It was the part just before pushing that was the hardest. Most women have a panic 'i cant do it' moment around that time so when you feel like that know the end is close! 

I've just written down everything that worked for me, I hope some of it helps you. I had a lovely unmedicated home birth and actually loved the experience of labour, I'd do it again tomorrow! 

Oh yeh and labour can be long, mine was 38 hrs, so when it starts eat, drink and sleep if you can, you might be glad you did later on when labour gets too intense to think about anything else!


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## Ashla

The book Birth Skills by Juju Sundin was the thing thqt helped me most. My OB said I handled birth exceptionally and I credit that book with giving me the skills for a natural birth. I highly recommend it.


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## BunnyN

I read thet book too. I didnt find that it was all for me but there were some very helpful bits. Thats where I read to push like a coffee plunger!


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