Exercises for labor

[SpringCrane]

Does anyone have any exercises they felt helped them get through or recover from labor? I was very active and fit before my first pregnancy, but was so ill that I didn't do much during the pregnancy. This time I'm feeling better, so I'm hoping to prepare a bit more. My first labor was OK, but I was insanely sore after.

I'm interested in finding out if any particular moves can help for labor, or for easing lower back pain during pregnancy.

 

[MumToEva]

No sure if it's what you mean, but I did breathing exercises through both my labours, and I think it really helped - if you are interested in natural labour tips, I recomment Ina May Gaskin's Guide to childbirth book.

I also found I bounced back so much quicker 2nd time round - with my first I pushed for a long time and I felt like my insides were falling out for 6 - 8 weeks afterwards, as well as having a really sore back for ages. Second time round he was out after a few pushes, despite being a lot bigger, and I wasn't really sore at all afterwards. My body just seemed to know what to do more!

 

[SpringCrane]

No sure if it's what you mean, but I did breathing exercises through both my labours, and I think it really helped - if you are interested in natural labour tips, I recomment Ina May Gaskin's Guide to childbirth book.

I also found I bounced back so much quicker 2nd time round - with my first I pushed for a long time and I felt like my insides were falling out for 6 - 8 weeks afterwards, as well as having a really sore back for ages. Second time round he was out after a few pushes, despite being a lot bigger, and I wasn't really sore at all afterwards. My body just seemed to know what to do more!

Thanks for the response. I meant more along the lines of physical exercise. Squats, planks, etc. With my son, I labored under really intense and frequent contractions for 28 hours but only pushed 10 minutes, and just tensing up with each contraction just killed every muscle in my body. I had planned to stay relaxed but it just hurt too darn much ;-) Having a labor like your first is what I'm worried about, and what I'm trying to prepare my body for, just in case.

I have some prenatal workout videos but, I don't know... They just seem kind of wishy washy and useless. I'm not looking to get in an intense workout at this point, I'd just like to know I prepared my body best I could to deal with the physical strain of getting a baby out!

I'm also dealing with a very weak and sore lower back, and I know it's only going to get worse as baby grows. I had a lot of back pain, too, from nursing and holding my son in the first few months since I had no core strength to support my body properly. I just want to be smart this time.

 

[Bebedeux]

Breathing. I done gentlebirth.
And I found the breathing excercises which during. Very stressful epidural with the room screaming at each other I was able to reign myself in and focus with breathing. I could literally shut them all out. I've had allot of stress lately and the breathing techniques are brilliant.

 

[Button#]

Squats and pregnancy yoga.

 

[Aliop]

Squats! I was doing around 200 a day right up to delivery day in prep for my VBAC and during labour I was squatting naturally as that's what my body wanted to do and I could feel baby dropping. He was born in three pushes after squats in the shower

 

[MindUtopia]

Just whatever feels comfortable. I did a lot of walking and hiking (usually at least 3 miles a day, sometimes as much as 14 miles on the weekends), and I did those long hikes up until the start of 3rd tri (then SPD kicked in so had to take it a bit easier). I also did yoga once a week and swimming about 3 times a week all through 3rd tri. The swimming in particular really helped with my SPD and back pain (as did seeing an osteopath for an adjustment, which I really recommend, I was about 95% better after all the way through the end of pregnancy). Basically, being as active as is comfortable is good. I don't think there is any one thing that is best for everyone, just listen to your body and do what feels right. I personally tried to do something - walking, hiking, swimming, yoga - nearly every day and I think that helped a lot. I had a relatively easy, healthy pregnancy and a straightforward, comfortable natural birth.

In terms of having an easier, more positive birth experience, birth is 80% mental rather than physical. So I'd actually be less concerned with preparing physically (though yes staying active doing something that you enjoy is good) and more concerned with preparing mentally and emotionally. I'd really recommend natal hypnotherapy or another form of hypnotherapy practice. If you change the way you think about birth and discomfort during birth, it will change how you experience it physically. I think it was totally the reason I had such a positive, manageable comfortable birth experience, even with no pain relief (just used a TENS) and even though my daughter was back to back and I squatted and pushed for 4 hours at the end. But it wasn't really painful or uncomfortable or unmanageable and it was really positive (though after 4 hours of squats, my legs did get a little bit tired!). But that had nothing to do with physical preparation and everything to do with mental preparation, so I'd really recommend it.