- Hey, Mamas.

How many of you are watching this while you're sitting down or lying back in bed?

I'd probably say most of you, and I don't blame you.

Pregnancy can be tough and wearing on your body and our modern culture supports positions and postures that involve a lot of sitting or lying back.

Whether you're doing that at home on the couch or at work or while driving, a lot of time is being spent sitting, and this impacts the position of your baby.

Now, we all know that the best position for baby to be in for birth is head down, but that's not all that matters.

Besides being head down, there are other positions that baby can be in to help your pregnancy be more comfortable, and especially to help labor progress and help baby to be born in a timely and safely manner.

So in this video I'm going to be giving you five positions to be in while you're pregnant to help create space in your uterus and pelvis to help baby get in that optimal position for birth.

I am Bridget, and I'm a birth doula in the San Francisco Bay area and I love helping mamas love their birth.

To stay informed and empowered through your pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period, make sure you're, first, subscribed to this channel, and second, have hit the little bell so you don't miss any of my future videos.

So, as a doula, I help mamas work with their bodies that have been built for the process of birth through movement and trusting the birth process.

But working with your body to accommodate the birth of your baby doesn't have to wait until labor begins.

You can start doing that during your pregnancy.

And moving your body in certain ways can really tremendously help with your body getting ready for labor.

So let's hop into these five positions that I'm gonna share with you that can be done daily during your pregnancy if you don't have any objections from your doctor.

So let's begin.

So we're just gonna start off with a very easy and practical position, and it's not so much a position as it is a posture.

So I mentioned at the beginning of this video that we spend a lot of time sitting down.

And a lot of times it's sort of unavoidable, which is why it's important to know the best posture to be in while you're sitting to help your body stay aligned and to help baby get in an optimal position.

So when you're sitting, imagine a string that is attached to your tailbone that goes all the way through the top of your head.

And when you pull that string up, it strains out your whole spine.

So having a straight spine is actually going to help you feel more comfortable, but it will also encourage your baby to round their round their back against your belly so that their face is pointing towards your spine, which is a good position for them to be in, one, to help your comfort level, but two, to help them be in an optimal position for birth.

Oftentimes when you're slouching, baby will want to swing around so that the curve of their spine fits in the curve of your spine that's made from you slouching, which causes the back of their head to be against your spine now, called an occiput posterior position, and it can make your backend comfortable and can possibly lead to a more difficult and challenging labor.

So while you're sitting, first have that straight and like neutral spine, and then try to keep your knees at about a 90-degree angle.

It's okay if your knees are slightly lower than your hips.

And then both your feet should be flat on the floor.

So a lot of times, women have the tendency to cross their legs when they're sitting, and this causes more pressure on the bottom knee.

And then the lower back and pelvis are twisted in one direction, and this can lead to misalignment.

Now, the goal in maintaining good posture and exercising these positions that I'm going to be sharing with you is to help maintain alignment in your body so that your baby has the ability to first get in an optimal position and then during labor, to maneuver through your pelvis.

So that's number one, having good posture.

Keeping your head stacked over your heart, over your hips with a string attaching them all so that when you pull out the top, it straightens everything out.

And then remember, your knee should be at about a 90-degree angle with your feet flat on the ground, and that's going to help keep your pelvis nice and aligned.

Now, the second position is forward-leaning, and this is just to promote space in your uterus so that your baby has room to move around as well as to use gravity to help them get in an optimal position.

You can really do forward leaning on just about anything, either on a chair or on all fours, using a birth ball, leaning over stacked pillows, or even with your partner.

So I love forward leaning using a birth ball because it allows you to move a lot more freely while still supporting you really well.

And I have a birth ball that I use and recommend to all my mamas.

I will link down below in the description.

So check it out if you don't already have a birth ball and are on the hunt for one that's awesome.

But whether you use a birth ball for forward leaning or not, being in a position where you are leaning forward as opposed to lying back, is really going to promote baby getting into that optimal position.

So I recommend doing this when you're lying back on the couch or in bed while you're watching a movie or reading a book or asking for your partner to massage your back while you're in that position at well.

That's always a good idea when you're in this position.

So for the third position, we're going to take the forward leaning position up a notch and try the forward leaning inversion.

So this is a method developed by Spinning Babies, and they have a lot of amazing resources and methods to help engage baby in the pelvis to support the natural progression of labor and birth.

So, with the forward leaning inversion, what you want to do is kneel on the edge of your couch or your bed as long as it's low enough to the ground, and then you're going to gently lower your arms down to the ground.

Now, once your arms are lowered, you're going to then come down onto your forearms and rest your forearms on the ground with your hands together and your elbows facing outward.

And at this point, your head should be hanging down.

It should not be resting on the ground.

You don't want to be supporting your body weight with your head and your neck, that's just going to add a lot more tension.

And so it should just be hanging between your arms.

And if you feel your head throbbing a little bit, that's okay, it's normal the first few times you do it, and then after that, your body should get used to that sensation.

Now, if it feels really uncomfortable or painful in any way, you should definitely stop doing the forward-leaning inversion.

But most often this position is really helpful in getting baby to engage well into your pelvis.

So now with your arms supporting your weight on the ground and your head hanging down between your arms, you're going to take three deep breaths in and out, and they should last for about a total of 30 seconds.

(inhales deeply) (exhales deeply) While you're taking these breaths, you can let your belly gently hang forward or you can tilt your pelvis in to straighten out your lower back to help your ligaments have a little bit more mobility while you're in this position.

Then after you're three slow breaths, you're gently going to rise back up into that kneeling position on the side of the couch, and then take three more deep breaths again.

(inhales deeply) (exhales deeply) And then sit back on your heels, swing your feet forward while keeping your knees together so that you keep your ligaments nice and aligned.

So while you're doing this position and getting down on the ground and getting back up again, it's really important that you have either a sturdy chair or table nearby so that you can ease your way down to the ground or your partner is close by and they can help you get down to the ground and back up to the couch again safely and easily.

And the reason why this position works so well is that that leaning forward stretches out your ligaments and really allows your pelvis to reposition itself a little bit.

But then the kneeling at the end is really what's so important because that's what allows your ligaments and pelvis to resettle in proper alignment.

So really the most important part of this position is the kneeling portion after coming up from the leaning inversion.

So really just be mindful of that and take that time to take those breaths at the end as you're leaning back on the couch before making your way off of it.

With this forward leaning inversion, you can start doing this position once a day beginning at 30 weeks to help your baby get into an optimal birthing position.

So now the fourth position is actually a stretch called through the hole, and it helps you achieve better hip flexibility and mobility as well as opens up the pelvis and hips.

So if you stretch often or do yoga, you're probably already familiar with this position, but if you're not familiar with it, I'm gonna walk you through it right now.

So first you're just going to lay back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor, and then you're going to slowly raise up one of your legs to rest your ankle on the knee that is still bent.

So it kind of looks like an upside-down number four a little bit right now, but then to open up your pelvis and hips just a little bit more, you're going to place your hands around the back of your thighs, so, one arm is reaching through the hole, which is why this stretch is called through the hole, and you're going to place on the back of your thigh that is supporting your ankle, and then gently pull it towards your belly for a nice little stretch.

While you're in this stretch position, you're gonna take two or three deep breaths while holding the position on each leg.

And then you can repeat it two or three times every day or at least three times a week for it to be effective.

All right, our fifth position is the pelvic tilt.

And the pelvic tilt brings so much relief to pregnant women as their baby is growing and putting more and more pressure on their lower back.

And it also helps reposition babies that have the back of their head on mama's spine so that they turn and then are facing mama's spine instead.

Also, if baby hasn't dropped yet into the pelvis after 38 weeks, this is a great position or movement to try to help them get into a better and deeper position in the pelvis.

So, with the pelvic tilt, you're going to get on your hands and knees in an all fours position.

Your hands should be right under your shoulders and your knees under your hips at about a hip-width apart.

So when you're in this tabletop position, you want to keep a neutral spine, which means that your belly isn't dropping too far forward like you're doing the cow pose in yoga.

Now, if you have been doing this position or these pelvic tilts throughout your pregnancy and it feels good to let your belly hang down a little bit, then you're free to do that.

But if not, it could cause strain at this point to start doing it now because of all the weight of your belly pulling on your lower back.

So just be aware of how your body feels through this position and kind of do what feels right to you.

So once you're in that tabletop position, you're going to round your lower back upward and tuck your pelvis forward towards your belly button.

And the tops of your feet are going to be pressing down into the ground.

You want to make sure that you're not just rounding your spine or flexing your butt muscles.

In fact, when you're bringing your pelvis forward, you shouldn't be flexing your butt at all.

You're simply tucking your hips inward toward your belly along withdrawing your lower back upward to create that pelvic tilt.

While you're doing this, you might be tempted to round the top of your spine and arch your shoulders, and you can do that if it feels good, but that's not what's helping your baby with positioning.

What you really want with this movement is to focus on your lower back and the pelvis.

And you can start this movement at 32 weeks and then spend a few minutes every day doing it to help your baby get into an optimal position.

All right, Mamas, those are our five positions to help get baby into an optimal position for birth before labor even begins.

If you tried out any of those positions while this video was playing, tell me which ones helped you feel most comfortable.

I love hearing back from you guys about how these videos or community helped you feel encouraged, empowered, or excited about pregnancy, your birth, and your motherhood.

So I hope as you do these movements, you become more and more confident in your baby's and your body's ability to be an active part of your beautiful birth experience.

So thanks for being with me in this video moment, and I will see you in the next one.