Labour and Active Birth Workshop

Session 2

Welcome Back!

I hope you enjoyed session 2 of the Labour & Active Birth Workshop. We covered a lot in the session, and so below are reminders and links to many of the images and documents you may find helpful to review over the coming weeks.

As the session progressed, so did your hypothetical labour as we started to talk about the changes that take place during the middle stage of labour, known as ‘active labour’- this is the time that things get more intense as the uterus really works harder to dilate the cervix from 3-8cm.

We talked about how you might feel differently and how you may wish to draw on different tools such as breathing, movement, water, tens and pharmacological pain relief options. We introduced the second of the three breathing techniques, called Up Breathing, and how it can be an important focal point in developing routines, rhythms and rituals within your birthing bubble.

We looked at the different hormones involved in labour and how it is important to keep adrenaline at bay and help boost the oxytocin within your system through your environment as well as movements during labour. We will start to incorporate these movements into the Active Birth Antenatal Yoga practice this week, but there is also a helpful video here from some of the midwifery team at The Royal Berkshire NHS FT which I think is very helpful. So jump up now and follow along if you like…

Considering how the cervix changes in a dynamic way during active labour and transition, we also discussed how foetal position, maternal position and movements can impact the dilation journey as well as they baby’s journey through the pelvis and into your arms. The power of movement and position changes can make such a difference and so I hope you can begin to feel comfortable trying out some of these over the coming weeks through the yoga movements below.

The introduction of the Down Breathing technique undoubtedly made you laugh a little…but trust me when I say that there is real power in that breath and it will really come into it’s own on the big day! For now- perhaps practice it on the toilet every now and then to prevent overly stressing your pelvic floor too much. Below is a link to a quick video demonstration of the breathing techniques as a reminder.

Below are some links to further reading from MAMBA as well as other great external sources around the topics we covered.

• Hormones In Labour and Birth- A Pathway to A Healthy Birth Booklet

• Managing your Birth Environment

• Let There Be Mood Lighting- Sarah Wickham

• The Stages of Labour Overview

• Comfort and Movement in Labour- Penny Simpkin’s Guide

• MAMBA- Foetal Mal-Presentation and Manual Turning- ECV

  
  

I look forward to seeing you again in Session 3!

Nicola