Pregnancy (especially the first one) is such an exciting time filled with first. First time feeling baby move, first time getting a baby bump, first time getting morning sickness (okay maybe this one isn’t exciting) and so much more. However it can be scary not knowing what to except when it comes to labor & delivery. While we can’t always control what happens, we can use the 9 months leading up to delivery to prepare our body and minds! Seeing a pelvic floor physical therapist is one great way to learn how to best prepare your body for a smooth delivery. In this blog we’ll talk about a few ways you can prepare physically & emotionally for your birth!
Physical Preparation
The first way you can prepare physically is by working on your hip and pelvis mobility. Many people think that birth is a passive activity, but it’s far from it! Mom’s movement is what helps baby descend into the pelvis and birth canal so the better our hips can move, the easier time baby will have!
Here are two of my favorite exercises to work on hip & pelvis mobility
#1: 90/90 FLOW
This is an amazing exercise to work internal and external rotation of both hips.
(For an extra challenge try this shin box get up)
Sitting in the bottom of a deep squat is awesome for so many reasons. It allows our pelvic floor to relax, works the mobility of the hips and provides a stretch through back. If you aren’t able to comfortably sit in the bottom of a squat place a yoga block or small step stool under your hips so you can really relax.
These two are great places to start, but seeing a pelvic floor physical therapist can help identify exactly where you have mobility limitations and prescribe an individualized plan.
The second way you can physically prepare your body for birth is by performing a perineal massage. You can start this at any time during pregnancy, but you probably don’t really need to start until about 34-36 weeks. The research is really mixed on if performing a perineal massage helps prevent perineal tearing, however there are no risks or downsides to performing it so I always tell my patients it’s worth doing if they feel comfortable with it. The ideal frequency is to perform it 3x per week for at least 5 minutes each time. Watch this video to learn how to perform.
Emotional and Mental Preparation
Now we know how to prepare physically, but what about emotionally? Honestly before I had kids I didn’t truly understand how emotional birth can be. If you are working with a doula, she will likely help you create a birth plan and walk you through all of the options for laboring, pushing, immediately postpartum, etc and write down your preferences. Even if you don’t want a doula in the delivery room many will provide birth planning services only so this can be a great option. You can also create your own birth plan using a free template online. Here is a great template from The Bump.
When it comes to preparing emotionally, it’s really important to know what we want but it’s also important to know that things may not go as planned and that’s okay! I had expectations that I would sit in a squat, relax my pelvic floor and my daughter would just come sliding out easy-peasy, but that was far from what actually happened.
Meditation
I’m also a big believer in meditation (which I got into postpartum) and really wish I had started this practice sooner. Being more in tune with your body & mind and being able to calm yourself with your breath can be really powerful tools during pregnancy. I recommend trying out the app Head Space. They even have a whole meditation course dedicated to pregnancy, labor & delivery! If you want to try it out you can use THIS LINK to get a free 30 free day trial (I don’t get anything for you using this link either, I just love the app!)
This blog is also just the tip of the iceberg! There are so many more things we can do to help prepare for labor, delivery and even postpartum. If this is something you are interested in I highly recommend working with a pelvic floor PT who has experience in birth prep. This will allow you get an assessment and personalized plan on specific areas for you to work on! Your plan can even be tailored to you based on your birth plan and preferences (i.e. unmedicated vs medicated, home birth vs hospital etc).
At Functional Phyzio, this is one of the areas we specialize in and absolutely love working with moms during pregnancy! Ready to get your personalized plan for labor & delivery? Contact us to get started!
