Getting Upright in Labor: InJoy and Lamaze Push Vertical Pushing
Posted by doulamama1 on July 17, 2009
I am doing a series on the Lamaze Six Care Practices that Support Normal Birth. Here are Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3. In Part 4 I will be discussing the 5th Care Practice, which is Spontaneous Pushing in Upright or Gravity-Neutral Positions. In the mean time, below is a link to a very informative article and video on vertical pushing.
Great article and video on vertical pushing HERE.
Most women in hospitals do end up pushing on their backs. The Army hospital in Seoul, always wants the mom on her back and does not encourage any other position, in my experience. I have seen nurses lean the back of the bed back so that mom is closer to flat on her back saying ‘let’s help baby out.’ The hospital here does have a squat bar but last time my client wanted it the nurse said she had to go find it and never did. After the birth she told my client that ‘oops, it was in the bathroom the whole time.’ You may have to insist on not pushing on your back. You may have to demand that the nurse find the bar but it should be your voice that the staff hears. A doula can help you by asking and reminding but ultimately the mom needs to be heard when she is in an ‘on your back’ environment.
This entry was posted on July 17, 2009 at 12:01 pm and is filed under Birth. Tagged: 121 Army Hospital, benefits of upright pushing, lamaze, squat bar, supine pushing, vertical pushing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Laura Merwin said
I can’t get the link to UnNeccesarean to work. But I also wanted to suggest that if your hospital can’t find or doesn’t offer a squat bar, you can sit the back of the bed straight up and Mama can face backward, leaning her weight on her upper arms- laid across the top of the back of the mattress- while kneeling on the bed.
I tried so many different positions when delivering Maggie- Upright was by FAR the most comfortable, and I delivered her in a sort of lunge position. With Sydney ans Sam, I did much of my laboring upright, leaning on the bed during contractions. Laying down was extremely painful.
GREAT article- I am so glad to hear that Lamaze practice supports upright pushing.