Movement, Breath and Postures for Women in Labor

Most women will tell you that labor was the most challenging, as well as the most rewarding, event of their lives. There is a reason we call it laboring. It is not easy. It is not fun. But as the old saying goes: "Nothing of importance ever came easy." The same rules apply here. The surprising parts of the laboring process are not just the pain and discomfort (most of us are warned about that beforehand) but what happens to our outer shell, how we appear to the world.

Labor, along with the challenge and reward, is the most primal, bare bones event of a woman's life. It brings back our roots. Sounds that we have never uttered suddenly come out of us; grunting, moaning, panting.…  Our bodies are drawn into the rhythmic sounds and want to move in sync—undulating, rounding, arching—moving in ways that we aren't controlling. Our bodies instinctually KNOW what to do. We have been doing this since the beginning of time. All we need to concentrate on is to control our fear, let go, and let IT happen.

These are the sounds and movements of labor. This is how we call and move our babies from one world into our own. Ritual, rhythm, and relaxation. In this next series of posts I will try to empower you with information that will help you to prepare for this awesome event.

You can learn labor techniques such as Focused Attention, Visualization and Rhythmic Breathing, and Moaning Patterns to enhance your knowledge and experience in labor. All of these can be used separately or in combination. All of these techniques are to help the laboring mom find some order, some consistency in the chaos of labor.