Do you know how hard it is to squat with a huge preggo belly?
Blake and I have been reading up on the Bradley Method of natural childbirth. It basically sums up to:
- Husband is the coach during labor
- Use specific breathing methods depending on the stage of labor (not the hee-haw of Lamaze which causes hyperventilating)
- Use concentrated relaxation to ease pain, like intentionally relaxing the abdomen and uterus instead of tensing up (using a lot of “mind over matter”)
- Use specific body positions to ease pain, speed up delivery, and avoid interventions
The squatting position is recommended most by the Bradley Method because:
- Shortens the second stage of labor (pushing phase)
- Decreases the need for forcep deliveries
- Reduces the need for episiotomy
- Shortens the depth of your birth canal
- Works with gravity
- Increases pelvic diameter by 10+%
Throughout my pregnancy I’ve been exercising or getting at least some activity every day, including weight lifting and strength training. I’ve been doing squats like so in prep for labor:
However, it occurred to me that you can’t actually have a baby from that position. Apparently, I should be doing these kind of squats:
Do you have any idea how much those kind of squats hurt?! 🙂 So I guess I need to work on that…