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Maternal Positioning
Maternal Positioning is a phrase for Pelvis
talking about posture and positions
women use in pregnancy and in labor for
comfort or labor ease. Maternal positioning uses the 2nd Principle of Spinning Babies: Gravity.

Maternal positioning is thought to influence the fetal position during pregnancy and birth.
There is some evidence both for and against this claim in the literature.

Le Boursier du Coudray, Abrege (1773) counseled that women sleep on one side so that
the opening of her womb, a bit off kilter, would be pulled by gravity into alignment with the
vagina. -The Kings Midwife; A history and Mystery of Madame du Coudray by Nina Rattner
Gelbart

Fetal Positioning is a phrase to talk about the babys position in the womb.

Babies change position in pregnancy and during the birth process. True! Thats natures design!
But, I do not believe fetal position changes are random. I think the research lacks attention to
several factors. I believe there are multiple factors that come together to affect the fetal
position changes.
The most important reason, I believe is what I simply call Balance.

Maternal positions support the balance you have regained with daily walking, stretches and
with professional body work. See samples for in Rest Smart.

If a womans womb is relatively balanced, then getting into gravity-friendly positions during
pregnancy can help a breech baby to flip head down or a posterior baby to scoot over to the
mothers left side and face her right hip.

Contractions of labor may help a posterior rotate to an anterior position with time. Time
necessary for rotation may be shortened when a woman uses gravity-friendly maternal
positions. Gravity-friendly positions are more likely to reposition baby if the womb is in
balance. You see how they are connected?

Some helpful maternal positions in Flashlight Game

pregnancy are:

Sitting with your hips higher than your knees

Sitting with your back straight and your rib cage lifted off your middle
Sitting on a firm exercise ball that allows your hips to be level with your knees or higher
than your knees
Laying with your navel aiming towards the bed, floor or couch/ sofa, if not directly on your
belly, then so that eventually an imagined light-beam coming from your navel would
eventually find the floor
Brief Forward-Leaning Inversions, once a day
Squatting or supported squatting with your back flat against the wall and your knees bent
(work gradually up to where you can squat with your feet flat on the floor for 2-5
minutes)
Holding your shoulders back, yet relaxed, while you walk briskly

Some helpful maternal positions in labor are: Standing upright position

during contractions, resting
All the same that are listed above, plus between contractions and
Standing and leaning forward with your knees soft reserving energy 6 hours
(slightly bent) before baby is born (Photo
Standing and leaning back (straightening, even arching by Melissa Booth)
 your back slightly) Melissa stands and leans forward
during contractions(Photo by
Standing and flattening your lower back against the
Melissa Booth)
wall while lifting your lower abdomen during the entire
contraction (See Belly Lift)
Kneeling
Kneeling and leaning forward on a bed or chair or exercise ball (hands and knees)
Kneeling and lifting your arms to grip a shawl or rope or bar above you
Kneeling and resting your elbows on the mattress or floor in front of you
Kneeling and resting your shoulders on the floor or mattress in front of you
In the deep birth tub, kneeling in a way that stretches your knees far away from your hips,
so that your thighs are at a diagonal and your knees are further from your belly than your
hips. This opens your pubic bone away from your spine and lets a posterior baby drop into
the pelvis (engage). Do this only in active labor after youve tried to help baby rotate to
the Left occiput transverse and that hasnt been able to happen for whatever reason.
Sitting on a birth stool
Lifting your arms to grip a shawl (Rebozo) and standing with your knees soft (slightly
bent)

Adding your instinctive movements to these and other maternal positions is an excellent way
to tune in to what your body needs to do to respond to your labor. Read more on Rest Smart
positions here.

From Christine Kent, RN ..How our spine is is primary, but how the abdominal wall is is equally
primary. Were a whole tension-compression system. The whole thing works in harmony.
There are really no parts in this system; it is a whole.

The L shaped abdominal wall wrapping underneath the body and holding the organs up above
is a major part of the female pelvic organ support system.

So yes, our work is all about what Im calling the natural shape of the female spine. And we
come to that through posture. Exercise is fabulous, but its how we hold our body, as much as
we can, through the course of the day.It becomes unconscious, pulling into this shape that
weve trained ourselves to be in. It becomes effortless, and ultimately supportive of our
abdominal and pelvic organs.
Katy Bowman Says on her Facebook called Aligned and Well: Ive said this before, but it cant
be said too many times: Posture does not equal alignment. Posture is how something looks.
Alignment is how something works. Good posture is cultural and is typically horrible
alignment.

Katy has got a lot to say, and you may learn a lot from visiting www.AlignedandWell.com.

What positions to avoid resting in

There are times in pregnancy and labor when it is perfectly OK to lie on your back. During an
exam, rolling over, doing exercises and getting body work, for example. But when you are
resting, its better not to be on your back for the purposes of fetal positioning. You may feel
comfortable on your back in the first half of pregnancy. Towards the end of pregnancy your
blood circulation will be better if you lay on your side than on your back. You can lay on your
left or right as comfort directs you. Fetal positioning may be a concern of yours, however. For
instance, you had a posterior labor previously or a cesarean for a long or stalling labor. Then,
your resting position may matter as early as the end of the first trimester!

For some women, good maternal positioning includes not sitting and leaning back against the
birthing tub. Lay on your side in the birthing tub, but dont semi-sit if you have any history of a
long or posterior labor, shoulder dystocia or are experiencing a long second stage (pushing).
Most of the time the baby will come out fine anyway, but its best to avoid this position for any
longer than 15 minutes and avoid being spine-down for birthing your first baby (first vaginal
birth).

You can also lie on your right side. The directions to lie on your left side are not meant to be a
prohibition against laying on your right side. You can favor your left, if your care providers
suggest you lay on your left. But once in a while you need to roll over just to give your left
shoulder some circulation! Somewhere, there is a woman who must lay in one particular
position and will have to ignore this advice in preference to her caregivers advice. I
acknowledge that and hope you do, too.

Conclusion
 Maternal position alone is not usually enough to ensure a good fetal position by the time
labor begins.
Balance in the uterus and pelvis precedes the success of using maternal positioning for
changing fetal position.
Maternal positioning is Spinning Babies Principle 2: Gravity.

Gravity-friendly positions are rarely enough. Add movement to increase flexibility and reduce
pain. Before either, add balance to help both Gravity and Movement ease birth.

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