Labour Stations
Two of the best ways that I’ve found for families to labour at home for longer is having that early labour checklist which usually buys us at least 6 hours, and also creating labour stations at home.
The vision is this: you and your partner have gone through the labor position visuals and chosen the 6, 8, 10 or so positions that look like they’d be best, most comfortable and most do-able at home. Then, in early labour, you’d ‘set-up’ the different stations so that when contractions begin to be 5, 6, 7 minutes apart, the birther can get into these positions that we know will a. encourage labour to progress, and b. help ease the sensations of discomfort or pain that might start to come up.
I ask families to actually write down what the stations are in a list format, and you can see the template and example in pdf format down below, so the partner can go around and make sure the stations are ready for when things get real. Partners then also have lots of involvement in the labouring process and have a clear direction of what to do next, and also where to do it.
Like I mentioned in the labour positions video, it’s best to spend around 20-30 minutes in each position so you’d go down your list, just like with the early labour to-dos, and do each of the positions before heading to the hospital. Of course I’ll be there, either in-person or via phone if you’re coping well, to help decide exactly when to go to the hospital but an hour labouring at home is worth three in the hospital so I highly highly hiiiighly encourage families to take the time to go through their labour stations so that labour is well-established by the time the decision to head to the hospital is made.
This funsheet is also mandatory homework that I’ll be checking in on so be sure to take time to look at the example below, do some urban planning, and fill it out with your partner or share it with them if you’re doing it alone, and then we’ll also go over it together.
Two of the best ways that I’ve found for families to labour at home for longer is having that early labour checklist which usually buys us at least 6 hours, and also creating labour stations at home.
The vision is this: you and your partner have gone through the labor position visuals and chosen the 6, 8, 10 or so positions that look like they’d be best, most comfortable and most do-able at home. Then, in early labour, you’d ‘set-up’ the different stations so that when contractions begin to be 5, 6, 7 minutes apart, the birther can get into these positions that we know will a. encourage labour to progress, and b. help ease the sensations of discomfort or pain that might start to come up.
I ask families to actually write down what the stations are in a list format, and you can see the template and example in pdf format down below, so the partner can go around and make sure the stations are ready for when things get real. Partners then also have lots of involvement in the labouring process and have a clear direction of what to do next, and also where to do it.
Like I mentioned in the labour positions video, it’s best to spend around 20-30 minutes in each position so you’d go down your list, just like with the early labour to-dos, and do each of the positions before heading to the hospital. Of course I’ll be there, either in-person or via phone if you’re coping well, to help decide exactly when to go to the hospital but an hour labouring at home is worth three in the hospital so I highly highly hiiiighly encourage families to take the time to go through their labour stations so that labour is well-established by the time the decision to head to the hospital is made.
This funsheet is also mandatory homework that I’ll be checking in on so be sure to take time to look at the example below, do some urban planning, and fill it out with your partner or share it with them if you’re doing it alone, and then we’ll also go over it together.