Side-Lying Release
It’s no secret that I absolutely love The Miles Circuit to help baby get into a great position, to help encourage labour to begin and also of course to help labour continue to progress if it slows or stalls.
Although the Miles Circuit feels like a doula trick, I encourage every one of my clients to use it regardless if baby’s already in a ‘good’ position and even if we’re not hardcore trying to induce labour; it’s a great tool to support a body that’s carrying a baby as pregnancy nears its ends.
My second favourite doula trick, without a doubt, is the sidelying release. Take a moment and watch the first link below to see what the side-lying release is. Once you’ve got an idea of what it is, come back to this video and I’ll explain why I love it and when I use it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKSz_wnTVTk
Okay, so now that you have an idea of what it is, you can see that it does require the presence of another person and a flat surface so those two things might make it a little bit tricky to do but it can totally be done on a bed or the sofa, and surely we can wrangle someone to help you out with that downward pressure of their hand on your hip.
The side-lying release works directly on the pelvic floor muscles. It encourages / forces them to relax which allows baby to have a little bit more room. This helps baby either reposition themselves in their in a posterior, brow or asynclitic positions and it can also help them get deeper into the pelvis; and why are both of these things great? Just like the Miles Circuit, we want baby in a really good position so labour can begin, and when it does begin, it can progress nicely and reduce pain... And who doesn’t want that?
So this is something I recommend all families to do twice or three times a week starting at 37 weeks, and then also when labour begins. That means that if the birther’s water breaks or contractions begin or even when induction begins; sometimes I’m there and sometimes I’m not, so I highly suggest that whoever you’ve recruited to help watch the videos below. Each show the same side-lying release but I’m hoping seeing it from different angles and done by different people in different places will help the person really feel like they’ve got a good handle on it.
This is also something I will do with a birther during labour so if I ask you lie down for a total of six contractions, it’s not because I’m being cruel because it will probably seem like it at the time, but because this is really a great way to tool to help baby do what they gotta do to move labour along.
As always, take a peek at the links below and let me know if you have any questions!
It’s no secret that I absolutely love The Miles Circuit to help baby get into a great position, to help encourage labour to begin and also of course to help labour continue to progress if it slows or stalls.
Although the Miles Circuit feels like a doula trick, I encourage every one of my clients to use it regardless if baby’s already in a ‘good’ position and even if we’re not hardcore trying to induce labour; it’s a great tool to support a body that’s carrying a baby as pregnancy nears its ends.
My second favourite doula trick, without a doubt, is the sidelying release. Take a moment and watch the first link below to see what the side-lying release is. Once you’ve got an idea of what it is, come back to this video and I’ll explain why I love it and when I use it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKSz_wnTVTk
Okay, so now that you have an idea of what it is, you can see that it does require the presence of another person and a flat surface so those two things might make it a little bit tricky to do but it can totally be done on a bed or the sofa, and surely we can wrangle someone to help you out with that downward pressure of their hand on your hip.
The side-lying release works directly on the pelvic floor muscles. It encourages / forces them to relax which allows baby to have a little bit more room. This helps baby either reposition themselves in their in a posterior, brow or asynclitic positions and it can also help them get deeper into the pelvis; and why are both of these things great? Just like the Miles Circuit, we want baby in a really good position so labour can begin, and when it does begin, it can progress nicely and reduce pain... And who doesn’t want that?
So this is something I recommend all families to do twice or three times a week starting at 37 weeks, and then also when labour begins. That means that if the birther’s water breaks or contractions begin or even when induction begins; sometimes I’m there and sometimes I’m not, so I highly suggest that whoever you’ve recruited to help watch the videos below. Each show the same side-lying release but I’m hoping seeing it from different angles and done by different people in different places will help the person really feel like they’ve got a good handle on it.
This is also something I will do with a birther during labour so if I ask you lie down for a total of six contractions, it’s not because I’m being cruel because it will probably seem like it at the time, but because this is really a great way to tool to help baby do what they gotta do to move labour along.
As always, take a peek at the links below and let me know if you have any questions!