# squatting to prepare for birth?



## swissmiss2584 (Dec 29, 2007)

I have read about squatting to prepare for birth. They say squatting helps the baby move down, open up the pelvis and help stretch the perineum. When is it good to start this? I hear that you shouldn't start squatting if you think the baby is posterior. I'm not sure if she is.


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## mommyfied (Jun 25, 2007)

I have heard if baby is posterior, squatting might cause it to engage into your pelvis and then it won't be able to rotate into a more optimal position.

Now one thing I can say for sure is that squatting during labor made a HUGE difference for me. My doula did about 5 min of squatting with me and I started dilating FAST! She had me do lunges on each side, then we held hands and squatted across from one another. Looking back, I literally felt my cervix open up. I suddenly got tired, and wanted to lie down. She'd done the squatting with me around 8, I made a few phone calls and had to start breathing through contractions. I was side lying in bed at 8:30. By 9:00 transition began. I was pushing at 10. I have no idea what dilation I was except that I was 1 cm at 6 and 10 cm at 9:45.

I'm guessing there are advantages to squatting if you are trying to get labor to start.


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## accountclosed3 (Jun 13, 2006)

i've been doing it all along, with a zillion other moves, because it feels so great. i practice and teach yoga though, and i do this squatting motion nearly every practice anyway, because it is SO healthy for one's body (hips, knees, ankles, lower back, pelvic floor, etc etc etc). it's just a great pose.

i have no idea about the posterior thing. all of my clients who have had babies before me have had well-positioned babies and they have done this motion (among others) throughout pregnancy. i think it benefitted everyone greatly--or at least that is what i have observed and what yoga teaches traditionally about this posture.


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## soso-lynn (Dec 11, 2007)

I think that squatting throughout pregnancy is the most important exercise. As Zoebird said, it is great for all the useful muscles for childbirth and having your legs feel stronger can be of tremendous help for many birthing positions.

As for the posterior thing, it would make sense to avoid any kind of positions that would encourage the baby to descend further if you want to encourage rotating, but that would only apply to very late in pregnancy. If you are not sure about your baby's positioning, try spinningbabies.com.


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## 1babysmom (May 22, 2006)

Yep. I start deep squats around 32-34 weeks each time when I know baby is positioned well...it just feels really good! Especially in the shower. My babies have both carried really low and are EXTREMELY low by the time their born and I have no doubts that squatting contributes.


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## Meems (Jan 8, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *zoebird* 
i've been doing it all along, with a zillion other moves, because it feels so great. i practice and teach yoga though, and i do this squatting motion nearly every practice anyway, because it is SO healthy for one's body (hips, knees, ankles, lower back, pelvic floor, etc etc etc). it's just a great pose.


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## pixiepunk (Mar 11, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *zoebird* 
i've been doing it all along, with a zillion other moves, because it feels so great. i practice and teach yoga though, and i do this squatting motion nearly every practice anyway, because it is SO healthy for one's body (hips, knees, ankles, lower back, pelvic floor, etc etc etc). it's just a great pose.

i have no idea about the posterior thing. all of my clients who have had babies before me have had well-positioned babies and they have done this motion (among others) throughout pregnancy. i think it benefitted everyone greatly--or at least that is what i have observed and what yoga teaches traditionally about this posture.









ITA - it is a wonderful pose, pregnant or not, and definitely great to do during pregnancy.

I do advise my pregnant students, though, not to squat after about 34 weeks if their baby is breech or posterior, because that is usually the beginning of the time when it's possible for baby to engage in the pelvis, and you don't want baby to engage in a less than optimal position if you can help it. but in addition to a yoga practice, regular chiropractic care (especially with someone who knows the Webster technique) can help a lot to encourage a proper presentation


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## lifeguard (May 12, 2008)

I've been continuing squatting with weight since the beginning. But I've always added daily squatting at home trying to get deeper & hold it for longer. I'm not so flexible so this is a goal for me to improve my squatting abilities.


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## Vancouver Mommy (Aug 15, 2007)

During my last labour I squatted with each contraction, and walked in between. It was a full, deep squat with dp providing counter pressure on my hips. It was very effective and my labour was awesome - and quick.


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## SiobhanAoife (Jun 10, 2008)

I actually asked about this at my natural childbirth prep class last night because I've read conflicting recommendations about squatting in pregnancy, and I got the same info that a previous poster mentioned: It's GREAT to squat throughout pregnancy, BUT, you want to be careful at 34-36 weeks. Squatting earlier in the pregnancy lets you practice and get more comfortable with it (which is why I started in the first trimester - I read all these things about squatting in labor and I thought YE GODS MY POOR KNEES! and realized that I'd need to do some prep work if I was going to be able to hold a deep squat for a minute or longer later on). And squatting after the baby descends is great for opening your pelvis and is super in labor. But sometime roughly around 36 weeks is when the baby is going to descend into your pelvis, and you don't want to encourage him/her to descend in a less-than-optimal position, so starting 34-ish weeks you'd want to make sure that the baby isn't in a posterior position before doing squats. Otherwise you might have to do that irksome head-down-butt-out pose a lot to ease the baby out so they can descend again!


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## swissmiss2584 (Dec 29, 2007)

does squatting help with dilation and effacing in late pregnancy and labor?


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## UnassistedMomma (Jan 24, 2006)

I do mine while working in the garden. It's a natural position for getting down and weeding, and I don't even notice I'm doing it because I'm distracted with the garden work.


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## Kidzaplenty (Jun 17, 2006)

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