Physical Preparation for Birth & Postpartum
If you haven’t checked out my previous posts about preparing for birth spiritually/emotionally and nutritionally, please check them out!
I would like to continue to chat about some things we can do to help prepare for birth and postpartum in the physical sense.
I like to separate this into categories:
activity
sleep & relaxation
increasing oxytocin
and pelvic floor health
Why is this stuff important?
Well, though I do place a ton of importance on the emotional and spiritual aspects of childbirth and postpartum, it is inherently a very physical time of our lives, too!
By preparing physically in these ways, we are setting the stage not only for a more easeful pregnancy, birth, and postpartum, but for having fewer physical issues and ailments throughout the rest of our lives!
Let’s start with a simple one:
Activity
This looks different for different women. For some women, retaining a pretty vigorous exercise routine during pregnancy feels good and is important to them. For others, gentle stretching or yoga is more aligned and appropriate.
I will say, though, that if you are one of those who really loves to remain super active and keep up with normal high intensity exercising during pregnancy, I have seen this affect birth in a different way.
Please make sure to increase your caloric and protein intake according to your activity level, and also please make sure to check out the section on pelvic floor health so your birthing passageway remains balanced and responsive enough to release your baby in a straightforward way when it’s time.
Please make sure to listen to your body and your baby and not push yourself too hard physically during pregnancy. I can tell you also from personal experience that it does NOT feel good to workout too hard while pregnant and then feel physically ill afterward because of it.
There are so many videos online to help guide you if you’re interested in yoga and gentle stretching, too.
Here is one I’ve used during pregnancy:
In general, listen to your body and your baby and do what feels best for you! Don’t put too much pressure on yourself to be active in a certain way, but try to be open and adaptable to what your body needs in the moment.
As long as you’re maintaining some sort of physical activity throughout pregnancy, you should notice benefits in your general well-being and in your birth experience.
Sleep & Relaxation
How much sleep are you getting?
How do you relax?
What are some things you do for yourself to help yourself feel calm and grounded?
In terms of sleep, I always love to recommend something that Sarah Buckley talks about in her book Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering.
Try to spend about 12 hours in bed each night.
This will also serve you as a new mother!
Now, I understand that some people don’t get why this could be helpful. And I’m not saying you have to SLEEP 12 hours per night. But making time for your rest and relaxation while you’re pregnant will help your baby to grow well and also help your body adapt to being pregnant and make the physical transition easier.
You can lay down and meditate, or read, or journal, or do whatever helps you relax before bed… or spend the extra time on the other end of your time in bed and just relax in the morning sipping tea or water and slowly starting your day from a relaxed and grounded place… instead of rushing to fall asleep or rushing to get out of bed and get going in the morning.
And who knows, maybe you’ll find that you actually do sleep 12 hours or so per night if you give yourself the time and space to do so. :)
Our modern world is so busy and filled to the brim with obligations and activities that a lot of women (and their partners, to be honest) scoff at this idea, thinking they couldn’t possibly spend 12 hours in bed each night.
But, I think this stage of life is so fleeting and also so tiring when we try to keep up with our normal schedules and routines throughout pregnancy and new motherhood. It can lead to serious burnout! I’ve seen it!
I also love to suggest visualizations for pregnant women and new mamas.
There are, again, so many videos online of exactly how to do this.. once you dive into it you can search around and find some visualizations and meditations that really resonate with YOU and help you feel super grounded, in your body, and relaxed.
You can start by trying some simple ones right now.
Close your eyes, take two slow and calming breaths, and then visualize in your mind (and feel/sense in your body, if you can):
Freshly cut grass
Pine trees in sunlight
Freshly fallen snow beneath your feet
The finest chocolate melting in your mouth
The feel of velvet fabric
Mud squishing between your toes
You can really take visualization as far as you want, sensing it with all of your senses besides external sight. Dropping into your body and out of the busy head space we so often have to cultivate to survive in our modern world.
And I promise, your baby will feel these sensations too, in the form of your hormonal flow in your body shifting to a more relaxed and delighted state of being.
Here is a recording of another visualization/guided meditation I made, that I call The Special Place Meditation. You can play this however often you like to help cement these visions and feelings/sensations into your psyche and your body, and then it will be easier to return to this special place if you want or need to during your birthing time.
Increasing Oxytocin
Honestly I feel that even if you just did the two above categories, your oxytocin would increase a lot during pregnancy and postpartum!
But, before you give birth, it’s cool to try as many things as possible to increase your baseline level of oxytocin so you have access to that much more of this helpful feel good hormone during your birth and postpartum time!
How can we increase oxytocin? Think of what makes you feel REALLY good.
That can be very unique to you, but here is a list to ponder as well:
treating yourself
hugging
eating delicious foods in a relaxed setting with others
giving/receiving gifts
meditating while focusing on others (aka metta ie “I pray for all people to be happy and healthy” etc.)
warm baths
deep full breaths
petting dogs or cats
spreading love
massage/touch, either giving OR receiving
self pleasure, orgasm, sex, etc..
Raising your baseline level of oxytocin during your pregnancy (or tbh during regular non-pregnant life too), can help in so many ways.
Obviously it makes you feel good in the present moment, but it will also help oxytocin flow more readily during your birthing time, which can help the duration of your labor, the intensity of the sensations, the recovery afterward, and the transition into and coping with new motherhood.
It’s also helpful to have these regular oxytocin-building practices established once you transition into new motherhood, because they will help immensely in your sense of balance and in your ability to cope with the intensity of this transition with grace and ease.
In addition to increasing the amount of feel good experiences you have, I’d also suggest taking time to REMOVE stressful experiences and people from your life at this time.
Sit and think about who and what causes you stress on a daily or weekly basis.. Your boss? Some acquaintance in your life who actually brings more drama than they bring happiness? Some task you have to do every day that you actually really loathe?
I find that many people don’t actually stop to think about these things.. either because they don’t inherently feel they deserve to be happy and live a life of ease, OR they are not strong in their sense of self quite yet and their boundaries for what they will tolerate in their life are very fuzzy still!
Removing stress from your life goes hand in hand with raising your oxytocin AND goes hand in hand with the process of growth and development into the people we want to be someday.
Keep what works, leave the rest for someone else!
What better time to do this than during your pregnancy? :)
Pelvic Floor Health
Last but not least, pelvic floor health :)
I find that a lot of women aren’t really familiar with their own womb space and pelvic floor.
As women, we experience so much trauma related to this space within ourselves, that we often dissociate from it in a sense, not really “existing” energetically within the space of our womb, pelvic floor, and yoni.
Even just culturally, there is a lot of programming that says we need to step away from the feminine energy, to perform at a certain level, to not be as connected to the divine expansiveness of unconditional love. This pours from the heart, but also from the first and second chakra spaces!
If you’re thinking I am sounding like a crazy person, that is totally ok too :) We are not all at the same place in terms of our belief systems and our personal journeys.
But, returning to think about the physical…
Our pelvic floors play a huge role in pregnancy and birth.
The pelvic floor is a system of muscles within our pelvis that creates a flexible hammock or sling for our internal organs.
This system of muscles is connected to the bones of our pelvis, which are also connected to muscles, tendons, and ligaments that go down to our legs or up towards our backs.
This image shows the pelvic floor muscles that are within the pelvis. This perspective is looking up from below, so like if a woman were lying on her stomach and you could see inside her pelvis from below. The openings or “holes” in the muscles that you can see in the center are the sphincter muscles (circular muscles) that allow for the urethra (bottom smallest hole, where your urine comes out), the vaginal opening (larger center hole where a baby would come out), and the rectum (top hole, where your poop comes out).
This image shows all of the ways the pelvic muscles connect to other parts of our body (down to the legs and up to the back).
I’m not an expert on the pelvic floor, but I do know that most women have imbalances in this area physically. This usually looks like one side of the pelvic muscles being way more tight and restricted than the other side.
Lots of people recommend kegels in pregnancy or just for women in general but this is NOT really actually advisable, in my opinion.
Kegels only work one set of muscles in the pelvis, and they SHORTEN it.. meaning they make it less flexible.. without working all of the muscles in the pelvis dynamically and without teaching women how to release the tightness in the muscles there.
I always recommend women see a pelvic floor physical therapist during their pregnancy and at some point in their postpartum. A pelvic floor PT can help you determine which areas are holding too much tension AND how to release that tension for more balanced body (and hopefully a more straightforward birth experience).
If you don’t have a pelvic floor PT near you, you can explore your own pelvic floor by inserting your own fingers into your yoni and feeling along the bottom half as you’re laying on your back. This can sometimes be hard to do, so some women prefer just using their thumb inside instead of trying to use other fingers.
There is also a helpful tool you can use called a Therawand if you want help to reach deeper into your pelvic floor to release tension spots. (I don’t get anything for mentioning this brand, but I have used it myself successfully).
Again, lots of tutorial or informational videos online on how to do pelvic floor work on yourself, if you’re interested!
It can really help to learn about this place within ourselves that is often so mysterious to so many women :) Especially before you go into your birthing time when all of these muscles will have to work and stretch and release together in order to help your baby come through.
Besides pelvic floor massage or release, what can we do to ensure our pelvises (actually, the plural form of pelvis is pelvi!), are in good shape for pregnancy and birth and postpartum?
Balanced sitting.
How do we balance our pelvis when we’re seated?
Well, imagine your pelvis as a tripod, with your two sits bones being the back two legs and your bottom of your pubic bone being the front leg.
Shifting your pelvis so that when you’re sitting, these three points of contact are resting on the chair or couch or seat you’re on will help stretch your ligaments in the right ways and help keep your pelvic floor balanced too.
It’s great to keep this in mind in your postpartum too! Breastfeeding your baby will probably put some strain on your body and keeping proper body mechanics in mind while you’re sitting holding your baby for hours at a time can help your body heal in a balanced way after birth!
You can also do activities like squatting with flat feet and a straight back to help your pelvic alignment, and walking up and down stairs with even pressure on each leg as you go up and down.
If you’re looking for more resources on proper body mechanics, I really love Katy Bowman. Check her out!
Phew!
That is a lot of info for one post, and it’s not even really that in-depth. BUT, hopefully it gives you some starting points for your further research, depending on what sparks your interest and feels aligned! :)
I’d love to know, too, what you have felt helped you prepare physically during your pregnancies!
And if you’re in Northern Arizona and looking for someone to walk with you on your path to conception, pregnancy, birth, or postpartum, please reach out. I’d love to learn more about you!
