Birth Partner Support
Environment
Your birth partner can prepare, maintain and protect the birthing environment for you.
Making sure you have a calm, safe, private place to labour will ensure your hormones work effectively.
You can use music, birth balls, fairy lights, LED candles, affirmation cards and anything you like to make your space comfortable for you. You can do this at home and/or at hospital.
Make sure you discuss beforehand what you would like in your birthing space and that your partner knows how to set it up – so you don't have to worry about it at all in labour.
Protecting the space – a quiet, calm environment is so important for birth. No loud chatter, people walking in and out unnecessarily. You can use a sign on the door to ask for quiet and your birth partner can give gentle reminders too.
2. Hydration
Muscles are working hard during labour, so hydration is important. Offer mum sips of water between surges. Tea or low-sugar hydration drinks can also be great.
It is also important to keep the bladder empty, so with all this drinking be sure to remind mum to empty her bladder often too – hourly or 2 hourly.
Food/snacks when mum feels like it is also helpful to keep her energy up. Light, nourishing snacks are great. (Always check with your healthcare provider).
3. Touch
Oxytocin is the hormone that drives labour – it is the hormone of LOVE. We release it when we feel safe and loved. So lots of kisses, cuddles, slow-dancing, lovingwords can help get the oxytocin flowing.
Light touch massage can provide a wonderful distraction during surges and help release endorphins – which are the body's natural pain relief. It feels AMAZING.
Accupressure points can provide wonderful pain relief, help with labour progress, positioning and comfort.
While most mums love these types of touch, some mums don't like being touched at all during labour and this is perfectly ok. You won't know what you like until the day.
4. Advocate
During labour you want to allow the part of your brain that does all your rational thinking, answering questions etc. to be as quiet as possible. This allows your birthing instincts to take over. Just like all other mammals, we have the instincts to birth our babies.
So during labour you don't want to spend a lot of time thinking about what you do or do not want and having conversations with doctors and midwives about these things.
You want to discuss with your birth partner beforehand what you would and wouldn’t like. Write down a list of birth preferences, if you like.
This way, your birth partner can have the conversations with the doctors and midwives, knowing they are supporting your wishes. If there is no medical reason you or your baby are in danger, then your preferences should be honoured.
You can still be involved in making decisions throughout your labour – you will often still be able to hear the conversation if you want to, or your partner can keep you updated and the 2 of you can discuss what you would like to do or ask together.
Be sure to know your rights beforehand too. You are in charge of your body and your baby.
5. Comfort
Your birth partner can make sure you have everything you need to be comfortable in labour.
Do you need a pillow behind your back? Birth ball moved from the lounge to the bathroom? A yoga mat to kneel on? Suggestions for position changes. Just their presence and support is a huge comfort during labour.
6. Words
A birth partner's words can make an incredible difference during labour. A midwife or doctor can provide encouragement and reassurance too, but there is something extra special when it comes from a person they love and trust.
During moments when the intensity of labour has you doubting your ability to do this, your birth partner's words can either provide the encouragement you need to trust your body or can feed the fear and doubt.
If unprepared, birth partners can accidentally contribute to the fear and pain through expressing their own fears and doubts around labour. If prepared and informed birth partners words can very much help a mum have a more comfortable labour, where she is regularly reminded to trust her body, to trust her baby, to use her relaxation tools, breathing and instincts.
Learn all of these tools and so much more in The Positive Birth Program™.
Click below to see available options or send an enquiry.
