We’re preggers with baby #3, and I have been preparing for another natural childbirth using the Bradley Method. (Well, a DIY form of the Bradley Method!) Practically for me, preparing for natural labor involves three main components:
- Following a very intentional pregnancy diet
- Practicing relaxation exercises with my birth coach (aka Papa Bear)
- And my personal favorite (ehem)… Daily pregnancy exercises!!!!!!!!!!!!
Pregnancy Exercises Can Make Labor Easier
The exercises I mention here are used with Bradley Method birth training, but I’m confident they will benefit any mama-to-be, regardless of her chosen birth method. These exercises are designed specifically to tone and condition the muscles used to give birth, and to help minimize pregnancy discomforts.
Regular practice of these will target and strengthen areas like the inner thighs, perineum, lower back, abdomen, and abductors. They will also help to relieve pressure from the uterus and bladder.
Free Printable Exercise Checklist
Because the Bradley Method is designed to be a 12-week course, their student workbook suggests starting with a certain number of daily exercise reps in the first week, and then progressively building those up over the course of pregnancy. I have incorporated all of those recommended numbers in our printable checklists.
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6 Daily Pregnancy Exercises
1. Tailor Sitting
Tailor Sitting is a posture named after the traditional way that tailors used to sit while working. It encourages the uterus to sit forward, increases circulation, and stretches the inner thighs. Practicing this posture frequently will help strengthen and lengthen the muscles, making the pushing position more comfortable in labor.
How to do it
Sit on the floor with legs crossed, but not overlapping. This is not supposed to be “Criss-Cross Applesauce.” You want to try to get your knees as close to the floor as possible, and to remember good posture.
Frequency
The Bradley Method suggests making Tailor Sitting an intentional way of pregnancy life, and to incorporate it “often” throughout the day.
2. Squatting
Squatting does an even better job than tailor sitting at preparing the leg muscles for the pushing position at birth. It stretches and makes the perineum more flexible, which will help when the baby’s head emerges.
Using squatting in labor also gets the body in natural alignment to put pressure on the uterus. This helps to prevent arching of the back (which interferes with pushing), shortens the birth canal, and increases the outlet of the pelvis by more than 10%.
How to do it
Stand with your feet about a foot apart, heels flat on the floor. Lean slightly forward (to keep uterus forward) and drop down into a squatting position. Then, push knees farther apart with your elbows.
To come up, start tail-first to help deflect the baby forward, then put your hands on your legs to support the lower back as you push up the rest of the way.
Note: Do not make the mistake of just doing regular exercise squats, like I did in the very beginning. You know the ones that I am talking about — the ones that burn your thighs! I won’t argue that they are beneficial in their own right, but they are working a completely different muscle group.
Frequency
Do this as often as possible throughout the day, squatting down to pick things up instead of bending over. Though there are no “required” amount of daily squats in the Bradley Method materials I’ve sourced, I like to do 10 every night before bed (in addition to making it part of my pregnancy lifestyle).
3. Pelvic Rocking
This exercise helps to tone and condition the lower back and abdominal muscles. It also relieves tension and pressure on the uterus, blood vessels, and bladder. Pelvic rocking increases circulation, and even improves digestion.
How to do it
Get on your hands and knees, making a box with your hands under your shoulders, and your knees under (or slightly behind) your hips.
Sag your belly and sigh, which will push your booty out. 😉 Then, level and tuck your booty under and tighten your stomach muscles.
Alternate these two positions slowly and rhythmically, with each sequence considered as one rep.
Frequency
When first starting out, 60 pelvic rocks per day are suggested, with 20 of those being right before bed. Eventually this builds up to 240 rocks per day, with 80 of those being right before bed. (Be sure to grab our free printable exercise checklist that increases the reps each week appropriately.)
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4. Butterflies / “Legs Apart” Exercise
Butterflies help to tone and condition the abductor muscles, and enable you to pull your legs back more comfortably in second stage labor. Regularly practicing this can also reduce unnecessary pain and leg shaking post-labor.
How to do it
Note – two people are needed for this exercise! Papa Bear was holding the camera, so he wasn’t able to do his part in the pictures. But pretend he is applying pressure to the outside of my legs as you compare the photos to the steps!
Sit on the floor against a wall, your back propped up with pillows. Bend your knees and place your feet flat on the floor, pulled back toward your bottom. Your coach should place his hands on the outside of your legs, applying slight pressure while you use your thigh muscles to push your legs apart. Make sure your coach does not overdo it. He should not be trying to keep your legs together, but just to ensure that it takes a little effort to spread them.
Frequency
Start at 3 butterflies per day, eventually building to 10 per day. (Our free exercise checklist increases the reps appropriately each week based on Bradley Method recommendations.)
5. Kegels / Flexing the PC Muscle
Dr. Arnold Kegel invented these PC exercises, and taught them to every woman he saw in his gynecological practice. The Pubococcygeal Muscle (or PC muscle) is wrapped around the vagina, urethra, and rectum, and is intended to hold your inner organs high. Its tone can affect the shape and condition of the vaginal barrel.
In labor, the baby is pushed out through the birth canal, which is surrounded by the PC Muscle. Being properly toned will help prevent pinched or torn tissues in the vaginal barrel while the baby passes through.
In everyday life, this exercise will help your PC Muscle to keep your inner organs up high and supported. It will give far more control over the bladder, preventing “drips” when you cough or sneeze. It will also make intercourse far more pleasurable. Just sayin’…
How to do it
To accurately understand how to do this exercise, you’ll first want to identify the muscle and sensation. The next time you are urinating, try to stop mid-flow, without putting your knees together. Congratulations, you just flexed your PC muscle.
I like to do Kegels in the relaxation pose, but you could do it from any position.
Beginner exercise:
Flex the PC muscle tightly. If you are pinching your buttox or feeling strain in the lower abdomen, you are using the wrong set of muscles. Concentrate on flexing deep inside the vagina and way up high. If you are properly doing it, you will feel the muscle tightening first by the rectum, and then moving forward toward the clitoris. Reps should take around a second each.
Intermediate exercise:
Once you have mastered basic Kegels, you can try a more advanced version of holding the deep flex for 10 seconds, and decreasing the reps.
Frequency
Start at 50 kegels per day, eventually building to 200 (or more) per day. For context, Dr. Kegel actually saw so much benefit to flexing the PC muscle that he recommended all of his patients do 300 a day, regardless of their age or whether or not they were pregnant. (Our free exercise checklist increases the reps appropriately each week based on Bradley Method recommendations.)
6. Physical Exercise / Walking
Each week gives a suggested amount of minutes for walking (or other physical exercise) to be incorporated each day. If you are used to being very active or exercising regularly, than continuing that method of activity is a great idea; simply modify the intensity as needed.
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Can’t wait to try it!
Very informative