Labour Positions and Tools to Ask For

Labour positions get a lot of internet coverage that assumes a level of mobility an epidural, monitoring, or your own body might not allow for. These are my preparation notes - my own delivery ended as an emergency C-section (that story gets its own post), so take this as what I'd readied, not a report card.

The position I'd prepared around

Sitting upright - in a chair, on a couch, or propped up in the hospital bed - was the one that made sense for me and the one I'd planned to lean on.

Tools worth asking for

A peanut ball (a peanut-shaped exercise ball placed between the knees, often used to help open the pelvis while lying on your side) and a regular birth ball might already be available at the hospital, even if nobody offers them upfront - ask. The birth ball is also useful earlier, in the lead-up to labour, for opening the hips and pelvis and for pelvic exercises generally.