6

It’s Yoga Birth Time!

This chapter is your go-to chapter during labor. When you start to recognize the signs of labor, you can come directly to this section and start to apply the tools to get you into the yogini groove. This chapter is set up as a checklist for you to be able to identify your stage of labor by assessing your physical and emotional signs and then applying the YBM for that stage. As you experience contractions, use the checklists below. If you feel you have reached a new phase, then move to the next list and use those specific tools.

Early Labor Stage

Remember as you begin to experience pain that this is only the beginning. What have you decided to use as your birth intentions? Now is the time to embrace them.

As you begin the flow and start your breathing, your intention becomes your focus. Stay connected to it is as each negative thought comes over you. Your intention is your foundation for the rest of the tools to work.

In early labor, your goal is to help your body to dilate and efface past three centimeters in order to move into active labor or what is considered good labor by your doctor.

What’s Happening?

Physical Signs

Emotional Signs

Yoga Birth Method for Early Labor

Concentration/Meditation

Breathing Technique

Ujjayi Breathing: Deep Ocean Breathing
and Silent Om Exhalation

How to: Inhale deeply through the nose and exhale through the nose. On the exhale, feel the breath push on the back of the throat, creating a natural “Om wave” sound.

Purpose: Ujjayi breathing encourages deep abdominal relaxation, which will enable you to start labor from a calm state and help your body relax. Ujjayi breathing gives you a very focused approach to breath awareness and begins your state of meditation. Ujjayi triggers the relaxation response in the body and helps you cope with the first phase of contractions.

Yoga Postures

Early Stage Flow

Child’s Pose

How it helps:

Comfort measures:

Figure%2023%20Childs%20Pose.tif

How to do this pose:

Cat Pose

How it helps:

Comfort measures:

Figure%2024%20Cat%20Pose.tif

How to do this pose:

Cow Pose

How it helps:

Comfort measures:

Figure%2025%20Cow%20Pose.tif

How to do this pose:

Downward Dog Pose

How it helps:

Comfort measures:

Figure%2026%20Downward%20Dog.tif

How to do this pose:

Squat Pose

How it helps:

Comfort measures:

Figure%2027%20Squat%20Pose.tif

How to do this pose:

Mountain Pose

How it helps:

Figure%2028%20Mountain%20Pose.tif

Comfort measures:

How to do this pose:

Warrior II Pose

How it helps:

Comfort measures:

Figure%2029%20Warrior%202%20Pose.tif

How to do this pose:

Triangle Pose

How it helps:

Figure%2030%20Triangle%20Pose.tif

Comfort measures:

How to do this pose:

Wide-Angle Forward Bend Pose

How it helps:

Comfort measures:

Figure%2031%20Wide%20Aangle%20Forward%20Bend.tif

How to do this pose:

Pigeon Pose

How it helps:

Comfort measures:

Figure%2032%20Pigeon%20Pose.tif

How to do this pose:

Crescent Lunge

How it helps:

Figure%2033%20Crescent%20Lunge.tif

Comfort measures:

How to do this pose:

Frog Pose

How it helps:

Comfort measures:

Figure%2034%20Frog%20Pose.tif

How to do this pose:

Butterfly Pose

How it helps:

Comfort measures:

Figure%2035%20Butterfly%20Pose.tif

How to do this pose:

Active Labor Stage

When your labor starts to feel harder and the contractions are stronger and closer together, you are probably in “good” labor, or active labor. You have to remember that active labor comes with the challenge of fatigue, as contractions are closer together and take a little longer to peak. You may not know where your cervix dilation is and might be curious to find out. You can make a choice here to go to the hospital or, if you have a midwife, she will most likely join you at this point. If you are hoping to manage most of your labor in your home, then you may be hesitant to go to the hospital. Remember: if you are over three centimeters, the nursing staff will admit you, and that might take away your ability to feel freedom in your birth choices.

Sometimes active labor can make you vulnerable to the pain, and just the offer of medication can be tempting. This is a huge consideration when deciding when to go to the hospital. You still have one more phase to get to before you go into pushing stage. You and your partner should have a conversation in the weeks before labor begins as to how long you feel comfortable staying home. Some couples choose to be at home as long as possible and manage to go just before the pushing feeling takes over. Some couples don’t want to risk being home that long and decide to use the 5-1-1 rule (contractions 5 minutes apart, lasting 1 minute for 1 hour). This rule does not imply that you would be over three centimeters; it is just a guideline for what might be the right time. If you are hoping to get through labor on your own terms, I often suggest a smaller window of 3-1-1. In most cases, this is reasonable. Keep in mind that you should also consider your emotional state. Sometimes just following your intuition and how you are feeling is your best signal for making a decision.

If you think you are in active labor, use the checklist below to help you identify with how you are feeling and what your next steps are in the YBM.

What’s Happening?

Physical Signs

Emotional Signs

Yoga Birth Method for Active Labor

Concentration/Meditation

Breathing Technique

Dirga breathing, also known as three-part breath or elevator breath with longer Om sound. Dirga is the goddess of power and strength. She encompasses female and male energy. Her essence brings women willpower and inner power.

How to: The breath is divided into three sections: the first position is the low belly (on top of or just below the belly button). The second position is the low chest (lower half of the rib cage). The third position is the low throat (just above the top of the sternum). The breath is continuous, inhaled and exhaled through the nose. The inhalation starts in the first position, the low belly; then moves to the second position, the low chest; then to the third position, the low throat. The exhalation starts in the low throat, moves to the low chest, and finishes in the low belly.

Purpose: The three-part breath keeps you focused on the breathing process itself. It keeps the rhythm of breath equal and distracts you from the increase of intensity. Especially as you exhale over the peak of the contraction, you can visualize the baby moving downward with the downward focus of breath.

Yoga Postures

Active Stage Flow

Using a birthing ball or a chair for assistance can help with comfort in all of these poses. Try to get as comfortable as possible. As you have breaks between contractions, close your eyes and focus on quiet time. Turn off all external stimulation as you surrender to your labor.

Child’s Pose

How it helps:

Comfort measures:

Figure%2023%20Childs%20Pose.tif

How to do this pose:

Cow Pose

How it helps:

Comfort measures:

Figure%2025%20Cow%20Pose.tif

How to do this pose:

Mountain Pose

How it helps:

Figure%2028%20Mountain%20Pose.tif

Comfort measures:

How to do this pose:

Crescent Lunge

How it helps:

Figure%2033%20Crescent%20Lunge.tif

Comfort measures:

How to do this pose:

Wide-Angle Forward Bend

How it helps:

Comfort measures:

Figure%2031%20Wide%20Aangle%20Forward%20Bend.tif

How to do this pose:

Frog Pose

How it helps:

Comfort measures:

Figure%2034%20Frog%20Pose.tif

How to do this pose:

Transition Stage

It’s almost over: you have made it through the first hurdle of discomfort. As you have learned, everyone is different, and everyone labors for different lengths of time before transition happens to them. You may have already had to make some very important decisions that affected your natural pathway. In the next chapter, before I discuss the pushing stage, I will talk to you about the waterfall effect and how some of the medical options can be either obstacles or necessities.

You are very close to your baby being born. If you can manage this last phase, you will have successfully accomplished your desire for natural birth. If you have been faced with making a medical decision, remember you are still on the pathway. Your intentions, your breathing, and your mindful connection to birth is still important. Transition is a very difficult stage physically and emotionally. If you haven’t gone to the hospital, now is definitely a time to get going. To be sure you’re in transition and to apply the proper YBM techniques, follow the checklist below.

What’s Happening?

Physical Signs

Emotional Signs

Yoga Birth Method for Transition

Concentration/Meditation

Breathing Technique

Kapalbhati breathing, also known as fire breathing

How to: Inhale deeply through both nostrils and exhale four or five times quickly, with force, through the mouth. Use that exhalation as a means to find rhythm with your contraction. You may use a vocal sound if it feels natural to you. Try to remain in control of your breathing and not let the exhalations take over. This will release energy upward and disengage your connection to your experience. Keep your energy in a downward flow. Be sure to take an inhalation; it is key to finding rhythm and managing anxiety.
In yoga practice, this breath is done with full abdominal expansion and retraction and is not recommended for pregnancy. We modify this breath in labor by eliminating the belly movement and exaggerating the exhalation. The most important component to this breathing technique in labor is monitoring the inhalation. After every three to five exhalations, you must make sure you take a deep breath in. This prevents exhaustion and dizziness.

Purpose: This breathing technique maximizes the breath to move through the intensity of the contraction. As the contraction feels like it will never stop, the forceful exhales allow the pain to be pushed through the body. Transition contractions are mini peaks at the top, and the continuous contractions require a stronger breathing pattern. This is also a cleansing energy breath. You will be entering the pushing stage soon, and Kapalbhati will help rejuvenate you.

Yoga Postures

Transition Stage Flow

Using a birthing ball or a chair and the hospital bed for posture assistance will help with comfort.

Cat Pose

How it helps:

Comfort measures:

Figure%2024%20Cat%20Pose.tif

How to do this pose:

Cow Pose

How it helps:

Comfort measures:

Figure%2025%20Cow%20Pose.tif

How to do this pose:

Squat Pose

How it helps:

Comfort measures:

Figure%2027%20Squat%20Pose.tif

How to do this pose:

Child’s Pose

How it helps:

Comfort measures:

Figure%2023%20Childs%20Pose.tif

How to do this pose:

Delivery Stage

You are ready to have a baby! Once you have reached ten centimeters and are fully effaced, you are ready to begin the next stage, called delivery or pushing. How you push your baby out will be greatly affected by your caregiver’s preferences. Usually a low-intervention caregiver such as a midwife will allow you to assume the most comfortable position and use self-directed pushing. Most hospital births are done in a bed from an upright, reclined position using directed pushing, so it’s important to know that the positions in the YBM can be modified on the hospital bed too.

In the transition phase, I mentioned that you would begin to feel the urge to push when you have reached the ten-centimeter mark. Pushing is a huge release from pain and feels really good with contractions. Once that urge begins, it is important to ensure your cervix is checked and ready. Pushing before ten centimeters can lead to serious fetal and maternal complications.

Once you have been given the okay to push, you can go ahead and do the work required to bring your baby into the world. In order to feel in control of your birth experience, you should know your pushing options—the position choices and breathing methods available to you. If you leave it in the hands of medical staff, you will inevitably be in the bed, on your back, with everyone yelling “push, push, push,” and with a nurse counting to ten. This is called the directed push and can be very stressful. Being on your back can also make pushing a lot harder because the baby must come over the coccyx bone. The most natural way to push would be upright using gravity or on all fours. Again, the positions offered in this stage of labor can be modified on the hospital bed. Hospitals usually have a squat bar attachment that can be placed over the bed so you can sit upright and hang onto it.

One of the downsides to an epidural close to pushing stage is that you would lose your ability to choose how to push, because you would be unable to move. Typically the pushing stage can last up to four hours. Each caregiver has their own set of guidelines before they would consider assistance or cesarean. You should have a conversation with your doctor about their practice for pushing to avoid any interventions within four hours that may not be necessary.

When pushing seems difficult, one method of natural support is to use the mirror push technique. By choosing this method, Mom can ask for a mirror and, as she pushes, she is able to see her cervix opening and baby crowning. When she is able to connect with her pushing visually, it provides a greater incentive to keep pushing and can decrease pushing time.

The Yoga Birth Method uses two positions that are effective for pushing and a breathing technique that allows you to bear down and push naturally. If you are birthing at home, you will have the ability to use these techniques without any medical concern. If you are birthing in the hospital, speak up about your birthing preferences and assert your right to choose how you want to bring your child into the world.

Yoga Birth Method for Delivery

Concentration/Meditation

Breathing Technique

Sukha Purvaka Breath

How to do this pose:

Purpose:

Yoga Postures

Cat Pose

How it helps:

Modification:

Comfort measures:

Figure%2024%20Cat%20Pose.tif

How to do this pose:

Squat Pose

How it helps:

Modifications:

Figure%2027%20Squat%20Pose.tif

Comfort measures:

How to do this pose:

Once the baby has been delivered, you will feel complete release from any pain that you felt with contractions. You will now have to deliver the placenta. This is an easy process compared to pushing and will be done with the assistance of your doctor. In some hospital procedures, a Pitocin injection is given during the pushing stage. The reason for this injection is to prevent a hemorrhage during placental delivery. The Pitocin increases uterine contractions and can help prevent blood clots from developing. Not all hospitals have mandatory Pitocin injections during pushing, however; to encourage a natural birth, you may decide to ask your caregiver about their procedures. The doctor will help you deliver the placenta by massaging your uterus and encouraging you to give a few simple pushes. If your perineum had any tears or your doctor performed an episiotomy, this time after the placenta is delivered is used to stitch the tears.

At this point you can begin skin-to-skin breastfeeding. If you used the YBM pathway and managed an unmedicated birth, you will have the freedom to be up and about, shower, and eat. On the other hand, if your birth journey did not go as planned and your experience involved medical intervention, you may be required to wait four hours before getting up from the bed to ensure all medications have effectively worn off. The next chapter will provide you support on incorporating the Yoga Birth Method with medical intervention.

You should now have your baby in your arms. The feeling of holding your child for the first time is indescribable. It represents enlightenment—an unconditional love that will nurture you and your child for the rest of your lives.

Lisa’s Birth Story

“Honey, you’re at eight centimeters!” my husband reported with pure bliss. I was so happy to hear that but wondered if it really could be true, as it had only been three hours since the last report of three centimeters. I kept calm and used my breathing to get through the next contraction.

I always knew our baby would come early, and he did—at thirty- seven weeks. I spent the two weekends before that finalizing the last-minute details for those who would be covering my work while I was away. We had a routine ultrasound on Monday at thirty-six weeks that found the amniotic fluid to be on the lower side of normal. The risks can be that baby may have a hard time moving in the womb, causing breech (baby does not go head down), and there is a risk that the umbilical cord could wrap around the baby and not float, and in general the fluid is needed to protect the baby. On the flipside, I knew that baby’s lungs needed another week of development in the womb.

Since there was no immediate risk, we decided to wait. We followed up with ultrasounds every other day to monitor the baby. That Friday, they said I could get induced if I wanted, but they didn’t pressure me to do so. I was so thankful that I had taken the Yoga Birth Method course and was armed with knowledge of the waterfall effect of induction. I was able to talk through all the options and have a better understanding of where we stood. I knew waiting until the following week, when our baby would be at thirty-seven weeks, would make the baby stronger, and the doctors felt comfortable having me come back to be monitored the following Sunday and Tuesday. We figured that when we went on Tuesday they would keep us in the hospital.

A week later, on Tuesday at 4:30 pm, I had them start the induction process with Cervidil. We relaxed with music and waited for the ride to begin. I was hopeful that I wouldn’t need any pain meds and get through my labor with movement, breathing, and visualization. I wasn’t able to sleep and started to feel stomach cramps—it reminded me of the “Delhi belly” I had upon return from India a few years back. By 4:30 am I was making frequent trips to the bathroom. I remember thinking that I was so thankful again for the YBM course while I was on the toilet and vomiting at the same time, realizing that this was moving things along and a normal part of the birth process instead of not knowing and feeling crappy for feeling this type of sickness during it all. It really helped to know that the vomiting was a good thing.

I sat on a birthing ball for most of the labor (from 3 to 5 am). I asked for the portable monitor so that I could sit on the ball and be mobile and drink fluids myself rather than be on an IV and strapped to a bed, not allowing this labor to progress. In the YBM course we learned how to open up the hips and allow dilatation to progress, and I really think that helped speed up the process. I was at three centimeters at 4:30 am, eight centimeters by 7:30 am, and fully dilated and ready to push by 8:45 am. A half hour of pushing and our sweet baby boy, Shay, was born!

It was a delight to meet him and find out this beautiful, full head of dark hair was our baby boy (we didn’t find out the sex until the big day). It was the most amazing experience. I was hoping for a natural childbirth with no epidural or painkillers, and it was easier than I had expected. I couldn’t have imagined being stuck in a bed not being able to use my body to help the baby with the delivery—to work together with gravity and help speed up the process. I learned in the course that you can choose to have a positive birth story, and that’s what we believed in: no fear, just joyful anticipation for the big day.

[contents]