Bradley question?

[funkymamajoy]

Does the relaxed, sleep-like position help get a baby in position or does this method assume that the baby is already in position?

I've always heard that you should avoid laying down in labor, but should be upright. I tend to have malpositioned babies and back labor.

[momzilla]

The Bradley side-lying position is to be used if a mother feels the need to lie down. Obviously, gravity is best. If you have a malpositioned baby prior to labor and/or in labor try some of the suggestions at http://www.spinningbabies.org.

Side lying on the left side [according to midwife Jean Sutton (optimal fetal positioning) "founder"] is the "safe" lying down position.

Hope this helps.

[annettemarie]

Moving to Birth and Beyond.

[hunterofkyle]

That was one thing I never really understood in our Bradley classes. There was a LOT of focus on "relaxation exercises" and our teacher always told us to lie in the side-lying position. Nothing could have been more excruciating during labor than lying down in ANY position - and I didn't feel armed with many other tools for managing labor pain.

I *did* appreciate the position for sleeping in the later months of pregnancy because it was the only position that protected my body parts from going numb.

[meganmarie]

We practiced a variety of positions in my Bradley classes. As hunterofkyle suggests it was a good idea because you don't know exactly what will work for you in labor until you are in the middle of it. I did a lot of side-lying when I needed to rest and regroup my energy and doing visualization felt right. But I also did a ton of walking, birth-ball sitting, leaning on my husband, all-fours, standing in the shower, you name it. So I'm sure all of that helped bring baby down. For me, side-lying was all I wanted to do during transition and pushing - but others have felt totally differently. A deep toolbox is best. I love the Bradley book, but Shelia Kitzinger's book has the best photos with a huge variety of potential labor poses to practice. Physically trying them in advance is helpful - DH and I would do this for a couple mins right before bed at night, very relaxing

[caenach]

I actually liked the Bradley lying-down position during early labor. I had a day of contractions 8 minutes apart, a full day of contractions 5 minutes apart, and then most of a third day at 4 minutes apart before things finally got started and I used this position to rest (since I couldn't really "sleep"), relax, and reserve my energy for labor.

I found that this position was very easy to "practice" while doing breathing exercises in the weeks before the baby came, so it was very easy to slip into when I needed it. I did not use it at all once active labor began, since my baby was posterior, and my midwife suggested other positions that were optimal for that (squatting, leaning on birth-ball, standing, etc).

[funkymamajoy]

I've been all over spinningbabies again. Of course, I was last time too and DD was posterior all through labor and turned while I was pushing.