You Don’t Have to Labor in Bed: Using Movement and Position Changes During Labor

Slow dancing during labor offers an opportunity for gentle movement, physical comfort, and connection with a support person.

You Don’t Have to Labor in Bed: Using Movement and Position Changes During Labor

One of the most familiar images of labor is someone lying in a hospital bed.

But labor doesn’t have to happen in one position.

You may want to stand. Walk. Sway. Lean over the bed. Sit on a birth ball. Get on your hands and knees. Rest on your side. Kneel. Slow dance with your partner. Or move between several of these positions as labor changes.

There isn’t one “right” position for labor.

Sometimes the position that felt wonderful twenty minutes ago suddenly doesn’t anymore. Sometimes your body naturally wants to move. And sometimes rest is exactly what you need.

The goal isn’t to stay moving simply for the sake of movement.

The goal is to have options.

Why Movement During Labor Can Matter

Movement and position changes can be valuable tools during labor.

For many people, changing positions can help with comfort, provide different ways to cope with contractions, reduce pressure on tired areas of the body, and allow the pelvis and body to move in different ways.

Research has also examined potential benefits of upright and mobile positions during the first stage of labor. Some studies have associated them with a shorter first stage and lower rates of cesarean birth, although the evidence varies and individual circumstances matter.

That’s why I don’t like to frame labor positions as:

“Do this position and your baby will come faster.”

Bodies, babies and labors are different.

Instead, think of positions as tools you can try throughout labor.

There Is More Than One Way to Labor

Your position options may include:

Standing and swaying
Standing, rocking your hips or leaning into your partner can allow movement while giving you something, or someone, to support your weight.

Slow dancing
Wrapping your arms around your partner or support person while gently swaying can combine movement, physical support and connection.

Leaning forward
You might lean over a bed, counter, birth ball or your support person’s shoulders. Some people find forward-leaning positions especially comfortable when they’re experiencing pressure in their back.

Hands and knees
This position gets you off your back and provides another way to move your hips. It can also make massage or counterpressure easier for your support person.

Kneeling
Kneeling upright or leaning forward onto a bed or birth ball can provide another supported position without requiring you to stand.

Sitting on a birth ball
A birth ball can provide support while allowing you to rock, sway or make gentle circles with your hips.

Supported sitting
Sometimes you want movement. Sometimes you want rest. Sitting upright or semi-upright with support can provide another option between more active positions.

Side-lying
Rest is part of labor, too. Side-lying can provide a supported resting position while keeping you off your back.

Different positions may feel useful at different moments.

You don’t have to choose your “birth position” before labor begins.

What If I Have an Epidural?

An epidural doesn’t necessarily mean position changes have to stop.

How much you can move will depend on your mobility, sensation, hospital policies, monitoring needs and your care team’s assessment of what is safe.

You may still be able to change between supported positions in bed, including side-lying, supported sitting or positions that use a peanut ball.

This is also where your nurse, partner and doula can work together.

Your Support Person Can Be Part of Movement, Too

Your partner or support person doesn’t have to stand beside the bed wondering what to do.

They can:

• provide a stable place for you to lean

• sway or slow dance with you

• help position pillows or a birth ball

• provide massage or counterpressure

• help you transition between positions when appropriate

• remind you of options when you’re focused on getting through contractions

• communicate with your care team when you need additional support

And your doula can help you and your partner explore different positions based on what feels comfortable in that moment.

A doula isn’t deciding how you should labor.

We’re helping you remember that you have options.

Movement Is an Option, Not an Assignment

This may be the most important part.

You don’t earn a “better” birth by staying upright for hours.

If standing feels good, stand.

If swaying feels good, sway.

If you need to lie down and close your eyes, rest.

If something stops feeling comfortable, change it.

If your medical circumstances require a particular position temporarily, talk with your healthcare team about why and what other options may be available when it is safe.

ACOG supports frequent position changes during labor for comfort and potential fetal-positioning benefits when positions remain compatible with necessary monitoring and treatment and aren’t contraindicated by medical or obstetric complications.

Prepare Before Labor

Labor isn’t necessarily the best time to see a birth ball for the first time.

During pregnancy, you and your support person can practice several positions together.

Try:

How does it feel to lean into your partner?

Where should their hands go during counterpressure?

How high should the birth ball be?

Which positions feel stable?

How could you modify them if you’re tired?

You don’t need to memorize twenty positions.

You just want enough familiarity that when someone says, “Would you like to try another position?”, you already have a few possibilities in mind.

Your Body Doesn’t Have to Stay in One Place

Labor can change from hour to hour, and sometimes contraction to contraction.

Your needs can change with it.

There is no prize for staying out of bed.

And there is no requirement that labor happen lying in one.

What matters is having information, support and the freedom to explore what feels appropriate for your body, your baby and your birth.

At Womb of Creation, we help families prepare for labor with practical education, comfort techniques, position practice, partner support and individualized doula care.

Because preparing for birth isn’t about memorizing the “right” way to labor.

It’s about knowing your options.

Your birth. Your voice. Our support.