Pregnancy Posture: Preparing for Birth Starts With How You Sit

When preparing for birth, most women think about prenatal yoga, Pilates, stretching, and exercise. These activities can be wonderful, but there is another important aspect of pregnancy preparation that is often overlooked: how you position your body throughout the day.

As a birth doula, one of the things I focus on with my clients is how they sit, rest, and spend their everyday lives.

Think about it: you may exercise for thirty minutes or an hour a day, but what about the six or eight hours you spend sitting at a desk, relaxing on the couch, eating dinner, or driving?

One of the principles I teach is to keep your knees lower than your hips when sitting. When your knees are higher than your hips, gravity may encourage the heaviest part of your baby's head, the occiput, to settle toward your back, favoring a posterior position. When your knees are lower than your hips, the position may encourage the occiput to move forward, toward your abdomen, favoring an anterior position, with your baby's back toward your abdomen and face toward your back.

Of course, no sitting position can guarantee your baby's final position or determine the course of labor. But mindful positioning, along with walking and other prenatal exercise when medically appropriate, can support movement and mobility throughout pregnancy. Birth preparation doesn't stop when your workout ends; how you sit at the dinner table, work at your desk, relax, and spend your day matters, too.

Prepare for birth throughout the day, not just during your workout.