4 Things to Remember When You’re in Labor

Everyone loves a baby, but your baby needs to be skin-to-skin with you immediately after delivery. …or your partner, if you are unavailable. Just remember that everyone else will get their chance to hold your baby.  Tell them to hold the baby when you need to sleep! Skin-to-skin contact is especially important for breastfeeding, but it’s good for all babies, regardless of your feeding choice. Skin-to-skin contact should be immediate and uninterrupted.

You’re pregnant, not paralyzed…get up and move. You were walking around right before you came to the hospital, so don’t think you need to ask permission to change positions. The IV pole doesn’t glue you to the bed. Unless there’s a medical reason why you need to stay planted in the bed, walk around. Rock in a rocking chair. Use a birthing ball. Whatever you do, don’t just lay flat on your back in a bed.

Talk to your baby, talk to your body, and pray! Tell your baby they’re being evicted (but in the nicest voice possible), tell your body to relax and to release the baby, and pray for a quick and easy delivery 🙂 I’m telling you, this works!

Don’t close the “door”. If you lie in the bed, don’t close your legs! As a nurse, if you are about to deliver and we’re still waiting for the provider to show up, the first thing we’re going to do is close your legs : ) So don’t forget… The door has to be open for the baby to come out.

A labor nurse’s version of the “Fire Hydrant” 🙂

I don’t use a stirrup, I use a couple of pillows folded in half and stuffed between your legs, and I’ve seen people use a half-deflated birthing ball…But if you’re stuck at 9cm, this little trick for 10-20 minutes will rotate a baby right out ❤

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Categories: and After Pregnancy, Before, During, For Patients...

Tags: delivery, labor, nurse, nursing, OB, obstetrics, pregancy, pregnant