The power of the left hip: How birth bio mechanics and pregnancy yoga transformed my second birth.

What is Birth Bio Mechanics - and why it matters?

Birth bio mechanics is often missed off most people’s check list when they are pregnant and preparing for birth. So what is birth bio mechanics? 

Birth bio mechanics is a combination of education about the physical and chemical components of birth. Then we layer in movements and positions that open up different parts of the pelvis. And once you’ve learnt the theory (process of birth) and the practical movement (pregnancy yoga poses and how breathing works to support your labour) you can begin to apply them to your pregnancy to help your baby get into its optimal birth position. 

Beyond Birth positions: Why traditional antenatal education isn’t enough

We often think about “learning birth positions” and breathing techniques. With a goal of releiving pain during in labour or having a faster birth experience. A smooth birth. But birth is a little more complex than just applying strategies learnt in an NCT antenatal class and it all just going to plan. Understanding how labour works is really important, understanding birth physiology gives you a better chance of trusting the process. You also need to understand how birth is managed in an NHS as the setting of a hospital birth can impact on birth physiology.

From Yoga mat to Motherhood: Tools that supported my birth and postnatal recovery.

I also believe that the uncertainty of pregnancy and labour is a little bit of preparation for life as a parent. As a very organised woman before babies I quickly unravelled after the birth of my first baby because I couldn’t plan and organise my new born! The strategies I’d found  to support the unknown in my pregnancies and birth like golden thread breath, pregnancy relaxation and antenatal yoga really supported my transition into motherhood. If you want to feel confident and calm, empowered in your wonderful body with a sprinkling of birth education too my online pregnancy yoga programme is the perfect place to start. Or if you live in Newcastle or Northumberland and are looking for birth preparation in North East England you can join my birth bio mechanics workshops in Morpeth Northumberland or my pregnancy yoga retreat and birth preparation day at the yoga den Morpeth in mid-Northumberland. 

My turning point: Discovering the missing link in my first pregnancy 

Birth is a physiological process. And it requires full body awareness and the ability to surrender to the unknown! And this is what we find really really hard as 21st century adults. We like plans, we like to know what will happen when and we also like to know why things don’t go as we hoped… 

In my first pregnancy I was convinced that there was something missing in my birth preparation. As a dancer and personal trainer I’ve always had a bit of a fascination around the pelvis and the hips.  As a teenager and in my early 20’s I was convinced that my lower back pain wasn’t actually anything to do with my back and more to do with a problem or imbalance in my pelvis but I couldn’t find a practitioner who would explore this further with me. Much like in my birth education! I was desperate to unpick the journey my baby would take to be born in order to understand exactly what I could do to support the journey. When I asked my mum and other women who had birthed more recently about the journey of the baby through the pelvis I was told not to worry about that. It wasn’t for me to know, “the hospital team will sort that out…” it just felt wrong to me! My first labour was supported by an NCT course where the birth positions section of the course was limited and on reflection outdated in content. I also read some hypnobirthing books. The best preparation that I did was regular pregnancy yoga, and a nightly routine of lavender pillow spray and listening to music to fall asleep. My birth was ok, on paper text book but it left me feeling like a failure despite minimal intervention for the birth of my baby. 

Following my experience I just knew I was still missing some really valuable information about how birth works. And as my career path changed and I qualified and a yoga practitioner and then a pre and postnatal movement specialist I knew I needed to find the missing piece the bio mechanics… I found a course. It was great BUT I also found a new practice! Weight training to not only strengthen but lengthen!!! And the best bit was my yoga practice and finding deep relaxation and central nervous system regulation supported what I was practicing in the gym! 

So what’s the big secret I hear you needing to know. The best way I feel I can share how crucial birth bio-mechanic knowledge is as part of your preparation for labour and how yoga supports that is through my own experience in my second pregnancy. 

The truth about the pelvis: why it’s more than just “open your hips”.

After doing lots of learning and at around 36 weeks pregnant I found myself with a baby that was still transverse. In fact my baby was making me pretty uncomfortable. I knew her head was stuck around my left hip. She wanted to go head down but didn’t have the space.

The left hip mystery: What my transverse baby taught me

My midwife told me to practice more yoga. Now as a yoga teacher practicing yoga daily through my work gave me plenty of chance to practice pregnancy yoga poses. She also told me to try lunges to lengthen my hip flexor on the left… historically women have been told that hips are the key to getting baby into an optimal position and that by opening the hips or lengthening the flexor like in the picture baby will get into an ideal birth position and labour will be easier. BUT we are missing a big piece of the puzzle if we just focus on the front of the body and just focus on the hip flexors. 

The hip flexors form part of a complex system at the centre of our body our pelvic girdle. The pelvic bowl takes a lot of the strain because it’s right in the middle. So if we have a funny shoulder, injured ankle or sore knee the pelvis including the hips bear the brunt of the limit or change in range of motion. The pelvis also physically changes in pregnancy to support the growth of baby and of course to allow your baby to born. 

But the hips, posas, piriformus aren’t the only muscles to work with in pregnancy and birth. And my 36 week pregnant self had to ignore all the surface level advice and use my new birth bio mechanics of the pelvis training and remember this….

The role of the glutes, hamstrings and pelvic floor in birth preperation

We miss a huge part of the puzzle in my opinion because we forget about the back of the body and the much deeper layers of muscle and how they feed into our nervous system… the two areas that transformed my second birth were…. The glutes and the pelvic floor! 

Rather than working with my hip flexors I spent a session in the gym working with heavier weights to lengthen my glutes. And because of the deep tissue and ligament connection I was also working to lengthen my posterior pelvic floor in my 3rd trimester. So many of the women I see have unbelievably tight hamstrings, glutes and pelvic floors. Partly to do with how we live our lives now but a huge factor is the stress and internal anxiety or worry that these women carry. A tight, worry filled nervous system often manifests or shows in a really tight pelvic floor and tight glutes. And if your pelvic bones are being pulled tighter at the back by tight bum cheeks then your hip flexors are going to be really over stretched and of course your baby is going to struggle to drop down into the bowl of the pelvis ready for birth because there is little or no wriggle room for the big bones to move forward, back, side to side. 

If we work on finding fully lengthened glutes and hamstrings (especially under tension aka using weights) our body is not only going to be likely to hold that lengthened position for longer it’s also over time going to get stronger and iron out the imbalance between front and back. 

How movement, massage and mindfulness helped engage my baby

I worked to relax… I did mobility work in the gym. I moved slowly and with awareness it wasn’t about speed it was about mindfully creating that opportunity for space in my pelvis. 

I also worked with my pelvic floor muscles using a massage ball. I use these daily as I have always had a tight pelvic floor. Probably from infancy, generational holding patterns of stress and anxiety and also a little to do with genetics… 

I worked to relax the posterior pelvic  floor muscles in my pregnancy by sitting and gently moving the massage ball around my tail bone both on the left and the right. You can purchase a ball here. I would highly recommend this for all pregnant and postnatal women it will transform your birth preparation and postpartum healing. 

And after a combination of weighted movement like split stance dead lifts and massage balls and a bit of internal rotation to wake up my adductors (check out this post if you want to know more about adductors) I went to sleep that night and woke up with a baby whose head was fully engaged! 

The Birth of Beatrice: A calm, powerful, physiological birth story

But that’s not all this knowledge helped me with. Beatrice’s birth was INCREDIBLE…

Birth bio mechanics paired with my pregnancy yoga practice completly changed my experience of labour second time. The sensations were no longer overwhelming because I understood what was happening I’d learnt the process. I’d then spent moments each day improving my body awareness and self connection so that I could actually feel the birth process unfolding with in me.  

I found positions I’d practiced throughout my pregnancy and actually felt Beatrice dropping down through my pelvis. My birth felt incredible. Intense! Very intense for an hour or so but it filled me with a sense of inner strength and power I didn’t know existed. 

The bio mechanics that I found most powerful? A tail bone tuck (simply pulling the tail bone under a little more.) I did this in a standing squat position. Watch this video to see a tail bone tuck in action

This worked because of my tight posterior pelvic floor which without doubt hindered my first birth. 

The second movement that supported Beatrice’s rotation and dropping down was a 90/90 position. Agin in an up right position with a slight tail bone tuck. I had my left leg in the right place to lengthen my left glute as much as possible. And wit a single contraction a tuck of the tail bone another drop onto the pelvis and with that I knew it was time to go to hospital… I have a video covering this position on my social media channel you can watch the live here. 

Beatrice came within minuets of entering the pregnancy assessment room. I remember opening my eyes looking to see a midwife enter and consciously making the decision to try to push. I had worked so hard throughout my pregnancy to connect to my body to what Beatrice needed I knew in my heart I could birth her without intervention. So now was the time. She arrived in 3 pushes with a little trickle of water (a fair bit of poo) and the support of a hospital bed. 

My body did the push… not my brain. It was so completely different to my first experience.  

Postnatal healing, crying babies and the magic of holding space.

My second hospital birth experience also transformed my postnatal period. It was put simply beautiful. I nested, we slept, I fed and held Beatrice in her crying. Another thing we aren’t taught is that when babies are first born in order heal from birth they cry too! The vibrations the sound the release of tension it heals their bodies. (Just as the act of crying in the postnatal period heals the mother too) with Beatrice rather than trying to stop her tears I simply held her rocked her talked gently to her. It helped me to feel powerful, connected to her. The act of holding space allowing us both to process a birth that was transformational (hopefully for her as well as me) 

Daily Practice, not quick fixes: Why consistancey is key birth prep

Birth bio mechanics is so important in birth preparation. Your mind is powerful you need to learn how to switch the analytical side (neocortex) off and connect to your parasympathetic system to birth your baby. But if you just attend a few yoga classes it probably isn’t going to give you an intervention free birth. You need to do these self awareness practices every day! The self awaerness you gain will not only transform you birth it might even support your personal growth into motherhood! It' can be such a magical process.

Join me: Online or in person pregnancy yoga and birth preparation in Northumberland.

That is why I created my signature course “Move to Birth” an online pregnancy yoga and birth preparation programme that not only educates you about the physical process of birth but helps you to connect to your para sympathetic nervous system too. If you live locally and want to work with me face to face I host weekly pregnacy yoga sessions at the Yoga Den in Morpeth Booking here. And I host in person pregnancy yoga and birth preparation retreat days here too! More information here.

Motherhood is a transformational process but it starts from the moment you fall pregnant. Not from the moment you give birth. We have to start to nourish ourselves in pregnancy so that we can nourish our babies once they arrive earth side.