Spinning Babies - Dynamic Positioning for Birth

Spinning Babies - Dynamic Positioning for Birth

First, what is Spinning Babies?

Spinning Babies is a method for helping a woman create space in her pelvis to encourage her unborn baby into the best position for birth.  This amazing method was developed by international lecturer Gail Tully.  There are three steps, or "Three Sisters" as Gail calls them, to Spinning Babies:

1. Balance
2. Gravity
3. Movement

Balance asks the mother to evaluate the tension and discomfort in her body, especially the pelvis and then work to resolve that imbalance.  Gravity asks mum to become aware of herself in space - mind her posture and be aware that her own body positions highly influence the position of her baby.  Finally, Movement encourages mama to MOVE that PELVIS.  Keeping the pelvic joints mobile, flexible, and strong before labor begins helps baby get in the best possible position for birth.

The sooner a mother begins practicing these principles the better chance she and her baby have for an easier labor and birth experience.

So now I get to talk about why Spinning Babies is Dynamic Positioning for Birth.  :0)

Our bodies are constantly in motion, yes, even when you are in Savasana (Corpse Pose), the body is moving.  The human body is a perpetual state of what is called dynamic homeostatsis, or the state of rebalancing itself through change.  This happens on macro (big) and micro (little) levels of the body, in all systems of the body.  It's very exciting to think that little microscopic receptors are constantly adjusting themselves so we can keep doing what makes us happy!  It's also comforting to know that our muscles and mind are working with those microscopic parts to maintain health in the body.  The human body wants to be healthy.  Really!  Sometimes it needs a little help here and there but our bodies are programmed to be healthy.  It is our everyday stressors that disrupt homeostatic dynamics and cause imbalance in the body or dis-ease.

Balance

After all that, Spinning Babies uses active (dynamic) principles to motivate mother to aim for optimal fetal postion for labor and birth.  When one engages in the Balance principle, the body is working to equal out dysfunction in soft tissue.  As mama's body changes, and it will, pain migrates, discomfort shifts (this is a good thing), and hopefully, finally no pain and no discomfort.  The shifting and migration are the body's dynamics of balance.  Our body often has to work backward through what ever caused an injury or dysfunction to resolve the injury or dysfunction.  This process can take some time - SO START EARLY, START BEFORE YOU GET PREGNANT IF YOU CAN.  As the body works through areas of stress position of muscle, organs, bones, and baby will shift.  Working on creating balance in the body is an excellent tangible example of dynamic homeostasis in action.  Once a state of new balance is gained mother will need to become aware of her body in space. 

Gravity

Gravity, being part of self awareness in space only helps to maintain the Balance that a mother has worked hard to achieve.  The Gravity "sister" is part of our proprioceptive system.  "Well what the heck is that Adrienne?"  Proprioception is our bodies ability to know where we are in space through the use of various receptors in our body.  Those receptors are found in: the inner ears - the labyrinth, our muscle - muscle spindles (stretch receptors), the area where the muscles and tendons meet - musculotendinous junction (more stretch receptors), and finally the feet - this is a concept related to reflexology principles (I'll write another entry about this alone.)  You can see there are receptors everywhere in our body that help us relate to gravity.  The Spinning Babies principle of Gravity requires mothers to continually adjust their position to create the most space possible for baby.  This is a dynamic principle too - gravity may hold us down onto the planet but fortunately we are 3 dimensional so we can move in more than one plane.  Mothers, as well as the rest of us, need to be more aware of our physical position in space and take dynamic action to correct bad habits.

Movement

And now for Movement - the word itself is a near synonym of "dynamic".  Keeping your four pelvic joints mobile, flexible, and strong throughout your entire pregnancy, even before and after pregnancy, is so important.  It will make the difference between feeling good and feeling uncertain throughout your pregnancy and birth experience.  Using the Movement "sister" from Spinning Babies opens mothers pelvis in gentle effective maneuvers that gives baby the chance to get into the best position for its birth.  Here mother and baby are working with various postions that mom may find useful during labor and birth while preparing for labor and birth.  Practice makes perfect! or near perfect. ;0)

Be sure to tune in with us Monday mornings for in person conversation about Spinning Babies techniques.

Have a great week and keep moving,
Adrienne