Posture and Pregnancy

( How Poor Posture can Affect the Birthing Process )

The female body is perfectly designed to conceive , birth and
nurture a child and the baby itself seems to have an almost
' magical ' way of knowing what to do before and during labour to
make its entrance into the world .

The normal act of walking forces the baby to adopt what is known
as the ' left occiput anterior ( LOA ) position ' ;

You can see that the head is down and facing left , the spine is in
the same direction and angle as the mothers and the whole body is
turned backward , this is the most comfortable presentation for
mother and baby because of the shape of the womb and provides
for the best chance of an uneventful and less painful labour and
birth .
In the past few decades other presentations have increased
dramatically resulting in long , slow , painful labours ( for the baby
as well ) and women are often told that labour has slowed down or
that the baby is too big etc. thus forcing the midwife or doctor to
intervene or , all too often nowadays , a C-section is performed .
The reason for this is the way we live and work today ;
Sitting in cars
Leaning back in comfortable , soft sofas
Forward leaning with office work
Forward leaning with computers / laptops
In general - too much sitting down
Physically inactive lifestyle
This results is what is known as ' Lower-Crossed Syndrome ' ;

This can result in muscular imbalances around the pelvis which

places unequal pressure on the ligaments ( which hold the bones
together ) which in turn can twist the uterus and reduce the
amount of room for the developing baby ( known as intrauterine

constraint ) and can even affect the baby's developing spine and
cranium ( it can also effect the final construction of the posture
from adolescence through to adulthood ) .

As the pregnancy develops the stomach muscles begin to become

more flexible to allow for more room for the growing baby if they
are already weak they can wander off line from centre . These
muscles are an essential part of the support system for the lower
back and without it the lower spine begins to bend forward too
much ( lordosis ) and tilts the pelvis forward resulting in low back
pain .

If you are Planning to Have a Baby

To help guarantee a successful and unremarkable delivery , the
baby needs the maximum amount of space at exactly the time it is
needed and will make a very determined effort to achieve the
correct position for birth but can face resistance if the mothers'
posture is not ideal .
Have your posture checked if possible at least a year / 6
months before your pregnancy
Get more exercise at least 3 times / week
Spend less time in a sitting position

Val Ohalloran
Massage Therapist