But unfortunately, sometimes, the baby has no plans whatsoever to engage in the pelvis.
So, the question is, what can you do when that’s the case? In this article, pregnancy & birth consultant and tcm therapist, and researcher and science geek, explain their 5 steps protocol which is supposed to help you get your baby to drop.
Their protocol consists of exercises and acupressure.
It is divided into a preparation phase which includes exercises that are supposed to prepare your body for the engagement of baby’s head.
This includes an exercise to open the hips as well as an exercise to create a better environment in the womb.
Both will make it easier for the baby to drop.
And then there is also an engagement phase.
This phase includes exercises which are supposed to help your baby find a better way to engage the head in the pelvis as well as exercises to help the baby descend in the pelvis.
Moreover, the engagement phase also includes acupressure which is supposed to support the whole process of engaging the baby’s head in the pelvis.
Exercises to engage baby’s head in the pelvis – How to get a baby to drop in the pelvis
When a baby is engaged, it means that the tip of the baby’s head has reached a certain station in the pelvis.
It is one of several steps that your body takes to prepare for labor.
The problem is though that sometimes, babies have no plans whatsoever to move further down and to engage in the pelvis.
Whenever that’s the case, we apply our 5 steps protocol to help the baby engage.
So, in this article, we are going to share with you exactly what our protocol looks like, and which exercises and treatments can help your baby engage in your pelvis.
This is a pregnancy and birth consultant and tcm therapist and a researcher and science geek and on this channel, we help expecting mommies naturally and science-based! Its great to have you here! Let’s get started! Alright, so, just that you know: for the exercises that we are about to show you, we assume that your baby is in an occiput anterior position which means that your baby should neither be breech nor facing your front.
The other thing is: please always ask your provider first, if you are allowed to do the exercises that we mention in this article because not every woman should do them – based on her pregnancy case, okay? So, let’s not waste any more time here.
What does our 5 steps protocol to make a baby engage look like? It’s actually quite simple.
In the first step, we make sure that we open our hips and bring more flexibility into our hips as a preparation for later steps.
At the same time, we create an environment for your baby in which your baby will find it easier to find a better position.
Next, we offer the baby different angles of the pelvis and we also widen the pelvic inlet, so that the baby’s head finds it easier to pass the pelvic inlet.
And that whole process is accompanied by acupressure which, in a way, is like encouraging the baby to drop.
By the way, at the end of this article, we are also going to show how you can get a detailed description of our exercises as a handout.
With that said, let’s have a look at what needs to be done in each phase of our protocol.
Sometimes in the course of a pregnancy, the hips can become very tight which particularly applies to women who sit a lot during their pregnancy.
And so, as a first step, we want to open the hips and bring more flexibility into the hips in preparation for steps that will follow later on.
Now, there are many ways to do that.
But one super effective exercise is the butterfly stretch.
So for the butterfly stretch, you would sit on a pillow with your back against a wall.
Keep your back straight! And then bend your knees and put your soles together.
You can also clasp your hands around your feet to prevent them from separating.
And then as you exhale, let your knees and thighs move downwards as far as they will comfortably go.
What you can also do is increase the flexibility in your body by gently pushing your knees downwards with your hands.
But it is really important to do this very gently, okay? Don’t force these stretches! And then keep the position for about 15 to 20 seconds while you continue to breathe normally.
And just that you know: we would normally apply this first step for at least one week together with the next step before attempting to engage the baby.
And we would start in week 35, if the doctor approves, right? However, sometimes, there are situations when a woman does not have that much time.
And so, sometimes, it can make sense to shorten this phase to 2-3 days only if a woman is in a later stage of her pregnancy, like week 39 for instance.
Alright, so, while doing the hip opener exercises, we would also apply the second step of our protocol at the same time.
You see, very often, the problem is that due to our modern lifestyle, ligaments may become twisted, and the baby’s head may get sort of “trapped” in a not so optimal position, right? So, in this step, we create a better environment and more room in the womb so that the baby is more flexible and has more room to find a way into the pelvis.
This is what the knee-to-chest position is here for.
So, for this step you would put your knees on the edge of an elevated surface! This can be a couch, a chair, a bed etc.
Your forearms are on the ground, so that they form a tringle.
But please, do not place your chin on your hands! The weight of your body should rest on your forearms only, but not on your neck or head, okay? And then you would try to stay in that position for about 15 to 30 seconds.
Stop immediately, if you feel dizzy or if you feel any pain, okay? Moreover, please be very careful when you get into and out of the position! Yes.
We normally do this exercise together with hip opener exercises for a whole week before we continue to the next step.
But again: if time is an issue, we may also only just do them for 2-3 days before we move on to the engagement phase.
Okay, so now we have reached the engagement phase.
And in that phase, we would still continue with our hip opener exercises.
But we would stop with the knee-to-chest position because this position could disengage a baby, right? And so, if your baby has engaged already without you knowing, you risk that you disengage the baby again.
By the way: if you want to find out if your baby has engaged, please bear with us.
At the end of this article, we are going to tell you how you can find out.
But back to the engagement phase.
Right, so in this step, we do a birth ball exercise.
But if you don’t have a birth ball and cannot get one, you can also do something else.
We’ll talk about it in just a minute.
Yes, so, we are going to draw circles with our hips.
And the purpose of that is offering your baby different kinds of angles of your pelvis.
And this will make it easier for your baby to find a way into your pelvis and to engage in the pelvis.
So, for circling exercises, you would first go into the starting position which means legs in an open position, knees bent at an approximate 90 degrees angle, feet planted on the ground, back straight.
And then all you have to do is draw nice big circles with your hips.
Do about 10 rounds or even more if you like and then go into the opposite direction.
Again, make sure to always keep your feet planted on the ground to keep your balance.
So, ideally, you really do use a birth ball.
But if that’s not an option, you can also stand and move your hips in circles as often as possible throughout the day.
It’s not perfect for what we try to achieve here.
But it’s better than not doing it at all.
Alright and then after 2 or 3 days of doing these birth ball exercises, we also add the last exercise and that’s deep squats.
So, again, at this point, we continue doing the hip opener exercises, we also move our hips in circles ideally on a birth ball and now we also do deep squats.
Deep squats can be super helpful to engage a baby because if done correctly, they cannot only widen the pelvic inlet.
They also help to gently push the baby further down.
Yes, so for deep squats, you would first stand in front of the back of a chair.
Your feet would be a bit wider than hip distance apart and they would also be flat on the ground and rotated outward.
And then you would slowly squat down with a rounded back as far as you can go, while holding on to the chair.
So, several things are important here.
First, you want your feet flat on the ground and rotated outward, your back is rounded and your butt is sort of tucked underneath.
And then remain in that position for a couple of seconds before getting up again.
And remember to continue breathing normally.
Yes, and just a sidenote.
Some people will tell you that you should do hundreds of squats per day.
We totally respect that that’s their opinion.
But personally, we don’t really agree because there are some scientific studies which show that doing excessive workouts in the third trimester may do more harm than good.
So, 10 to 20 squats a day are normally more than enough to achieve what we try to achieve here.
Alright, and then finally, while doing hip opener exercises, circling exercises and deep squats, we would also stimulate one acupressure point.
And that acupressure point will also support the whole engagement process and it’s located on your shoulders.
However, you are going to need a partner to do this.
So first of all, please tell your partner to find your spine.
This is quite simple.
If you bow your head, your partner should be able to see and feel a large bony prominence close to your neck.
This is your starting point.
Afterwards, tell them to find the ends of your shoulders.
The acupressure points you are looking for are the midpoints between the spine and the ends of your shoulders.
They are located on the highest point of your shoulders.
Once your partner has found them, tell them to firmly press them with the thumbs from above for at least 30 seconds! Repeat this step regularly throughout the day!
Anyways, so, this is our 5 steps protocol.
Now, you should know that sometimes, the protocol that we describe here will not work.
And that’s the case whenever something about your case is special.
Because the reality is that there are many many good reasons why a baby just cannot engage in the pelvis: a too small pelvis, the location of the placenta and sometimes there can also be problems which are related to your spine and your sacrum in particular.
Yes and because of that, sometimes, it can be required to align the sacrum or the spine to make it easier for your baby to engage.
This is when a chiropractor could help! So, please keep that as an option in your mind, okay? Yes.
But before you go, please keep in mind that when you do these exercises you will also want to regularly check if your baby has indeed engaged.
In that article we also give you lots of additional information about baby’s engagement, like when does it normally happen and how to measure the stages in your pelvis! Yes.
And for more useful tips and tools on pregnancy-related topics, make sure to subscribe to our channel and to hit the bell!
Post a Comment
Post a Comment