Moves and positions for an active labour

A few of the DVDs I’ve worked with have small bonus sections describing how to adapt the main program to labour itself. Since I’m unlikely to be able to find just the right section in each while in labour, I decided to make a little picture review of the available options. The videos themselves have detailed instructions I will not reproduce here, but I offer this post as an inspiration and guide.

From Yoga for Your Pregnancy:

Seated pelvic circles in both directions:

Cat-cow pose:

Wide hip circles while on all fours, with knees far apart:

Supported downward facing dog:

Same thing, but on knees, really relaxing upper body:

Supported squat:

From FitMama Prenatal Workout:

Rocking motion to help baby work his way down:

Cat stretch, in different positions, for contractions:

Deep squat, rounding back during contraction:

And, of course, there are all the bellydance moves: circles, hip sways, undulations, figure eights…

What moves helped you during your labour?