How to Push Your Baby Out
This blog post is going to get RIGHT to the good stuff! If you’ve been wondering HOW you’re supposed to push your baby out, then this blog is for you. You may have heard the common cue before, “push like you’re pooping”, which is great, but only if you know how to push while pooping! I’m going to go through exactly what this means, how to practice it and also provide you with a FREE resource to help you prep for when the time comes!
How to Push
Alright, let’s get back to this “push like you’re pooping” business and go through what the heck that even means. This is not bad advice at all, in fact, it’s great advice. The problem is, there’s a big assumption with the cue that we all KNOW how to properly push while we poop, which unfortunately, just isn’t the case with many!
Pushing with this cue will be especially tricky for those who have struggled with constipation, hemorrhoids, or pelvic floor dysfunctions, as they are more likely to already be pushing while having a BM incorrectly. So, let’s make sure we know what to avoid when it comes to pushing, and what we should try to do instead.
Avoid breath holding while pushing
Instead, try to push while exhaling
And most importantly, you want to do what feels “right” and “natural” to you!
To elaborate a little further on number 3, those that have never suffered from pelvic floor dysfunction, constipation and/or hemorrhoids may actually NATURALLY want to push while exhaling. This is how our body was designed to respond and act when the urge to push happens (with baby or a BM), but this natural response can oftentimes become…unnatural…after certain experiences! For example, if you’ve struggled with constipation for a long time, your body may have stopped pushing “normally” and instead started to push in whatever way it needs in order to successfully have a BM, which often is done with excessive straining, pushing while breath holding and moving into various positions. This has happened because your body has felt the need to start to compensate away from a normal response to an urge to push due to the constipation.
So no, not everyone will push correctly when given the cue to “push like you’re pooping”, because some aren’t pushing while pooping effectively as it is!
Now that we’ve got that sorted out, let’s go into the breathing side of things a little further.
Down Breathing
For a quick refresher on breathing during labor as well as the different types of breathing while pushing, make sure to check out this blog post! But when speaking specifically about breathing during the actual pushing, learning how to down breathe can be so beneficial!
Your body will naturally be working so hard to push baby out, we really just want to try to utilize our breath to assist the body in what it already wants to do. The uterus in particular is contracting and working to move baby down, so also including down breathing is only going to help facilitate that movement down.
Down breathing essentially means that as we exhale, instead of holding our breath, we guide that breath DOWN toward the vaginal opening, which helps the pelvic floor muscles to relax more and get out of the way to allow baby to exit.
So how might this look?
Down breathing starts with a quicker breath IN. Remember, the breath in is what moves that pressure downward, which is what we want! Then we use a very purposeful exhale, focusing on feeling that inhale breath go downward and instead of just immediately expelling it out our mouths.
Another helpful little cue here is to focus that guided breath a little more toward the vaginal opening when birth pushing (versus the rectal opening)!
Sometimes a “moo” or low groan noise can accompany this, which is completely normal and can feel very natural to some women! We can also utilize our core and upper abs to assist the uterus as it feels right, as long as we aren’t tensing/squeezing the pelvic floor while doing this.
Practicing down breathing can be so helpful while you are pregnant and prior to the big day! If you’re looking for guidance on this, make sure to click the button below for immediate access to my FREE mini course, “Pregnancy Breathing Series”. This is a 3-part pregnancy breathing series that will cover the different types of breathing you can utilize when engaging your core, relaxing your pelvic floor or….BREATHING DURING LABOR!
I recently shared how you can also PHYSICALLY feel the muscles come out towards your fingers when you inhale and relax and then a slight increase in pressure outward as you exhale and breathe DOWN relaxing the pelvic floor. Click HERE for a visual of being able to feel for yourself if you’re doing this correctly.
As shown in the video above, you can practice in various positions to see which one your body tends to relax better in or get a better feel of elongation! That is the key to all of this, finding the best position where you are as comfortable as possible and able to relax your pelvic floor into an open and elongated position.
Looking for further guidance?
If you’re looking for FULL guidance on preparing your body for labor and birth, Mind Body Core Prenatal Program is what you need! The Prenatal Program offers a full labor prep program where you learn ALL about this and so much more to prepare yourself (and your partner) for the labor and birth experience! Make sure to check it out by clicking the button below.