Are you curious about how to use a birth ball in labor? Then, this post is for you! Plus, a birthing ball can benefit you during your pregnancy too! Keep reading for everything you need to know about a birth ball and the truth about birth ball positions to induce labor.
What’s a Birth Ball?
A birth ball is the same thing as an exercise/yoga ball!
The birth ball I recommend is the Trideer Extra Thick Yoga Ball as it is heavy-duty and BPA-free.
Most birthing balls are made of PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride) materials, which allows them to hold a lot of weight and last a long time.
As a birth worker, the Trideer birth balls and peanut balls have lasted me a long time without any issues!
Check out: How to Use a Peanut Ball for Labor (coming soon!)
Are Birth Balls Good?
You may be wondering, “why does a birth ball help?” or “why use a birthing ball?”
Research studies have found that using a birth ball can:
- Decrease labor pain
- Help prepare the cervix for labor
- Increase your chances of a vaginal birth
- Decrease anxiety
- Improve posture and balance
- Relieve spinal and pelvic pain
- Help get your baby in an optimal position for labor and birth
- Possibly shorten your labor
With all of these miraculous benefits of a birthing ball, there are no increased risks associated with using one! [4]
Can a Birth Ball Help Induce Labor?
A birth ball does not “induce labor” because it is not forcing labor to begin before your baby and your body is ready.
Still, it does help encourage your baby to get into an optimal position, such as, head-down and slightly to the right or left with the back of their head to the front of your pelvis.
Further, doing different movements or just sitting on the birth ball utilizes gravity more than just sitting on a chair or the couch. With this force, you’re allowing your baby’s head to put more pressure on the cervix.
Over time, as your body and your baby nears readiness for labor and birth, this pressure on your cervix helps it to slowly thin, soften, and dilate (open).
Nevertheless, no exercise will induce labor if your body isn’t ready.
Check out: The Early Labor Signs You Need to Know!
What Birthing Ball to Buy and Where to Buy it?
I highly recommend the Trideer Birth/Exercise Ball from Amazon as it is a trusted, affordable, and durable birth ball brand that I have committed to purchasing from for years now as a birth worker!
What Birthing Ball Size Should You Get?
Finding your birth ball size:
- 55 cm ball, if you are under 5 ft 4 in
- 65 cm ball, if you are 5 ft 4 in – 5 ft 8 in (I am 5 ft 5 in, so this is the birth ball size I have!)
- 75 cm ball, if you are taller than 5 ft 8 in
How to Use a Birth Ball for Labor and in Pregnancy
Ways you can use your birth ball in labor or during pregnancy include:
- Swaying side-to-side: Sit on your birth ball and gently sway left to right in whatever way feels good!
- Bouncing: Sit on your birthing ball and bounce up and down in whatever way feels good. The bouncing might be gentle or sometimes with some extra force if you’re in labor.
- Pelvic tilts: Sit up straight with your heart over your pelvis and rock your pelvis forward then backward without moving your shoulders
- Figure 8s: Sit on your birth ball and repeatedly make figure 8s with your hips.
- Hands and knees: While on your knees, bring your birthing ball in front of you, bring your chest down, and hug your birth ball. You may sway or rock in whatever way feels good to you.
- Forward-leaning squat: In a squat position (off your birth ball), lean forward and hug your birth ball. Again, you may sway or rock in whatever way feels good.
- Forward-leaning lunge: While in a lunge, gently rock forward and backward, while leaning forward and hugging your birth ball.
- In the shower: Consider using your birth ball in the shower for pain relief in labor. In a Listening to Mothers survey, researchers found that 49% of women who used a warm bath during labor described it as “very helpful” for pain relief, and 32% of people who used a shower during labor described that as “very helpful”. In contrast, only 24% of people who were given opioids (pain-relieving medications) through their IV said that those were “very helpful” [5].
- Forward-leaning on your bed: While sitting on your birth ball, lean forward onto a pillow on your bed for a comfortable rest.
When to Start Birth Ball Exercises
The good news is, you can use a birthing ball any time during pregnancy!
Even using a birth ball in early pregnancy, for many women, is more comfortable than a chair or the couch at times.
However, for the sake of helping your baby get into an optimal position and eventually engage your baby’s head in your pelvis, it’s beneficial to start these birth ball exercises around 32 weeks of pregnancy.
Consider striving for about 20 minutes on your birth ball almost every day.
Plus, using your birth ball postpartum can also be useful as it’s typically more comfortable to sit on if you have perineal soreness, stitches, or hemorrhoids.
Questions or Comments?
If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below👇🏻
Talk soon, mama!
– Katelyn Lauren
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DISCLAIMER: This post is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding you or your baby’s health. Please read my Medical Disclaimer for more info
References:
[1] Makvandi, S., Latifnejad Roudsari, R., Sadeghi, R., & Karimi, L. (2015). Effect of birth ball on labor pain relief: A systematic review and meta-analysis. The journal of obstetrics and gynaecology research, 41(11), 1679–1686. https://doi.org/10.1111/jog.12802
[2] Grenvik, J. M., Coleman, L. A., & Berghella, V. (2023). Birthing balls to decrease labor pain and peanut balls to decrease length of labor: what is the evidence?. American journal of obstetrics and gynecology, 228(5S), S1270–S1273. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajog.2023.02.014
[3] Shen, C., Wang, H., Sun, B., Jiang, Z., & Meng, Q. (2021). Birthing ball on promoting cervical ripening and its influence on the labor process and the neonatal blood gas index. World Journal of Clinical Cases, 9(36), 11330-11337. https://doi.org/10.12998/wjcc.v9.i36.11330
[4] Luces Lago, A. M., Mosquera Pan, L., & Tizón Bouza, E. (2014). A pelota de parto. Redescubriendo un recurso no farmacológico de gran importancia en el proceso del parto [The birthing ball: rediscovering a non pharmacological resource of great importance in the birth process]. Revista de enfermeria (Barcelona, Spain), 37(3), 36–42.
[5] Declercq, E., Sakala, C., Corry, M. P., et al. (2002). Listening to mothers: report of the first national U.S. survey of women’s childbearing experiences. In: Listening to Mothers. New York, NY: Maternity Center Association.
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