Is pushing a baby like pooping?
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Kaely Harrod 0:00
Hey welcome back to Kaely Daily. Today's question is, Is pushing a baby like pooping? This is Kaely Daily, the bi weekly podcast about all things Doula Tips and Tits where we answer one question about pregnancy, labor, postpartum, or lactation, in order to have your journey in this parenting world be just a little bit more informed and filled with consent. Hello, and welcome back to Kaely Daily. I am Kaely Harrod, your host, doula childbirth educator, etc. And today's episode is starting a few episodes worth of pushing information. So today's is one of the questions that I get asked a lot, I would say, from most of my students and clients. And that is, is pushing a baby, like pooping. So that's what we're diving into, are talking poop today, which is just loads of fun. So my short answer to this is kind of because you know how I do these. So yes, and no, on the one hand, pooping ideally would not involve pushing, right? When your bowels are healthy, and you are having poops that are not hard, then your ideal is to sit on the toilet and be able to relax your pelvic floor. And then your body should do the work of pooping, right. Same with paying shouldn't push, you shouldn't have to force anything, etc. So that's the first thing. However, if you are an adult, you have probably at some point in your life, experienced constipation. If you have experienced constipation, you probably have also experienced the feeling of bearing down or pushing when you poop. So in that sense, pushing a baby is similar to that sort of function of pushing the poop. Now, a few things to think about here. One is what muscles in your body are doing this work, right? I think we often focus a lot on the pelvic floor. And an upcoming episode will be all about that with my dear friend who is a pelvic floor physical therapist. But we focus on the pelvic floor needing to be really strong. But actually, the pelvic floor needs to be really supple, it needs to be really able to relax, right. And so with pushing, what I want you to think about is that your uterus is doing this awesome work of pushing down the baby. And then you're joining in with your like core muscles pushing with your diaphragm. So I'm like all of that is helping right. But your actual pelvic floor just kind of has to move out of the way. And so when you're pushing your it's usually your pelvic floor relaxes best in similar scenarios to pooping. So it's super productive, for instance, to push a baby sitting on the toilet. This is also why like being upright is really good like squatting or on hands and knees are both excellent positions for giving birth to a baby. A birth stool is great because it also provides that like same amount of
Kaely Harrod 3:52
of support like externally right to the edges of your body can be sitting on it where the middle where the pelvic floor is does not have the same kind of tension and force up against it. So there's space for it to relax, to move out of the way to let the baby through. So so that's how it is. It is it is not similar. It is however, I think helpful to think about the logistics of having a bowel movement or pooping in terms of positioning of your body, okay. So think about like if you're sitting on the toilet, for instance, and you stand up, right you like tighten your leg muscles, tighten your glutes. That's going to be counterproductive to the process of pooping right. But oftentimes in pushing, especially in the US where we do lots of pushing in beds on people's backs still, which is not a great position. I will talk about that in a future episode. but it's not a great position to be on, you're back in the bed. However, if you are on the bed and your legs are up in the air, it's really easy to push force into your legs. And that kind of closes off your pelvic floor. And it's very similar to the motion of standing up if you're sitting on a toilet, but that would be like, obvious, right? Like, if you're sitting on the toilet, like, I'm gonna have a poop. And then you're like, you know, well, you know, it'd be helpful right now is to stand up. You know, that's not helpful, right? You already have pooped enough in your life, to realize that that is going to be in fact, incredibly unhelpful. And so in pushing, it's the same kind of thing that you want those, those legs and pelvic floor, like, all just really relaxed, because it doesn't need to help with that, right? Like, it's not a necessary part of that process. I really love positions where your feet are up against something. So like, standing squatting, if you're lying down, having your feet on something, so you can feel if you're pushing in your legs, and then stop doing it because it's not helpful. But also honestly, pushing on the toilet is wildly effective, very, very effective. Because your pelvic floor is like, Oh, we know what to do here, right? Like, we just sit down and relax, because this is our safe place. Right? That's how you've trained your body. So. So I mean, I'm not against, you know, a well guided toilet, baby, if that's, that's a necessary and important thing. Or helpful thing, I do think it is a wonderful position. But you want a provider who can in fact to catch your baby, and not have them just go into the toilet. So that's an important factor in that. So that's today's question, I do want to remind you that I have a brand new excuse my alarm, I have a brand new freebie. So it is a free guide, that is all about the six sources of oxytocin that you need. So I will put a link to that in the show notes, it is something that you should start planning ahead of birth, ideally. So this is a birth preparation, kind of free guide. brand spanking new, I just put it out last week. And keep an eye out in the next couple of episodes for some more pushing information. So that's kind of going to be our focus for the next handful of episodes. And so you're gonna learn all the fun things about pushing in the next coming episodes. As always, this is not medical advice. I am not in fact, your medical provider. And so this is for entertainment and education. Please talk to your own medical provider about your medical scenario. All right. In the meantime, until I see you again, I wish you consent filled lovely words. Edited and produced by Kaely. Her rod as I'm sure you can probably tell, and our amazing music is credited in the shownotes as well. So we look forward to seeing you on the next episode. And in the meantime, have a wonderful and consent filled
Unknown Speaker 8:29
birth
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
1, 2, 3 PUSH!!!! While sometimes the movies show us that type of pushing during childbirth, that’s not what pushing has to be. Many people say “push like you’re pooping” but that’s not entirely correct either. Ideally you’re not pushing while you poop! And while the pressure of baby’s head can feel like a massive poo, it doesn’t have to be forcibly pushed out.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Here are some things to consider about pushing:
All your lower-body muscles need to relax during it
Breathe if you need to! Some people like to hold their breath, but it’s not vital
Position also matters, so consider a position that more similarly mimics pooping
RESOURCES
FREE OXYTOCIN GUIDE:
6 Ways to Increase Oxytocin for Labor Progression
https://www.harroddoulaservices.com/free-guide-6-oxytocin-tips
CONNECT with Kaely on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/Harroddoula/
This podcast is hosted by the Birth Prep Blueprint - comprehensive Childbirth Education for expectant parents to feel calm, prepared and confident about labor and birth. Podcast listeners (that’s YOU!) get 10% off! Use the link below to get that great deal!
https://thebirthprepblueprint.com/offers/884d5a56-9089-4482-a944-6bb7c26c9b04
If you like this episode, don't forget to share it to your Instagram stories and tag me @harroddoula
Kaely Daily is produced by Kaely Harrod of Harrod Doula Services
It is sponsored by The Birth Prep Blueprint Childbirth Class
Music by Madirfan: Hidden Place on Pixabay
