I'm going to give you a hot tip: the position you labour and birth in, can have a huge impact on your labour, birth and overall experience! Unfortunately, most of the time when you walk into a birthing room, the first thing you'll see is the bed, in the middle of the room, which you are automatically drawn to. Then the nurse/midwife/obstetrician asks you to lay back on the bed for them to do some routine assessments. Then things get hectic and before you know it, you're tied to the bed and it's impacting on your labour (even if you don't know it).

Well, this post is going to tell you why you should get off your back, and how!

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Here are some quick stats on birth positions and their effects on labour and birth:

• In a study of over 100,000 mums (yes, that's a lot!), the position resulting in the lowest rates of severe perineal tearing was standing. The position associated with the highest rates of severe tearing was lithotomy (on your back, legs in stirrups) [1]

• For first-time mums, birthing on their side protected them from severe perineal tears; for subsequent births, using a birth stool/lithotomy position were both associated with increased rates of severe tears [1]

• Babies of mums who had epidurals and laboured flat on their backs have high acid levels in the cord blood at birth [2], and the World Health Organisation also recognises that upright positions in labour are associated with less abnormal fetal heart rate patterns [2]

• Waterbirth has many advantages in labour and birth - one of which is the buoyancy of your body in the water - it's much easier to move and change positions, compared to when you feel tired and heavy at the end of your pregnancy! A recent study of waterbirth in Sweden showed the benefits of waterbirth were reduced tearing, a much shorter labour (by over an hour!) and less intervention [3]

• Walking and upright positions in the first stage over labour reduce the overall length of labour, the risk of caesarean section and need for epidurals [4] - this was a systematic review (the highest level of evidence available) of over 5000 women

• The duration of the second stage of labour (pushing the baby out!) is reduced in women who birth in upright positions compared to on their backs. Instrumental births and episiotomies are also less likely [5]

• Movement is a good coping strategy for contractions [6], and being open to movement and position changes mean you will find a position where you are able to handle with contractions more easily 

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Now that we've covered that, let's talk different positions and how they look in birth. It's really important that you share these with your birth team so they can suggest these positions when you reach a brick wall in labour, and help you to get into these positions. Please enjoy these beautiful images from Adelaide Birth Photographer.

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