Vertical Birth

Such kind of delivery is considered alternative, although a few centuries ago it was traditional. Our great grandmothers did not know other ways. However, everything is changing, and women deliver horizontally now. How does it contradict nature? What are the advantages of vertical delivery and the contraindications to it?

Vertical Birth Is Physiologic

No animal gives birth to a baby lying on its back: this is unnatural and requires extra effort and time.

Every obstetrician-gynecologist will say that traditional birth is less physiological than the vertical one. It is only comfortable to the doctor who assists the birth (which is though important enough).

Vertical Birth Prevents Hypoxia

When a woman in labor is lying on her back, the womb, the mass of which reaches 6 kg at that time, begins to put pressure on the blood vessels along the spine, including the aorta. Because of this, normal blood flow is disturbed. As a result, the baby and the mother lose the necessary amount of oxygen.

If a woman is sitting on a special chair, fitball, or standing on all fours, the womb’s pressure on major blood vessels is reduced, which improves the utero-placental blood flow and prevents the development of hypoxia (oxygen deprivation) in a child during labor pains and when the baby’s head is coming through the birth canal.

Pushing Is Easier with Vertical Birth

It is also very inconvenient to push lying on your back. Much more energy is spent, whereas in the upright position gravity helps. Mothers who have given birth vertically remember that they had to push hard once or twice, and the rest of the time, they strained their abdominal muscles.

Low-Injury Birth

Already in the first stage of labor it is easier for the woman to endure pain. Expectant mothers can act freely: walk, sit on a fitball or take a shower. Active movements accelerate the disclosure of the cervix.

Due to the fact that the mommy herself chooses a comfortable pose listening to the tips of her body, labor pains lessen and the disclosure is softer. Therefore, vertical delivery rarely requires anaesthesia.

Pushing against the Gravity

When the baby is coming through the birth canal, there is a palpable difference between horizontal and vertical position of mothers, too. When a woman is lying on her back, the child is moving by jerks. She, in fact, has to push the baby up, overcoming the force of gravity. And if she is half-sitting, kneeling or sitting in a special chair (the woman chooses the appropriate position herself), the process proceeds smoothly and continuously, thereby reducing the likelihood of the baby’s birth defects and the mother’s ruptures.

Blood Loss Is Less

According to the statistics, due to a more rapid removal of the placenta in the vertical delivery less blood is lost compared to the traditional birth when a woman is lying. The birth of the placenta occurs vertically. At this time, a woman is sitting with the baby at her breast.

Vertical Birth Contraindications

Any pathology that occurred during pregnancy or during childbirth falls under the category of obstetric contraindications to vertical delivery. In addition, experts warn against this type of delivery when the baby’s mass exceeds 3 kg or when the delivery is premature or accelerated.