Birthing Balls…. 100 uses!

When in labour with my first daughter the midwife handed me one of these balls with two painkillers and then left the room. I was completely baffled and didn’t quite know what to do with it. I tried sitting, bouncing and rollling about on it but I felt like a bit of a prat and it didn’t seem to make any difference at all to the pain so I gave up and pushed it into the corner.

It goes without saying then that when I fell pregnant this time buying a birthing ball was the last thing on my mind. However this changed last week when I went to see my physiotherapist to talk through the best positions for me to give birth in. Due to the SPD and related pelvic pain I suffer from I can’t lie on my back as usual, so a bit of imagination will be required!

She recommended giving birth on all fours or on my knees using a birthing ball as support. She also said that sitting on and leaning on a birthing ball in the lead up to labour may make things a bit quicker and encourage the baby into a better position.

So off I went to Argos and bought their cheapest ?3.99 version! Its great, I can lean over it while watching TV and get complete relief from the pelvic pain, its also a great footstool and after the birth I just know my kids will have so much fun throwing at each others heads! I also plan to take up Yoga or Pilates after the baby is born and apparently both use these balls in their excercises. So all in all a very versatile piece of equipment for under ?4 don’t ya think??