Spiralling

The Spiraling Concept

You can see why I love to bring this tie-dyed banner to births! Hand-crafted by The Sunny Daisy

Have a look at this gorgeous video called "Birth As We Know It." There's a concept within it that really resonated with me, the first time I heard of it. It is 'spiraling'.

Elena Tonetti-Vladimirova of The Sentient Circle says, "If there is one thing I would want all first time mothers to know about birth, it is this: spiraling." 

Yes, I thought, that's true - so many women instinctively rotate and circle their hips during contractions.

Support people often massage in a circular motion.

The mother often paces round and round her 'birth circuit.'

Women often swish their bodies in a circular motion, in their circle-shaped birth pool - as they sink deeper and deeper into a hormone-fueled altered state of consciousness.

The birth ball - very handy for helping you easily rotate and circle your hips in labour.

The baby rotates within her, often in the physiological clockwise direction, according to Nikki McFarlane's research on Rotational Postitioning

I've since talked to some of my clients about this simple, and instinctive concept. Sometimes we have one of our pre-natal sessions in a swimming pool. Michel Odent reckons pregnant and labouring women are naturally drawn to water. I think he is on to something there. I certainly found that was true for me - especially the sea, and I was pleased if the weather was warm enough for me to submerge in the waves. A trip to the ocean provides wonderful lessons for the wildness and power and rhythms of birth. You can feel quite cumbersome towards the end of pregnancy, but I have noticed some of my clients seem quite transformed after entering the water - and begin cavorting with their mates like dolphins - lovely to watch. Oh that wonderful weightlessness.

And then we explore the Spiralling Concept. In depth similar to that of a birth pool, she circles her hips the way that feels natural to her. She begins to breath in the natural rhythm and uses her breath to assist deepening relaxation. She can use this to spiral down, down, down, deeper into a place of release and relaxation.

One of my clients, a first time mama, took to this so readily she just about forgot we (her dh and I) were there. So I drifted off a distance and left her to it, and there she was, spiralling away like a real water baby. Her labour started two weeks later, and progressed so well that she never got a chance to use her birth pool. But when second stage commenced, I noticed that she did not need to do any volitional pushing. Powerful surges swept over her, and it was as if she was indeed spiralling down into a deep place - her body was pushing the baby out even without her intentional effort. The midwife came in and suddenly said - "Is that a HEAD??" It was, and the baby was born just a few contractions later.

Physically, birth will be different for every woman. I don't mean to imply that spiralling could help you have a dead easy birth. It's normal for first births to be 2-3 day marathons.

But spiraling - letting both your body and mind circle in a natural rhythm, in a way that assists you to relax more and more deeply - may well be a valuable tool for any labour.

Check it out, it might be something significant for you.

Circling her hips as she leans over a birth ball.

I've noticed how often women choose circular, spiral-based designs for their birthing space.