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Written by

Gina Conley, MS

3 Ways Your Birth Partner Can Support Your Labor

  • Birth, Birth Partner, Labor Biomechanics

Our birth partners play a large role in supporting us during our labors!  A birth partner is your primary emotional support person, who can also provide physical support and advocacy for you during your birth!

A birth partner is usually your baby’s other parent, but can also be a close family member or friend.  

But just being close to you doesn’t mean they know what to do during birth!  Birth support can be overwhelming for our partners who want to so badly provide the best support but feel unsure on how to navigate labor.

Let’s breakdown a few ways that your birth partner can support your labor!

3 Ways Your Birth Partner Can Support Your Labor

Your birth partner can support your labor in a number of ways:

  • Providing physical support during your labor positions
  • Applying comfort measures during your contractions
  • Advocating for your birth wishes and care during your birth

One thing that I found really helpful for my birth partner was to have a quick reference guide for him to use during our birth.  This guide had comfort measures that I wanted to try (plus I had all the comfort measure tools prepared in our labor bag), and labor positions I wanted to try during our birth.

This guide gave him some ideas for labor positions to recommend to me if I needed more guidance during our birth!

Childbirth Education Course

Labor Position Quick Reference Guide

This 29-page e-book includes labor positions to do for each pelvic level!  Easily reference all of our recommended labor positions + counter pressure techniques!

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1) Labor Position Support: Physically Supporting Your Movement During Labor

Birth Partner Can Support Your Labor

An easy way to support labor is to provide physical support during labor positions!  Your partner can physically support you, by holding onto your hands as you drop into a deep squat, or holding you up as you sway side to side.

Your partner can also make recommendations on WHAT labor position to do based on how you are already moving. 

One easy support technique is to hold hands or drape a scarf under your arms (pictured) as you drop into a deep squat if baby is still high in the pelvis.

Another labor support technique is to hold your hands as you sit on a birth ball, either rocking forward and backward if baby is high, or side to side if baby is engaged and in the midpelvis.

2) Contraction Support: Comfort Measures

One of my favorite ways my birth partner supported me during my labor was counterpressure!  

Counterpressure is one of the comfort measures that your partner can provide during your contractions to decrease the intensity and provide pain relief!

During a contraction, your partner can apply a counterpressure technique, such as the double hip squeeze or sacral counterpressure.  This helps to decrease the tension in the uterine ligaments to provide pain relief!

In our prenatal fitness programs, we include labor preparation workouts in the third trimester.  These labor preparation workouts are on-demand videos (offered in both our 40-week prenatal strength program and third-trimester prenatal on-demand program) that you and your partner can do together to prepare for birth. 

These workouts walk you through labor positions and counterpressure techniques!  Watch a preview of the counter-pressure labor prep workout!

3) Advocacy

A huge way that our birth partner can support our birth is by being our voice if we are having a harder time communicating our wishes and needs.  This doesn’t mean that our birth partner is making decisions for us based on what they want us to do.  Rather, because of our preparation throughout our pregnancy, they have a clear understanding of what we are wanting for our birth.  

Throughout your pregnancy, you and your birth partner can sit down to discuss your desires for your birth and develop a course of action for a variety of scenarios, so they have a clear understanding of what you are wanting during birth.

Grab our free birth plan template for an idea of what your options are during your birth!  If you want more in-depth planning, check out our birth planning course OR join our full-length childbirth education course!

Todd
Childbirth Education Course: Birth Partner
I was hesitant to attend another birthing class with my wife but decided to attend the child birth education class - soo thankful we did. Although I had already been to a number of birthing classes with my wife for our first child I learned a lot from Gina and enjoyed the interaction with other soon to be parents. Great use of visual aids and being hands on was a huge plus. We learned about positioning our partners and how I could be the most help as the birth partner. We also decided to use Gina as our Doula. It was a great experience and I can’t stress enough how fluid she made the birthing experience go - she was both of our emotional support and was able to talk us through what was happening and what to expect next. Her support in the hospital with making my wife comfortable and her interaction with hospital staff priceless. Thank you Gina!
Alisa
Childbirth Education Course
Online course worth every penny! This sister team is professional, and kind. They are true subject matter experts on all things birth and postpartum! Where they lack specific/specialist knowledge, they have resources and connections to get the answers. HIGHLY RECOMMEND.
Francine
Childbirth Education + Prenatal Fitness
Just wanted to say THANK YOU both for all your hard work. I loved the prenatal fitness program. It was a great way to maintain movement and feel strong during pregnancy. The Childbirth Education classes made me and my husband feel prepared for birth. The Return to fitness program has been amazing. So many non-scale victories like feeling stronger than I did pre-pregnancy, focusing on nourishing my body, and giving myself the compassion to take a break when I need it without feeling guilty. I have learned so much about pregnancy, postpartum, and myself. Mamastefit also provided me some great insights on finding the right pelvic floor pt to aide in my postpartum journey.
Prepare for Birth

Empower Your Birth Partner

Our birth partner can support our birth in so many ways!  They are one of the most important support persons for your birth, if not the most important!  But our birth partner may not know HOW to support our labor, and may be feeling overwhelmed with the pressure of being the primary birth support for you.

We can empower our birth partners with education prior to birth, such as with a childbirth education course, so they can feel confident in navigating birth with you!