“Do you have your peanut ball ready for labor?
Peanut balls are one of the best tools you can use in labor because it serves multiples purposes. It can be used in both natural and medicated births which makes it even more versatile.
In labor, we want our bodies to be active to make room for our babies to descend. In order to do that, we have to WERK with our contractions (you see what I did there 😆). By moving our bodies into position that will open our pelvis and relax our pelvic floors, we can make each contraction more beneficial. However, labor is difficult. It can put a lot on our bodies and drain us of energy, so we also have to make sure we rest as well. But, it’s important that we put ourselves in proper positions during our resting period so that our bodies can still work with our contractions to bring us closer to meeting our babies faster.
I like to call Peanut Balls a Laboring Pillow because it reminds me of the position I laid in bed when sleeping with my pregnancy pillow (except it provided me a different experience 😆). I love that these balls can be used for natural laboring mamas and mamas with an epidural (since this is an optimal laboring position anyways – Without the ball, of course).
Of the small amount of research done on the #peanutball , the result of the study I read about favored the use of it. Tussey and Botsois (2011) randomized 200 women (uncomplicated labor with an epidural) into two groups. One group used the peanut ball in either the semi Fowler’s position (look this up ) or the sidelying position (shown in my photo), switching sides every 1-2 hours. The sample size was small, but the results were very promising. The first stage of labor was shorter by an average of 90 minutes, and second stage was roughly half as long (43.5 min in the control group, 21.3 min in the peanut ball group). Information shared from @lamazehealthybirthclass .
I would say, this would be enough for me to go get a peanut ball immediately 🏃🏽♀️. The 45cm and 55cm are the ideal size.
Do you have a peanut ball already or did you use one in labor?
Instagram: @awerkingmama
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