Optimal foetal positioning (OFP) is a really important topic for pregnant women to know about and could help to make birth easier.
In order to be born, a baby descends and rotates through the pelvis. Your baby’s position in the womb will influence just how easy that rotation and descent will be.
The optimal foetal position for a baby is called Left Occiput Anterior, you may see this in your maternity notes written as LOA. This position is where the baby is head down and their back is on your left handside in-between your hip and the front of your pelvis facing in-between your right hip and your spine. This position helps to line your baby up to fit into the pelvis as easily as possible. It enables baby the space to tuck their chin in and present the smallest diameter of their head to the cervix in order to fit through. Getting baby into a good position before you go into labour will help to make labour quicker and easier.
Most babies will assume this position in preparation for their birth but there are a number of factors that will influence your baby’s ability to do this. Our modern sedentary lifestyles play a big part and massively affect the position of our babies. Sitting at desks for long periods of time and sitting on sofas don’t help to optimise the position of the baby for birth.
Optimal Foetal Positioning… What can you do to help get your baby into the right position?
In order to get your baby into the right position, our top tips here at JustExhale are:
- Instead of sitting on the sofa, you could try sitting upright on a birthing ball with your feet flat on the floor and hips above your knees.
- Spending some time on your all fours during the day.
- Avoid slouching on the sofa.
Optimal Foetal Positioning is something that we actively discuss and work on every week in the JustExhale pregnancy yoga classes. For more information, check our our regular updates on Facebook: Just Exhale (facebook.com)
