6 Ways To Release Pelvic Tension During Labour.

When we experience strong emotions it is completely normal for us to clench our jaw, does stress affect you like this? Did you know, there is a direct link to holding tension in your jaw and holding tension in your pelvic area. The Anus, vagina and cervix are all sphincter muscles, this means that you have no control over them. They remain closed unless something is moving in or out in which case they will then generally relax to allow this whatever it is to move through. The important thing to understand about the sphincters as with the uterus is that they do not function if tension is present. If you are clenching your jaw during labour, this will therefore make it harder for baby to move down and through, it will also be more difficult, to use your hypnobirthing surge breathing to its full advantage and to use your deep breathing. With this in mind, the amount of blood flow and oxygen will decrease making way for that vicious cycle of fear - tension - pain to set in.

The tips below will help you be more familiar with letting go of your jaw and pelvis.

1. Place your tongue behind your upper teeth

   Rest your tongue lightly behind your front upper teeth. Now try to clench your jaw at the same time, doesn’t it feel almost impossible! While you are practicing your relaxations, at the beginning try to make an effort to do this and it will become more familiar to you.

2. Massage

   You can massage the inside of your mouth and the large muscles towards the back of your mouth which open and close your jaw. Holding pressure on those points can release the tension.

3. Prenatal yoga

   I loved my pregnancy yoga classes and I felt it really helped me to get to know my body. Poses that integrate the pelvic floor and the jaw together such as cat-cow or safely practicing deep squatting can be very helpful. I also enjoyed humming and making the sounds during yoga as this helped to release jaw tension.

4. Breathing

   Take a long slow deep breath in through your nose if you can and send this breath all the way down to where your baby is, then take a long, slow deep breath out. Taking long deep breaths in through your nose till enable your jaw to be open and relaxed, which we know now will help your pelvis to relax.

5. Sigh or sing

   Your partner or doula can encourage you to take a deep sigh which can relax your throat and jaw.

6. Birth Partner Encouragement

   One of the things we discuss is how your partner can encourage you to release your jaw. Perhaps you have a tendency to grind your teeth so sometimes with them stroking your jaw can be the prompt you need otherwise your partner can encourage you to breathe and relax.