Dynamic Positions in Birth : A Fresh Look at How Women's Bodies Work in Labour

Starting with a short history of birth furniture, Dynamic Positions in Birth goes on to explore the anatomy and physiology of labour from an evolutionary perspective. This updated edition expands Jowitt''s new biomechanical model of how the uterus works first published in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in 2018 which has profound implications for giving mothers freedom of movement in labour and birth. It explores how rethinking positions for labour and birth could benefit mothers and their babies.

Equally important is the need to change attitudes to birth so that women are encouraged to play a more active part in the birth of their babies instead of being subjected to clinical interventions designed to mitigate the adverse effects of labouring in a starkly unnatural environment. Jowitt argues that it is possible to give women labouring in hospital a better chance of giving birth naturally. The book concludes by calling for a fresh look at the environment for birth. Delivery rooms can be made more user friendly by introducing furniture designed around women''s need for physical support during labour as well as for the birth, and by hiding away the more alarming technology unless it is needed. Women need a less forbidding environment and more encouragement to move freely and adopt positions which will enhance their chance of achieving a normal birth.