Labor Support

• Provide a continuous presence: reassuring, supporting, encouraging, normalizing, and loving. Sometimes this is very active, giving ideas, and taking actions. Sometimes all a mother needs is the Presence of someone who cares about her, who is calm, helps her feel safe, and is confident of her ability to give birth in the way she wants to.
  
  
• Give reminders to take care of basic self-care needs: eat, drink, rest, go to the bathroom at least once an hour. (Partners, remember to do these things for yourself too!!)
  
  
• Be sensitive to mom's emotional needs, and try to match activities and behavior to mom's mood.

• Keep mom calm, relaxed, distracted.
  
  
• Encourage mom to alternate rest and relaxation with activities to promote labor progress.
  
  
• Reassure her that everything is fine.

• At the hospital: serve as mom and baby's advocate, or help mom advocate for herself. Ask questions to make sure you have all the information you need to make decisions, and also ask questions of you to clarify that you understand the risks and benefits involved, and clarify any places where your choices may differ from the birth plan you developed in advance.
  
  
• Remind mom about breathing techniques, remind her to change positions often, suggest different positions, massage, distractions such as reading and music. Reassure and encourage. It's important to offer specific suggestions, and options from which she can choose.
  
  
• Birth: Help with positions, help the caregiver guide pushing efforts, remind mom to breathe.