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Belly Dancing and Labor

Merika: It's best to avoid hip shimmies (and pelvic drops) during pregnancy - the baby can drop prematurely and the woman ends up on bedrest (or worse). Many women, belly dancers or not, do a hip shimmy like action at some stage in their labor. It's an almost involuntary action that the body calls for, and assists you through that particular stage. www.merikaonline.com

Cathy: Do not get the expectation that MED will magically give you a trouble free birth and recovery. I know it helps a lot, but sometimes things happen and the burden of expectation ("Oh, you do bellydancing - you'll have an easy birthing") can make one feel a failure. For instance, though I rationally know all this, I had deep down *assumed* that because I am fit and into dance and naturals things, I would have an active birth and bounce back straight away. And *everyone* always told me this, though I laughed it off. I ended up having to have a caesarian cause of his breech position. I did my research and fought this right to the end, but I really had to fight a sense of depression that I was somehow failing as a dancer because of the mythology. I have another friend who really suffered postnatally because of the burden of expectation when things didn't go as planned.

Ruth: I think belly dancing saved me from a c-section this time. During labor, hip-shimmies were the only movement I wanted to make during contractions -- the only thing I could find to help me deal with things. Not really 'fast' or 'sharp' hip-shimmies, but very aggressive and "deep", nonetheless. I ended up having the same problem with this child as I did with my previous and was transported to the hospital. She was asynclitic, which means she was presenting an odd angle of her head, not the top-back portion -- coming down crookedly and getting stuck. She was 9 lbs 2 ounces -- EXACTLY the same size as my previous daughter and with the same problem and the only thing I did differently were all these hip and pelvic movements (learned in belly dance) during labor -- which is probably what shifted her down. And I managed a successful VBAC less than an hour after transport -- I'm glad a nurse was there to catch!!