3.2 Comfort Measures: Manual Pressure on Top of the Sacrum

3.2 COMFORT MEASURES: MANUAL PRESSURE ON top OF THE SACRUM

At some point during labor, most women will experience discomfort in their lower back as baby is making its descent down through the pelvis. Where she feels the discomfort in her back would usually be in relation to where baby is and what baby is trying to do.

So when in active labor and the baby’s head is moving lower, women tend to feel discomfort in their lower sacrum and when we use counter pressure with the intent to massage away her discomfort, we could potentially be closing the space available for her baby instead.

So when the baby is moving lower, one of the comfort measures used would be to place our hand on the upper sacrum and apply counter pressure which in turn will ‘push’ the inlet pelvis to close, causing the outlet pelvis to open. This creates more space for the baby to go through the mid-outlet pelvis and may relieve the pressure on her lower sacrum.

This is most comfortably done with the mother either in a standing position or kneeling position with her birth supporter behind or beside her.

You can use this technique in a non-problematic labor and/or to modify the pelvic opening and create more space in the mid pelvis to outlet pelvis. Any techniques for the second stage are best utilised with good and effective breathing techniques to enable the mother to bear down effectively.

For OMP Active Birth Positions , OMP Pelvic Mobility Protocols and OMP Comfort Measures to be effective, it has to be done during contractions and used for 5-10 consecutive contractions to see if it is effective in enabling labor to progress.