Today, we’re exploring one of the most powerful tools for birth: movement. When we consider movement during labor and delivery, it raises questions such as: Does the shape and size of your pelvis impact the birthing process? How does the pelvis open? Can you move effectively if you have an epidural? Join us as we delve into the importance of movement (and advocating for it!) in birth.
To have this conversation with me today on Yoga | Birth | Babies, I am joined by Brittany Sharpe McCollum. Brittany is a Perinatal Pelvic Biomechanics Educator, a labor support doula, and a childbirth educator. She is also the owner of Blossoming Bellies Wholistic Birth Services based out of the greater Philadelphia PA area.
Brittany is a wealth of knowledge, so you can rest assured knowing that you’ll gain valuable insights from this episode. Ultimately, my hope is that this discussion instills you with a new level of confidence in your body’s ability to bring baby into the world.
In this episode, you will learn:
- About Brittany and how she got into birth work
- Her thoughts on pelvic shape and size, and if this is prevalent when giving birth
- The benefits of movement in labor
- How our bodies might guide us to follow instinctual movements and how a birthing person can find the confidence to listen to their instincts
- Instinct vs social conditioning in regards to labor and birth
- Brittany’s suggestions for advocating for movement in a hospital setting
- Some tips for laboring with a posterior baby, or if the baby’s chin is extended up or asynclitic
- Ways the support person can help the birthing person keep labor flowing and baby in a favorable position
- How the support team can help with positioning with an epidural
- Brittany’s 5/4/3 Rule of Movement
- One final tip or piece of advice Brittany would like to offer new and expectant parents
- Where you can find your work
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About Brittany:
Brittany Sharpe McCollum, CCE(BWI), CPLD, CLC is a Perinatal Pelvic Biomechanics Educator and the owner of Blossoming Bellies Wholistic Birth Services based out of the greater Philadelphia PA area, providing childbirth education classes, birth doula services, and dynamic labor support and pelvic biomechanics training workshops for perinatal professionals and expectant parents. She has offered birth-related support for expectant parents since 2007 with an approach focusing on developing advocacy skills for effective communication, utilizing movement in all labors to support progress, and understanding the importance of an individualized person-centered approach to childbirth. Brittany also creates and facilitates continuing education workshops for clinical and non-clinical labor support providers on evidence-based fetal positioning, pelvic biomechanics, and labor physiology and is honored to be a sought after speaker at trainings and conferences, including the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association Summit in 2018, Evidence Based Birth Conference in 2019, NNEPQIN Winter 2022, the ACNM Midwifery Day conference, the New Jersey Midwifery Education Project, Somos Raices: Maternal and Child Well-Being Conference, and more. She is also a contributing author to the book “Baby Got VBAC: An Inspiring Collection of Wisdom for Better Births After Cesarean,” the creator of the anatomy and reproductive structure curriculum of the ICEA childbirth educator training, and the facilitator of pelvic biomechanics and labor positioning training of the labor and delivery staff orientation for Vermont Medical Center in Burlington VT.
Connect with Brittany:
Website: www.blossomingbelliesbirth.com
FB: Blossoming Bellies Wholistic Birth Services
TikTok: Blossoming Bellies Birth
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