hey there we are here with the internet's top 20 questions about the birth ball so if you have any
questions on this topic I bet I'm gonna get to them today and I'm gonna do it in a rapid fire
style to make the most of your time we're gonna do it in five minutes let's start the timer here
and let's go what is a birth ball so birth ball is just an exercise ball or a yoga ball or gym ball
they're all the same thing when you use them in pregnancy and labor and during birth you call
it a birth ball what is a birth ball used for so birth ball can be used in pregnancy as an
alternative to a chair for comfort in labor we can use it to get our bodies into different positions
and in postpartum once we have the baby we can use the birth ball to bounce and comfort our baby like
an alternative to rocking a baby what size birth ball should i get so the most common size is 65
centimeter ball actually I am going to put the height right here because i don't know it off the
top of my head but I will insert it right here how to inflate a birth ball so a lot of birth balls
come with a pump that's a hand pump that you use to inflate the ball and you can also in a pinch
blow into it and inflate it by mouth i have done that how to choose a birthing ball so i
there's a couple criteria that i really look for when i am suggesting somebody purchase a
birth ball first of all we talked about size get the right size and then you want a ball that is
rated as an anti-burst ball so that it won't just burst if a hole gets into it it instead will start
deflating that's for safety issues i also like a high quality ball and one that is rated to at
least 600 pounds of pressure on the ball so i'm going to put a link down below to my favorite
birth ball that you can get on amazon it's super affordable if you want to check that out can you
bring a birth ball to the hospital yes usually you can bring your own birth ball to the hospital
i will say that a lot of hospitals at least in the u.s and canada do provide birth balls for people
to use in labor can bouncing on a birth ball start labor oh wow this is a big question so
bouncing on the ball itself won't start labor now bouncing on a ball or moving on a
ball rotating your hips on the ball might help the baby engage that could lead to labor but
it's not that kind of magic that if you just start bouncing on a birth ball you'll go into labor do
some people go into labor when they're on a birth ball sure but is it likely i would say not likely
though could help engage that baby's head can bouncing on a birth ball hurt baby no so babies
are very safe in there they are used to being moved around a lot as we uh go about our everyday
life so not will not hurt baby how to use the birth ball to engage the baby so engage the baby
is getting that baby's head down into the pelvis and though there is not a sure fire way to do this
we could encourage this by doing big hip circles big rotations while we are on the birth ball so
that would be a way to encourage baby's head to engage when to use the birth ball in pregnancy so
you can use a birth ball at any stage of pregnancy and like i mentioned earlier it can be a really
good alternative to sitting in a chair i actually recommend my doula clients that they sit on a
birth ball for at least 15 minutes a couple times during the day how to use birth ball and labor
so you can use the birth ball in so many ways in labor actually i have a great video that i'm going
to link at the end of this and i'll link down below that details all the ways to use it in labor
but my favorite ways are sitting on the birth ball taking the birth ball and putting it on top of a
bed and then leaning on it is another one i'll try to put some pictures in here too just so you
guys can see that why does a birth ball help so a birth ball just provides another way another
method of changing up our body using movement using positioning and helping
that baby descend through the pelvis using the birth ball can help relieve some pressure
um on our body and can help us use movement as well which is a great pain and coping strategy
to incorporate movements and body position changes which is better earth ball or walking oh that's an
interesting question um do i have to choose uh i'd say birth ball is better when we need a little bit
of a rest we want to get off of our feet and um it is very versatile whereas walking is pretty
much just walking so i don't want to choose but they're both really good for different reasons
can the birth ball help with back pain i would say that it really depends on what is causing your
back pain that it is something that if you have a birth ball around and you're having back pain
you might as well try and see if um getting in a different position might help the back
the birth pain used if you're plus sized absolutely so again i would choose a high quality
birth ball no matter what size you are and just check the rating to make sure that it is tested um
up to your size and like i said i prefer a ball that is tested to 600 pounds where can
i get a birthing ball so you can certainly get a birthing ball from amazon like i linked down
below a lot of sporting goods a lot of big box stores like target and you can always get one
from a friend or neighbor just when you do this make sure that you know the quality of the birth
ball a birth ball versus a peanut ball so a birth ball is round and a peanut ball looks
like the shape of a peanut i'm gonna put the two pictures right here so you can see the difference
the difference between the birth ball and the exercise ball no difference same thing
how to do a figure eight on the birth ball so a figure eight is when you move your hips
in a figure eight direction and it is actually pretty easy and then what is a birth ball cover
so a birth ball cover is where you take fabric and you cover up the birth ball and cinch it
in with the drawstring and have a handle on the other side and i'll put a link down below to my
favorite company your doula bag that makes birth ball covers okay 20 questions we just barely made
it in the five minutes i hope that i answered all of your questions about birth balls but i know
the next video that you're going to want to see is a detailed step-by-step on how to use birth balls
when you're in labor all the positions are here in this video right here for you
and before you go there make sure you are subscribed to the channel because
i put out a video every week and i don't want you to miss it see you next time bye everybody