How to Work With Your Body During Labour (Not Against It)

Labour and Love – Gentle Support for Your Birth Journey

There’s something powerful that happens in birth when you stop trying to control the process and instead learn to move with it. Labour isn’t something you “do”—it’s something you experience alongside your body, your baby, and your instincts.

In a world that often teaches us to resist discomfort, tighten against intensity, and “power through,” working with your body during labour can feel like a radical act of trust. But it’s also one of the most grounding, empowering things you can do.

Whether you’re planning a home birth, a water birth, or a hospital birth, these principles will help you tune in, soften, and support your body rather than fight it.

1. Breathe in a Way That Helps Your Body Open

Your breath sets the rhythm of your labour. Fast, shallow breathing tells your nervous system that something is wrong. Slow, low breathing tells your body, “We’re safe. We can soften now.”

Try:

• Inhale through your nose for 4
• Exhale through your mouth for 6
• Let your jaw relax
• Let your shoulders melt down

Your uterus does the contracting — your job is to release tension everywhere else.

A diffuser with gentle, grounding essential oils can help cue your body into relaxation mode. Many Labour and Love mums love creating their birth sanctuary this way, especially alongside dim lights and warm water.

2. Stay Loose in the Places That Tend to Tighten

Jaw tight? Pelvic floor tight.
Hands clenched? Shoulders clenched.
Face scrunched? Your whole body follows.

One of the most effective ways to work with your body in labour is to notice tension and consciously soften it. Relaxing your jaw alone can help your cervix open more easily.

Try:

• Sway your hips
• Wiggle your jaw
• Blow out your lips (midwives love this one!)
• Let your hands hang loose

Birth is a downward, opening process. Anything that helps you relax downward supports it.

3. Move Like Your Body Wants to Move

Movement isn’t just allowed during labour — it’s biologically helpful. Your baby is navigating a spiral descent through your pelvis, and your body often knows exactly what positions help that happen.

Follow your instincts:

• Lean forward during contractions
• Rock on all fours
• Use the birth pool for buoyancy
• Try lunges, hip circles, or a birth ball
• Stand and sway with your partner

Every movement helps create space for your baby. You’re not being dramatic — you’re being intuitive.
If you’re planning a home water birth, our Oat-Milk Birth Pool gives you a supportive, cozy space to move freely and find comfort during waves.

4. Sound — Don’t Swallow — Your Power

Sound in labour isn’t a lack of control; it’s a form of release.
Low, deep sounds (think: humming, moaning, sighing) help your pelvic floor stay relaxed and open.

High-pitched sounds? They often mean tension or overwhelm.

Try anchoring yourself with a grounding, low “ahh” or “om” as a wave rises. Think vibration, not volume.

5. Work With the Waves, Not Against Them

Contractions aren’t random — they are your body and baby working together. Fighting the sensations can make them feel sharper. Leaning into them can make them feel more purposeful and manageable.

Visualise each wave as:

• A surge moving your baby down
• A feeling with a beginning, middle, and end
• A force that is for you, not against you

You don’t have to love every moment, but trusting that each wave has a job can transform how you meet them.

6. Use Your Environment as a Tool

A supportive birth environment is one that makes your nervous system feel safe. Safety = relaxation. Relaxation = easier labour.

Think:

• Warm lighting
• Privacy
• Familiar smells
• Music that grounds you
• Water (bath, shower, or birth pool)

We created Labour and Love products with this in mind — from our soothing belly oil (perfect for touch and connection in early labour) to our gentle perineum spray and post-birth recovery essentials for when baby is earthside.

7. Trust Your Hormones More Than Your Textbook

Birth isn’t linear. It’s instinctual, hormonal, and primal. When you let your body lead, oxytocin and endorphins drive the process smoothly and powerfully.

You can support your hormones by:

• Staying warm
• Staying undisturbed
• Keeping lights low
• Feeling loved and supported
• Resting when you can
• Eating little bits of energy-rich food early on

Your body is doing ancient, brilliant work. Trust it.

8. Let Go of the “Shoulds” and Lean Into the “Is”

Birth plans are beautiful — but birth itself is alive. Working with your body often means letting go of expectations and tuning into what’s actually helping in the moment.

Your body isn’t following a schedule.
Your baby isn’t following a script.
And that’s okay.

The more you respond to what you feel (not what you think you “should” feel), the more ease you create for yourself.

Final Thoughts: Your Body Knows What to Do

Working with your body during labour isn’t about perfection. It’s about partnership.

You and your baby are a team.
Your body is wise.
Your instincts are ancient.
And birth—however it unfolds—is a powerful dance between the two of you.

If you’re preparing for labour, creating a calm, safe, grounded environment makes all the difference. And that’s exactly why we created Labour and Love: to give NZ families the tools, comfort, and confidence to meet birth with softness, strength, and support.