Did you know sacrum means "sacred" in Latin and it is also known as "the holy bone"? How cool is that!
Your sacrum is a large, triangular bony piece made up of five vertebrae that are fused together. It's located at the end of your spine, in between your hip bones and forms the back of your pelvis. In labour and birth, your sacrum plays a large role in creating space for baby to journey through your pelvis.
Our body has seven different energy centres, the sacral chakra is "located between the pubic bone and navel in the front of the body and at the sacrum in the lower back" (Sarles 2020). It is believed that our sacrum houses feelings of fear, creativity, intimacy, pleasure. We can hold all these emotions in our sacrum and in turn experience lower back discomfort.
During pregnancy, it is important to be mindful of the way you are moving, standing and sitting.
1. Standing - place both feet on the ground with weight distributed evenly. Avoid standing on one leg
2. Sitting - avoid slouching on the chair/sofa, these postures causes the sacrum to move inwards within the pelvis, creating less space for baby. Add pillows behind you to adopt better posture or sit on the gym ball
In labour, it is encouraged to adopt upright positions and active movements to help your baby move through the pelvis. These positions help your sacrum create more space and take the weight off your tailbone:
Kneeling
Standing
Hands-and-knees
Side-lying
Squatting
Using a birth stool
To find out more about birthing positions, check out this article by Evidence Based Birth
With love & gratitude,
Chantel Kismet
This article does not serve as medical advice, please always check with your doctor
Parenthood | Motherhood | Birth | Birthing Positions | Sacrum | Pregnancy