Published in The Plain Dealer (centerpiece of the Health section). Print version (PDF) PAGE 1 and PAGE 2.
Also published on Cleveland.com: http://photos.cleveland.com/plain-dealer/2012/07/dancing_for_birth_class_offers_2.html
By Casey Capachi
CLEVELAND, Ohio — On a warm June evening at Hillcrest Hospital, four visibly pregnant women wearing belly-dancing scarves tied below their bulging bellies stand fanning themselves with their hands and shifting their weight from side to side as a Middle Eastern beat fills the air.
“Let’s shake that baby down!” calls out class instructor Barbara Montague, and the women obediently start to gently swivel their hips, laughing, as the gold coins on their scarves jingle.
The class, called Dancing for Birth, combines elements of belly dancing and African, Latin and Caribbean dances. The moves help pregnant women strengthen the pelvic muscles they will use in labor. Another goal of the class: to get the mothers in the mind-set that “they can handle their labor and that they can do this,” says Montague, who has worked for four decades as a licensed practical nurse in labor and delivery.
Continuing their warm-up routine, the women sit squarely on top of large exercise balls, alternately stretching their backs by holding colorful scarves taut above their heads and moving their hips in circles as their pregnant bellies slowly orbit around the balls.
Montague transitions them to a standing position, and leads the women through steps with names such as “Dilation Gyration,” “Birth Goddess” and “Rock the Baby.” The women execute the moves so smoothly that Montague winks and says, “This is what got them into trouble.”
Encouraging a positive natural-childbirth experience is at the core of Dancing for Birth, says founder Stephanie Larson, who first started teaching the class she created in 2001 in New Jersey. The program is now headquartered in St. Louis.
“I love to dance, so [literally] dancing during my labor seemed like the most natural thing in the world to me and I assumed it was a common practice,” says Larson, a doula (a woman who provides emotional and physical support to a mother during labor) and childbirth educator.
“But I realized from sharing my birth story with other new moms that my birth experience was unusual. Many women feared birth or thought of birth as something they could expect to endure at best, but certainly not enjoy.”
The participants in Larson’s classes reported having such great natural births that she began receiving invitations to present her work at conferences in 2005, attracting attention of midwives, doulas and birth professionals locally and, eventually, internationally.
Since 2007, Larson has trained all 400 Dancing for Birth instructors — a mix of birth professionals, dance and fitness teachers, and “active birth proponents” — who span four continents. She is currently on a teaching tour across Europe.
In September, Dancing for Birth will offer the first trainer training in California, so others will be qualified to certify Dancing for Birth instructors.
UH also offers Dancing for Birth
Pam Hetrick, a certified nurse midwife and Dancing for Birth instructor at University Hospitals, was trained by Larson when she visited Cleveland last year.
Hetrick says UH originally offered the Dancing for Birth class as part of MacDonald Women’s Hospital’s Centering Pregnancy program for low-income women. It is now also taught at UH’s Chagrin Highlands Health Center and St. John Medical Center in Westlake.
“Women are typically nervous during pregnancy, but in class we always explain why we do the moves,” says Hetrick.
“In general, exercise is very good for pregnant women — we used to be so afraid of it,” says Dr. Elliot Philipson, chairman of obstetrics and gynecology at Hillcrest. “We know now that many women feel better when they’re moving their bodies.”
Philipson says Dancing for Birth is a “good support structure,” and he’s happy to see his patients enjoying it. But he cautions that it may be inappropriate for some people, such as women who have short cervixes or hypertension or who have gone into preterm labor previously.
The safety of dancing was initially a concern for expectant mother Julia Anisimova, 29, of Mayfield Heights, who is enrolled in Montague’s class at Hillcrest. A nurse practitioner at the Cleveland Clinic, Anisimova has enjoyed taking belly dancing and Latin dance classes for years.
“When they described what it was, they listed all of the dances that I’ve already been doing, so I thought, ‘That’s great. I already know all of the moves.’” says Anisimova, who is due in late September. Now, she says, “I know which moves are safe.”
Anisimova plans to practice the moves until they become embedded in her memory, so that when she’s in labor, they’ll come naturally. Most women in the class hope to deliver without pain medication. Montague says she is thrilled to see this shift in attitude.
“Thirty-five years ago, the moms were heavily medicated in labor and they all had [epidurals] for their birth. They didn’t want to be awake and they didn’t want to be aware of what was going on,” says Montague. “And then moms became more informed about their births, and once they knew what was going on, they wanted to be awake and they wanted to be involved with the birth.”
Help from instructor and other mothers
In the final portion of the hourlong class, Montague calls out “Contraction!” and the women ease into various positions they might assume throughout labor to aid the birthing process.
Walking over to each student, Montague, who is also a Lamaze instructor, provides pointers on how to use objects in the hospital delivery room, such as the back of a chair or bed, to help the baby descend into the pelvis.
Nicole Shirk, a 19-year-old college student from Highland Heights, who is due in early July, has enjoyed the class so much that she says she wants to follow in Montague’s steps and become a Dancing for Birth instructor.
“I wanted to do a natural birth and stay away from pain medications, so I was really grateful for this whole experience,” says Shirk, who says the best part of the class is talking with the other mothers about how they’re feeling. “Obviously, there’s going to be a lot of pain. But this class give us ways to cope with it.”
At the height of the workout, Montague instructs the women to swivel their hips in large circles and “hug their baby.”
“What if we went into labor right now?” asks one of the mothers, breathing hard.
Responds another, “Well, at least we’re in the hospital.”