What’s New With The Three Balances
I reviewed the Three Balances at a Spinning Babies workshop given June 10, 2022, taught by midwife Tema Mercado in San Diego.
I always learn a lot and leave feeling inspired. There have been some changes in Spinning Babies since the last time I took the workshop about 10 years ago from Gail Tully .
The Three Sisters Are Now The Three Balances
The Three Sisters have been renamed the Three Balances. They are the Jiggle, Forward Leaning Inversions and Side-Lying Release. These are the three basic fetal positioning techniques to use throughout pregnancy and in labor.
The Rebozo has been replaced by the Jiggle
The Jiggle is a bum jiggle for 5-20 minutes that is meant to release fascia and relax the parasympathetic nervous system. To avoid cultural appropriation Spinning Babies now teaches the Jiggle instead of the famous Rebozo technique to “shake the apples”. People who would still like to learn Rebozo technique are encouraged to seek training from traditional wisdom keepers .
The way to jiggle a birthing person is akin to how one would calm a baby by jiggling. It’s a gentle, rhythmic motion that calms the parasympathetic nervous system. It’s easy to imagine how this creates space. It reminds me of when everything seems to open up when a birthing person relaxes after an epidural. But how wonderful to achieve this relaxation at a homebirth by jiggling without anesthesia.
Forward Leaning Inversion
Forward leaning inversions haven’t changed. They are done for 30 seconds to relax the utero-sacral ligament and help a breech baby flip. Logic tells me that each time the forward leaning inversion is done it allows the baby to come out of the pelvis and then to re-engage. In my opinion, this prevents the baby from wedging down too deep too soon and could prevent the formation of fetal cranial asymmetries.
Side Lying Release
The Side-Lying Release is done on each side for three minutes. This position definitely needs a helper to support the birthing person from falling. It stretches and lengthens the pelvis and the spine. It also frees mobility in the sacrum and softens the pelvic floor.
A baby may only need an additional millimeter of space to squeeze through a tight spot. The Three Balances helps create that millimeter.
My favorite quote from the workshop was, “Spinning Babies is the active part of patience”. This is when the midwives and doulas go to work to actively support a physiological birth by applying the three balances. Three Balances and other fetal positioning activities restore body balance and make just enough more space for a baby to fit.
