Birthing balls- what should I do on it?

[mantaray]

I'm currently sitting here on a birthing ball wondering what else I should do on it besides sit!
I am 39weeks today, baby was 4/5ths engaged last week and I haven't felt a twinge.
So, sit and bounce in a specific way? Bounce until I feel sick or go for short bursts on it?
Many bouncy thanks!

[RoseBlossoms]

i sat and did circles around and around for hours on end! So sit with legs apart feet flat on the floor and slowly move bum and pelvis around, with your feet staying in roughly the same place. IYSWIM?

Found it v.useful in early labour as the movement eased my contraction pain and was a comfortable thing to sit on as sitting on sofa or hard chair was so uncomfortable!

I took rasberry leaf tablets as well these are supposed to help your contractions be stronger and more effective. Dont really know if they helped but i had a 12 hours labour from waters breaking (no pain for at least 6hrs) and only 1/2 hours pushing. So cant hurt!

Good luck hope everything moves quickly for you x

[warthog]

what roseblossoms says - very good! really speeds things along.

[feedthegoat]

My midwife told me to kneel over the ball and lean on it to encourage baby into correct position. Don't know if this would be of much use to you now though if you are 4/5ths engaged anyway! I spent hours like this watching tv! I did help my back ache though.

I found it really useful in labour and managed to get through the first 17 hours of labour (to 9.5 cms dialated) at home bouncing on the ball and getting in the bath. This came as a great shock to anyone who knew me as they all had me down as screaming for drugs from the week before.