Unassisted Home Birth Australia
Tips to help you pee in labour
published 19 Dec 2020, updated 25th June 2021
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You need to pee often in labour, and after birth.
A full bladder can make labour contractions more painful, and impede baby's descent, and afterwards, prevent or hinder the placenta from being birthed.
You should attempt to pee every hour or two.
This has an added bonus of reminding you to hydrate, which is also incredibly important in labour.
And the movement can possibly help baby move into the best position, and get you ready for birth. The toilet has a nickname - "dilation station".
To take advantage of the dilation help, you can sit on the toilet for a few contractions, or face backwards and lean against a pillow for comfort for as long as you feel you want to.
So, here are 15 tried and tested tips to help you pee!
Sit on the toilet first, where possible. It's automatic to relax on the toilet.
Relax - breathe deeply, and relax your body, every muscle, from head to toe
Drink water.
Listen to water (have someone pour between cups, or run the tap in the bathroom)
Peppermint oil on thighs and in toilet, and sniff the bottle as well/instead
Put your feet in water
Put your hands in warm water
Stroke your inner thighs
Bend forward on the toilet
Subpra pubic tap (tap between pubic bone and navel with fingertips, once a second for 30 seconds)
Valsalva manuever (bear down like pooping, while pressing gently on abdomen above bladder with your forearm). You can also lift the weight off your bladder by lifting your belly instead.
Run water on your perineum (Tip: use a peri bottle filled with warm water)
Stand in the shower
Go for a walk, when you feel the urge, return to toilet
Tell yourself, or have someone tell you, "You are relaxed. Your body knows what to do. You can pee"
Bonus tip: You might need to move your body in all different directions. Like try leaning over and dangling your arms. Lift your left leg up then your right! Just move different ways! After you think you are done peeing, move again different directions, and attempt to pee more for full voiding.
If you cannot pee after trying all these things, your uretha may be too swollen, and you may need to get assistance to help you pee via a catheter. If it has been a few hours, and it is impacting other things, like placenta delivery, use your intuition and BRAINS to decide when to transfer.