"Exercise Balls Reduce Labor Time and Cesarean Sections"

A white woman with a pregnant belly and relaxed face sits on an exercise ball.
There is a bed in front of her with a big pillow on it, perhaps in a birth center.

The present nurse-led randomized, controlled trial conducted at Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center, a Phoenix hospital part of nonprofit Banner Health, examined the differences between women who used a peanut ball during labor and women who did not. 

The study found that the use of exercise balls during labor can help women who use an epidural, and who are subsequently are usually limited in the number and capacity to try different position changes, offers multiple benefits including decreased labor time, increased circulation, fetal descent, and improved quality of contractions. Ultimately, using a peanut ball resulted in decreased length of labor and increased rate of vaginal birth.

"Exercise Balls Reduce Labor Time and Cesarean Sections"

I would love to see this research repeated on a larger scale. I suspect the magnitude of their claims would be reduced a bit with increased data-- halving cesarean rates with a single intervention seems like a small sample size inflating its significance.

Have you tried an exercise ball in labor? How was it for you?

Does your intended birth place have birth balls available?

In cahoots,

~Sasha