Health

Women giving birth on their backs or squatting – Which is Better?

Squatting can enlarge the pelvic diameter by at least 2.5cm (1in), while working with gravity makes it far easier to give birth.So why do so many women today give birth on their backs?

Published

4 months ago

April 6, 2026

OCHEFA

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Credit: Getty images

For thousands of years, across the world, women tended to give birth in an upright position – whether kneeling as per Cleopatra, using birthing stools and chairs, or squatting.

In fact, squatting can enlarge the pelvic diameter by at least 2.5cm (1in), while working with gravity makes it far easier to give birth.So why do so many women today give birth on their backs?”

There is a generalised ignorance amongst professions and pregnant women about the physiology of birth,” says Janet Balaskas, founder of the Active Birth Centre in the UK, and author of a number of books detailing how mothers can take control of their birth experience.

In 1982, Balaskas published an “active birth manifesto” that became the central tenet of her organisation.

“Throughout the world, and for thousands of years, women have spontaneously laboured and given birth in some form of upright or crouching positions,” the manifesto reads. “Whatever the race or culture… the same upright positions predominate.”

Most women in post-industrial countries are confined to hospital in recumbent positions, Balaskas says. “This practice is illogical, making birth needlessly complicated and expensive, turning a natural process into a medical event and the labouring woman into a passive patient,” she argues.

“No other species adopts such a disadvantageous position at such a crucial time.”

Other experts agree.

In fact, giving birth lying down is a “relatively modern phenomenon”, Hannah Dahlen, professor of midwifery at Australia’s Western Sydney University, wrote in a 2013 op-ed for The Conversation.

Pregnancy as ‘illness

‘It’s only in the past 300 to 400 years that women have been largely giving birth on their backs. They can thank a French man named François Mauriceau.

He claimed that the reclining position would be both more comfortable for the pregnant woman and more convenient for the male physician attending to her (there was already a movement emerging to dispense of midwives and instead have male surgeons present at births).

Mauriceau viewed pregnancy as an illness.

In his 1668 book The diseases of women with child and in child-bed, Mauriceau advised: “The best and surest is to be delivered in their bed, to shun the inconvenience and trouble of being carried thither afterwards.”

However, some scholars argue that the change in birthing position may actually be due to another Frenchman who lived the same time as Mauriceau – King Louis XIV.

” Since Louis XIV reportedly enjoyed watching women giving birth, he became frustrated by the obscured view of birth when it occurred on a birthing stool, and promoted the new reclining position,” wrote Lauren Dundes, a professor of sociology at McDaniel College in Maryland, US, in her 1987 paper on the evolution of birthing positions.

The influence of the king’s policy is unknown, although the behaviour of royalty must have affected the populace to some degree,” she added. “Louis XIV’s purported demand for change did coincide with the changing of the position and may well have been a contributing influence.”

Regardless of how giving women birth on their backs came about, the trend stuck, much to the detriment of their birthing experience.

“Birth has become institutionalised with options such as home birth – which is more conducive for many women wanting a physiological or ‘natural’ birth – declining,” says Balaskas.

Proven by science

The main reason women have given birth in upright positions for so many thousands of years is simple: gravity. A baby has to travel downwards through the birthing canal, and gravity is beneficial to the process.

It has been shown that left to their own devices, women will instinctively lean forward during labour – not backwards – adopting positions such as squatting, leaning forward on their hands and knees, or leaning against a low piece of furniture.

Credit: BBC

Related Topics:Featured Women birth methods Women giving birth

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Nairobi Hospital Beckoning Nigerians Seeking Treatment Abroad

The hospital also holds internationally recognised certifications in pathology, laboratory medicine, cardiac care and stroke services.

Published

6 days ago

July 17, 2026

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A report by Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi (AKUH), has disclosed that Africa loses an estimated $7 billion every year as patients travel abroad for medical treatment, with more than 300,000 Africans travelling to India alone yearly in search of specialist care.

The hospital disclosed this at a media roundtable in Lagos, where it called for a stronger investment in Africa’s healthcare systems, while positioning its Nairobi facility as an alternative destination for Nigerians who currently seek treatment in Europe, Asia and the Americas.

Chief Operating Officer of the hospital, Khurram Jamal, attributed the continued outflow of patients and healthcare spending to shortages of specialist services, inconsistent quality standards, fragmented medical travel pathways and the perception that quality healthcare was only available outside Africa.

According to him, reversing the trend requires building healthcare systems that inspire confidence rather than relying on appeals to patriotism.

He maintained that patients would only choose African hospitals if they consistently met international standards.

Jamal said Aga Khan University Hospital was the first in the region to attain Joint Commission International (JCI) accreditation and has maintained the certification through successive reaccreditations.

He added that the hospital also holds internationally recognised certifications in pathology, laboratory medicine, cardiac care and stroke services.

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[UPDATES ] Nurse Mary Habila : Umahi clarifies possible cause of death

The lady in question was like a daughter to me. She had stayed with me for three years. She was a staff of the Federal Medical University. She was a nurse and not a physiotherapist,” Umahi said.

Published

6 days ago

July 16, 2026

OCHEFA

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Minister of Works, Engr. David Umahi, on Thursday said that Miss Mary Habila, the nurse who died at a guest house within his residence in Uburu, Ebonyi State, spoke with her boyfriend on the night before her death and complained of a nosebleed.

Umahi, who addressed journalists for the first time since the incident, described the late Habila as “like a daughter” to him and called for an autopsy to determine the actual cause of her death.

Habila, a nurse with the David Umahi Federal University of Medical Sciences, Uburu, died on June 27, 2026, in a guest house located within the minister’s residence in Umunaga, Uburu.

The minister clarified that the deceased was a nurse and not a physiotherapist, as had been reported in some media outlets.

” The lady in question was like a daughter to me. She had stayed with me for three years. She was a staff of the Federal Medical University. She was a nurse and not a physiotherapist,” Umahi said.

Narrating the events leading to her death, Umahi said Habila spoke with her boyfriend on the night before she was found dead and informed him that she was experiencing a nosebleed.

She told the boyfriend she was bleeding from the nose. The boyfriend advised her to report it to her boss. She later told him the bleeding had stopped.

“He then said he would end the call so she could rest. She pleaded with him not to end the conversation, but he did.

About three minutes later, he called back and she was no longer answering her phone,” the minister said.

He further disclosed that Habila had been receiving treatment for an undisclosed medical condition at Turkish Hospital in Abuja, with the medical expenses paid by his family.

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Sokoto upgrades 92 PHCs to national compliance standards

The upgraded facilities now operate in line with the standards of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, with skilled birth attendants, functional labour wards, essential drugs, medical equipment and improved infrastructure.

Published

6 days ago

July 16, 2026

OCHEFA

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The Sokoto State Government said on Thursday 92 Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs) across the state’s 23 local government areas have attained national compliance standards under the Safe Delivery Initiative (SDI).

In a statement the government assured that all 244 designated facilities would be upgraded before the end of 2026.

Speaking at the flag-off ceremony in Sokoto, the Commissioner for Health, Dr Faruk Umar Abubakar, said that the initiative was transforming primary healthcare through improved infrastructure, skilled manpower, essential medicines and stronger accountability.

“Today, we are launching the third phase of the Safe Delivery Initiative with 75 facilities that have fulfilled all the national requirements. Together with those completed in the earlier phases, we now have 92 functional and compliant primary healthcare centres,” he said.

He said the upgraded facilities now operate in line with the standards of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, with skilled birth attendants, functional labour wards, essential drugs, medical equipment and improved infrastructure.