The body scan: a five-minute relaxation practice for labour

Why it helps in labour

Tension travels. A clenched jaw and lifted shoulders are almost always accompanied by a tight pelvic floor, and a tight pelvic floor works against the very thing your body is trying to do. Releasing tension also lowers adrenaline, which protects the oxytocin that keeps labour moving.

The scan gives your mind a single, concrete job during a surge — checking and softening — rather than bracing against the sensation.

How to do it

• Get comfortable: side-lying with a pillow between your knees, or leaning forward over a birth ball.
• Take three slow breaths, making the exhale longer than the inhale.
• Bring your attention to your forehead and scalp. Notice any tightness, then let it go as you breathe out.
• Move down slowly — eyes, jaw, tongue, throat, shoulders, arms, hands, chest, belly, lower back, hips, pelvic floor, thighs, calves, feet.
• At each stop, name what you feel without judging it, then soften on the out-breath. Spend longest on the jaw, shoulders and pelvic floor.
• Finish with one whole-body breath, imagining the exhale travelling from head to toes.

Making it work on the day

Practise every evening in the last weeks of pregnancy so the pattern becomes automatic. In labour you won't run the full scan during a surge — you'll use a shortened version between them: jaw, shoulders, hands, pelvic floor. A partner can prompt it out loud, which is often more effective than trying to remember it yourself.