Christine Frackelton, CD(DONA), CBS

The BirthRite birth seat is a purposefully designed stool that can optimize positioning for comfort, relaxation, protection of the pelvic floor, and improved oxygenation for a safe and satisfying birth.

My rental package includes a user guide, the birth seat, a protective cover, and a large kneeling pad. The kneeling pad was designed for your care provider’s comfort while assisting you, although it can be used by you or your partner, too. I will bring these items directly to your birth if you are a “Birth Less Traveled” doula client; other clients will have the stool delivered by 38 weeks and picked up as soon as possible after the birth.

Why women love the BirthRite seat

Women enjoy the BirthRite birth stool as a way to cope with discomfort, attune to their laboring instincts, and remain upright and empowered during birth. More specifics:

• Because upright positioning keeps pressure off the coccyx (allowing it to flex for your baby’s head to pass), moms experience significantly less pain, especially in the lower back.
• When supported by the birth stool, the large muscle groups are allowed to completely relax (unlike with regular squatting) so the mother can focus on using her energy solely for labor.
• Injury, swelling, and tearing at the perineum are less likely due to the specific geometry of the BirthRite seat, which is designed to take unnecessary pressure off of the pelvic floor while promoting presentation of the baby’s head at an ideal angle.
• Better connection with instincts and baby’s progress! According to research of births that took place on the BirthRite seat at a hospital in Australia, “80% of the mothers say that the position on the BirthRite provides them with clear and immediate feedback on baby’s progress during bearing-down.” (from Dr. Andrew Bisits, Medical Co-director of Maternity at the Royal Hospital for Women in Sydney)

Why Doctors and Midwives love the BirthRite stool

Care providers around the globe appreciate the BirthRite seat as an option that takes into consideration the interests and needs of the mother-baby dyad while also allowing unobstructed views and access during second and third stages of labor. When intervention during birth is necessary, providers can manage the following for their clients/patients on the BirthRite stool:

• births of large babies,
• births of breech babies,
• McRoberts and Boenigk maneuvers for shoulder difficulties,
• operations with forceps and vacuum,
• births with limited drug use — nitrous oxide or truly light epidurals (and epidurals that have worn off)
• post-birth sutures, and
• vaginal exams.

Partners love the BirthRite stool too!

Sometimes a spouse, partner, or other support person doesn’t know how to be useful during labor. The BirthRite stool offers a couple of ways you can involve your partner during the birth: (1) as your backrest with his or her arms wrapped around you and (2) as the person who makes eye contact with you and catches your baby. Either way, your partner can be present and supportive to you emotionally. If you choose the backrest option, your partner also becomes supportive to you physically.

Research

• Research citations from The BirthRite Experience film. If you or your medical provider are unsure about the use of a birth stool, please reach out to me about a private screening of this excellent 55 minute teaching film, which has all the visuals and evidence to make you an informed user of the BirthRite seat. The link provided here shares research cited in the film.
• Swedish Birth Seat Trial. This page has a summary, excerpt, and links to a Swedish Birth Seat trial which utilized the BirthRite birth seat. Labors were shorter for the BirthRite group and authors wrote “women who gave birth on the birth seat reported more often that they felt powerful, protected and self-confident.”
• Evidence Based Birth article on birthing positions. This article is not specific to the BirthRite stool, but it is an up to date, detailed compilation of research on outcomes from births in upright vs. non-upright positions, and addresses why most people birth in beds and on their backs. The author affirms that both evidence and ethics support women choosing whatever birth position they find most comfortable

In summary, evidence from randomized trials suggests that for people without epidurals, upright positions during the second stage of labor provide several benefits: a lower risk of abnormal fetal heart rate patterns, less pain, and less use of vacuum/forceps and episiotomy. Upright birthing positions may also shorten the second stage of labor and reduce the use of augmentation with synthetic oxytocin.

Rebecca Dekker, PhD, RN, author at EvidenceBasedBirth.com

Investment:

• $70 + travel fee (if applicable)
• $35 if you are a “Birth Less Traveled” doula client
• Travel fees are: $20 if you live in Palm Beach County; $1.40/mile (roundtrip) if you are outside Palm Beach County. You may ask for the option to pick up the birth stool at my location to reduce the travel fee.
• No travel fee applies if you reside within a 10 mile drive from Midwife360 at 3621 1/2 S Dixie Hwy, West Palm Beach, FL
• No travel fee applies if you are already paying a travel fee for the delivery of a birth pool and have the stool delivered at the same time.
• No travel fee applies for “Birth Less Traveled” doula clients

Testimonials from Parents and Care Providers

I am introducing the BirthRite seat to local birthing families in June 2022. Until feedback is available from local users, please enjoy the following quotes sourced from the teaching film, The BirthRite Experience, and from www.birthrite.com.au.

Probably 70% of the women that I care for would give birth on the birth stool.

Val Fullerton, Midwife, RN, CM, CNS, CNE

I felt that being upright was really good for me, and it kept everything moving, and I could really feel things working.  My pelvis was opening, and I actually said that ‘I can feel my pelvis opening.’ … I remember when I was on the toilet [in my previous labor] that it took a lot of adjustment … to make the position exactly right… where on the [BirthRite] seat… I just got straight on and it was right.

Angela M., mom of 2

I think it should be out there for every woman who’s laboring to have the benefit of being able to use.

Joanne V., mom of 5

I have not had a 3rd degree tear on the birth stool in my 11 years using birth stools”

I find the BirthRite superior to imported models and the earlier wooden models, because it is slightly taller and because of the way it supports the women’s thighs: the mother’s bottom is not on the stool, just her thighs. Yet her bottom does not sag down unsupported because her hips are adducted just the right amount. The BirthRite’s sloping seat reduces perineal congestion, and the stainless steel handles provide excellent leverage for the pushing mother. From a midwife’s point of view, vision of the perineum is good…. I like the BirthRite. I used it myself for the birth of my second baby.”

Janette Beverly, Hospital Midwife of 15 years

Once women sit on the birth stool, the majority of the women say that the pain was more tolerable and they say to me, ‘I feel a fair bit of pressure off my back’.

Dr. Andrew Bisits, FRACOG, M. MED. STTS, DIP. CLIN. EPIDEMIOLOGY, Specialist Obstetrician and Lecturer in Reproductive Medicine