Forward position most effectively simulates a true squat:

• The Support is designed so the woman can sit back and lean against her partner in between contractions, lean forward on her hands, or put most of her weight on her feet. The added advantage of leaning forward on her hands is that sustained pressure is put on the pelvic acupressure point near the thumb. Activating these pressure points stimulates strong, coordinated contractions.  She can intuitively adjust her body to most efficiently move her baby toward birth and maintain good blood flow to her own body parts.
• The woman’s legs are spared the stress of true squatting, yet the benefits of squatting are maintained.
• The support is low enough that the woman’s feet can be firmly placed on the floor for grounding and balanced support, while relaxing her pelvic structures as needed.

Open design for easy access:

• The Support is open on all sides, allowing the practitioner easy visualization and access to the woman and baby for monitoring and emergency birth maneuvers.

Active women have a healthy sense of well-being:

• Being securely supported to give birth in the upright position, with both feet on the ground, encourages a sense of strength and well-being in women, and therefore promotes positive birth outcomes for both mother and baby.
  The psychological advantages of the vertical birth have not yet been formally researched, but Dutch practitioners and others who have used the deBy Birth Support or studied the vertical position for birth agree that:

“Giving birth in the supine position often makes women feel passive and helpless. This sensation is sometimes compared with the helplessness of a beetle on its back. The erect position not only functions optimally because of its positive effect of gravity… but in particular because of its positive influence on the woman’s mental state and well-being.”

– Saskia van Rees, Beatrijs Smulders, Astrid Limburg, Prof. Dr. GJ Kloosterman in “Giving Birth,” 1987