What on earth is ‘knees in calves out’ or ‘kico’?

KICO - is it appearing on your algorithm and you’re like, excuse me, but this sounds like a delicious dish I could get from a Thai restaurant?

Sadly, it’s not that. It stands for ‘Knees In, Calves Out’ and it’s a handy acronym to use to remember a really helpful birthing position. On a related note, here’s another weird acronym: UFO - which stands for Upright, Forward, Open - a way to describe the best positions to adopt in labour and when actually giving birth (i.e. the pushing part). These include positions such as on all fours, leaning over a birth ball, squatting or standing (with support).

Taking UFO positions when you can means that gravity can help move baby down, and gives baby space to move into the best position for them to be born. Staying off your back, if you can, can reduce the length of labour and manage levels of pain. So KICO is part of UFO - but specifically for the pushing part of labour (‘the second stage’).

For KICO, the woman is on all fours , with her knees closer together then her ankles. This helps to maximise the space at the bottom of the pelvis, which is where baby needs to navigate during the second stage of labour.You can use KICO on the bed, on the floor, or in the pool.

But how am I going to remember all this?!

Put it in your birth plan so your midwives know you want to adopt this.

Make sure your birth partner has it drilled into their head, feels comfortable with it and knows when to prompt you. Watch some videos together so they know when to use it, and how it should look.