Oh thank Hormones!

The important role hormones plays in birth

There are so many amazing things our bodies do each day without us asking.

We breathe without request, our hearts beat on their own. All aligning to protect us and keep us alive.

Thanks to the automatic nature of our body systems many things happen that we might not understand.

During birth the main hormones that we will dive into are Oxytocin , Adrenaline, prolactin, and endorphins

while your mind may be racing about where the go bag is, if your Doula will make it in time, if you should eat or if that was really amniotic fluid running down your legs. Your miraculous body is fast at work sending hormones rushing through your system sending signals to each player in the great production of birth.

How we labor and where we labor might have a more significant effect on the bodies ability to put on the show. Oxytocin is the hormone that releases when we get that warm and fuzzy feeling of love. Some ways we can enhance this is to be close with your partner physical touch, kisses, words of affirmation or whatever makes you the most comfortable. Having loved ones in the room can definitely aid in the release of oxytocin. On the flip side, who you have in the room may hinder oxytocin. It is important to be honest with yourself and others about how you envision your environment. If you want your family in the room then that is the way to go, if you have hesitations or feel that they will be disappointed, my best advice is to do what feels right for you and baby. It is okay to be self focused in childbirth and your body will thank you.

Adrenaline is the next hormone to think about. Adrenaline is that fight or flight hormone everyone is always talking about when they tell a story of skydiving, flying, doing an extreme sport or seeing their tax bill each year. This hormone is wonderful when we need to run away or stand our ground but it is a hormone that hinders the flow of that yummy oxytocin that helps promote effective contractions, allows the cervix to dilate and even aids in mitigating the intensity of pain. Birth is a beautiful experience that can be a bit scary and uncertain in moments and that is okay but if our body doesn’t know everything is okay our adrenaline can spike and cause some complications like irregular heart rate and even fetal distress. Too much adrenaline can tell our body to slow down the labor and halt progression. All because the body is trying to protect us and help us face birth. What may be helpful is to remind your brain that birth is something your body knows how to do intrinsically. It’s perfectly healthy to have fear surrounding childbirth but if you can center those fears and flow through them with breath, meditation, and surrender to the bodies natural process. It is possible to give that first responder part of the mind a rest for a while and work through your labor not against it.

The last two hormones we will cover are endorphins and prolactin. In an unmedicated birth our hormones if in proper balance should be creating this silent interplay within us. Endorphins are one of the good guys. They rush in as adrenaline kicks in and cause in some cases a euphoric effect of pain relief and calm. Allowing this feeling in and letting go of control is key to pushing aside those feelings of fear to let the body progress and birth your baby in that bubble of calm. Not one birth is alike and even the most meditative mamas can experience negative birth stories. The sacrifice of the body to give birth is a beautiful and downright terrifying concept but with these techniques you can expect lower pain, and fewer complications.

Prolactin is our last player this hormone stimulates you guessed it…milk production. This stimulation as birth comes nearer contributes to the rise of oxytocin and when you birth that beautiful baby and they nurse for the first time, the body dumps oxytocin the ultimate love drug and stimulates the uterus to contract. This eases along the final stage of birth before recovery…birth of the placenta.

I like to think of the “afterbirth” as a sort of birth finale. Generally the placenta will come out after the baby but it is such a large part of the birth that it deserves its own chapter which you will find in another article on the page. The placenta needs to be delivered relatively quickly and fully intact for mama to be safe and ready to heal. Think of that organ attached to you for nine months pulling off and leaving a rather large wound in its wake. Getting the uterus back down to size closes up the surface area of that wound controlling bleeding after birth and expelling any toxins that mama is exposed to by that wonderful filter organ that kept her baby nourished. Now that breastmilk is the nourishment your baby needs that placenta gets the que to exit stage left and let baby steal the show. Getting through this stage of the birth gently and quickly allows for mom and baby to rest fully and bond without distraction.

Thank goodness for all of these amazing things that happen in our bodies and how grateful we are that we can work with our hormones while they work for us.