The role of horemones during birth
- staceybrookebirthw
- Feb 26, 2021
- 4 min read
Why are hormones during labor important?
Hormones play an important part during birth. They work together to guide important changes to help with the progression of your birth. Birth hormones have different 'jobs' and ways that they can aid during your labor. Such as getting your body ready for birth, starting and continuing contractions, Prepaing your baby for life on the outside and sending signals to your body to make milk.
Oxytocin
I love talking about oxytocin because it is also called the hormone of love. Oxytocin isn't just a birth hormone. It is a hormone produced when we feel happy, loved and content. Oxytocin has many benefits during birth and after. Oxytocin signals to breasts to start making and releasing milk. It is also involved during contractions and can trigger nurturing feelings and behaviours. It has a feel good feeling that makes us feel happy and content. Oxytocin aids in thinning and dialating the cervix and helps to move the baby down out of the birth canal. It can also help with the delivery of the placenta after birth. There are a few different ways in which you can promote the production of Oxytocin. For example, doing something that makes you feel calm and relaxed. Whether that is from eating something you enjoy, watching a tv show or movie you love, listening to familiar music or cuddling with your partner. Whatever makes you feel calm and relaxed.
Making sure you are in a relaxed, comofortable enviroment is really important and can have a really positive impact on the outcome of your birth. Deciding how you'd like your birthing enviroment and discussing with the people you plan to have present at your birth on the things you would like them to do for you to enable you are happy and comfortable during your labor is a really important way to optimise your desired birth becoming a reality. Remember, your birth your choice.
Endorphines
When you feel stress or pain your body produces endorphines, this is a hormone that is pain relieving. Endorphines can help you to deal with the aches, pains and stresses that happen during labor. After birth, High levels of endorphines can make you feel happy, alert and attentive, which has a positive impact on your ability to care for your baby and can also strengthen the bond between you and your baby, or at least help to build one. As I talked about previously, staying calm and relaxed during labor is so important and aids in you having high levels of endorphines. Low levels of endorphines can lead to more pain and stress during your labor. A few days after birth, your endorphine levels start to drop. This can cause something called 'Baby blues' Where you may feel a bit more down, sad and stressed than usual. This is normal and usually ressolves itself after a few days. However, if you feel like you are struggling to cope and don't seem to be feeling any better, please reach out to your health care proffesionals and those around you for support. Having a baby is a big change physically and mentally and you deserve all the support you can get.
Adrenaline
Adrenaline is the hormone humans create when feeling stressed, angered or thretened. Adrenaline may be present during birth if the birthing person feels anxious, stressed and not comfortable. This can slow the labor down or halt it all together which can then make it more likely for intervention. There are many ways you can minimise the chances of Adrenaline being present during your birth. For example, becoming informed of birth, birthing enviroments and techniques to progress your labor naturally. Finding birthworkers who you trust and who respect you and your choices and decisions (If you want birth workers present at your birth) Picking your birth partners based on who will support and advocate with you during your labor and trusting your body and ability to birth. Oxytocin, the hormone which is really important during labor and birth, as discussed above and adrenaline cannot be present at the same time. So it is really important to give yourself the time to really figure out how you would like your birth to go and inform all those around you on your requirments and desires.
''The hormonal physiology of childbearing has evolved over millions of years to optimize reproductive success. Maternal and infant survival at birth is obviously critical for reproductive success, but equally important for long-term survival are successful lactation and maternal–infant attachment immediately following birth. These hormonally-mediated processes are intertwined and continuous with the biologic processes of parturition. Disruption of perinatal hormonal physiology may thus impact not only labor and birth, but also breastfeeding and maternal–infant attachment. As humans share many reproductive processes with other mammals, animal research helps illuminate human hormonal physiology, especially where human research is currently limited.'' Quoted from a study on the role of hormones. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4720867/
In conculsion, we know that hormones are important during labor and there are many ways the birthing person can maximise the pro's of hormones during labor, birth and beyond. However your birthing team and support can play a really big part in this too. So do you research, find evidenced based facts and become informed. Plan how you want your birth to go and talk talk and talk to your support system and make everyone around you on the same page. Happy and healthy birthing!
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