We’ve already talked about the hormones of birth and now I’d like to touch on them again and highlight their relevance in creating the optimum laboring environment, one with little fear and resistance.
Animals in the wild only produce adrenalin under stress, unlike us humans, who churn out low level production of adrenalin much of the time, due to traffic stress, cell phone stress, rushing everywhere, anxiety about what other people think & so on.
If a wild animal is in labour & is suddenly under threat from a predator, the burst of adrenalin that shoots through her body will cause the blood to be diverted to her legs to assist escape, to her reflex brain and to her lungs. The blood to her digestive organs and labouring muscles will be minimised. Most importantly though her cervix will close down as it will do her little good to produce a baby straight into the jaws of the predator.
Humans who produce adrenalin in labour respond similarly in ways that interfere with its normal process of birth. Their cervixes remain rigid & taut for much longer and because the blood flow to the infant in decreased, it is also more likely to experience distress, which could facilitate intervention or a caesarean section.
The purpose of all the tools we teach in our Mama Bamba Way Antenatal and doula courses is to minimise stress so that the person’s cervix dilates easily & the baby copes better with the rigors of labour.
Supporting them to find their own individual way that will allow them to meet birth wholeheartedly and to be completely present with it. By asking the questions
“What do I need to do to feel safe and trust this process?”
“How do I let go of resistance?”
To idea is to meet birth with as little fear and resistance as possible. The cervix has an innate intelligence. It knows not to open up and let baby out if there is danger. Fear hormones can send the wrong message to the cervix and create resistance in the body with results in pain.
Questions for contemplation and response
“What do you imagine your role in the birth room to be, in terms of supporting women in releasing fear and resistance?”
“How do you and your camera assist or impede?”
In this next section we will be sharing a home birth movie in which the birthing mother beautifully demonstrates how labour can progress unimpeded when there is a lack of fear and resistance.
