To have a smooth, safe, & shorter labor you’ll want to focus on these three keys!

1. Hormones

Which hormones affect labor and how do I balance these hormones?

Hormones like oxytocin and progesterone allow for the softening and opening of your body, your pelvis and your cervix and they keep your contraction pattern stable and progressing steadily

There are two distinct hormone pathways, or feedback loops, that make the difference between a naturally unfolding labor and one that leads to intervention: 

Oxytocin or Cortisol 

Oxytocin is the love and labor hormone. It supports a smooth progression of labor, steady and effective contractions, and…best of all! It is a natural pain relief! 

Cortisol on the other hand, is the stress hormone and this hormones actually prohibits the release of oxytocin, Oh no! Oxytocin disruptors like cortisol, cause irregular, ineffective contractions, and can cause pain. 

When under stress, our bodies tense up. If you’re stressed in labor, your pelvic floor muscles can tighten up keeping the baby from coming down. Tight muscles intensify the sensation of each contraction, causing more pain and contributing to your stress level. This feedback loop of stress can even stall labor altogether.

How to prevent this cortisol feedback loop and promote oxytocin? 

Take a deep breath. No literally, deep breathing activates your nervous system to relax and promotes oxytocin. Also oxygenating baby helps them tolerate labor better, keeping you both calm and avoiding distress. 

Feeling safe. Choose a birth place that makes you feel safe. Your environment directly affects your hormones! Keep the space intimate with dim or natural light, quiet music or soft voices. 

Choose your birth team. Have people that you know and trust at your labor and birth. Protect your energy. 

Be mindful of your lifestyle, nourishment & exercise. How you live, nourish & move your body affects your hormone production.

Circadian rhythm, your natural biological cycle regulates hormone output that can interfere with your hormones & when your labor starts!

Lastly, when it comes to anything in the childbirthing year, invest in education.

Educating yourself and learning about birth (like reading this post) can shed light on the mysteries of birth, empower you to set fear aside and labor with confidence. 

2. The Pelvis & Position of Baby Dynamic

Mama and baby need to work together to facilitate a smooth and short labor. The Maternal pelvis and the position of your baby both affect the length of labor, the sensations of birth and the need for natural or medical intervention. Baby’s head alone can affect how your cervix softens, stretches and opens and because the baby’s head holds the largest diameter that will pass through your pelvic outlet, we want to optimize how baby sits in the pelvic bowl and support the flexibility of the pelvis both in pregnancy and in labor.

How to Facilitate Good Fetal Position? How to get my baby in a good position?

Two main focuses:

• Creating space & symmetry in your pelvis
• Facilitating baby to adjust into their optimal position for them and your pelvis type.

Creating space includes nourishing and hydrating your body well so that hormones, like progesterone, that soften smooth muscles and ligaments, allow the ligaments and muscles in and around the pelvis to be more elastic and stretch during birth.

Staying active in pregnancy. Movement in pregnancy and birth creates opportunities for your baby to adjust their position. Changing positions and moving freely in labor opens different areas of your pelvis. Mobility gives your baby the chance to settle into new and more optimal positions as they navigate the three levels of the pelvis: inlet, mid pelvis, and outlet. 

What Exercises can you do to prepare for labor?

Doing exercises like spinning babies during pregnancy and in labor (if you haven’t heard of spinning babies yet, check out their website here). 

Walk daily. Walking creates space in the pelvis, improves blood circulation, and releases tension in the pelvic floor. walking in nature and/or with a person you enjoy being around can improve your overall wellbeing, balance your hormones, reduce blood pressure, and support mental wellbeing.

Allow your intuition to guide you and work with a support person that is experienced with labor positions, like a doula.

3. Believe in your Body, your Baby and Birth.

If I could recommend one tip for labor, it would be to trust the process! Trust that your body won’t give you more than it is capable of. Unless you’re inducing labor or introducing other interventions that can cause painful contractions and unnatural sensations, you are strong and capable of birthing your baby. 

Trust your body and your baby to communicate with you. Our bodies have an intelligence, an inner knowing, for birth, because we have evolved to birth over thousands of years. 

Take a moment each day to connect with this intelligence by connecting with your intuition and deeping the mind-body connection, so when labor begins you are comfortable listening to your intuition and feel confident to work with your body in birth. 

Trusting in birth allows you to fully surrender to the unfolding of hormones like oxytocin.

I’m so excited for you to meet your baby! Follow these three tips of 

•Supporting your labor hormones 

•Facilitating your pelvis & position of baby

•Trusting your body, your baby and your birth! 

And have a smooth, safe, and sacred birth. 

Thank you for taking the time to invest in your conscious childbirthing year.

I have supported dozens of mamas & babies and after learning a few things ( more like a few million things…) the one thing I hear from new parents is “We didn’t know what we didn’t know”.

I am on a mission to change this by sharing as much as I can to help you feel informed, confident, inspired & empowered to navigate & prepare for your experience.