Before you dive into fear in labor –> first understand a brief dynamic that unfolds in birth

(even brief-er for my TLDR-ers) see below

A common example of how baby’s position and your hormones work together to progress labor:

Baby’s head is low and sitting on the cervix
Their head stimulates the tissues on the cervix causing the release of prostaglandins.
Prostaglandins soften and ripen the cervix and stimulate uterine contractions.
Uterine contractions tighten the three muscle layers of the womb and encourage the downward movement of baby.
As baby moves down, baby’s head applies pressure on the cervix, stimulating the cervix further.

TLDR

A positive feedback loop, a cycle —>Baby on the cervix, cervix releases hormones, hormones cause contractions, contractions cause baby’s head to stimulate cervix further.

AAAmazing Right?!

So how does this relate to fear and the sensations of birth?

They are interconnected >> one affects the other.

How you feel about birth emotionally and how you manage the sensations of labor affect how it unfolds.

Let’s break it down, I like to think of labor as two main aspects that come together to support a smooth natural birth.

The two main aspects:

YOUR HORMONES + BABY’S POSITION = OPTIMAL LABOR

Fear can affect both your hormones AND your Baby’s position!

Let’s explore one at a time—>

Your Hormones in Labor

Hormones regulate the ripening of the cervix and the contraction pattern.

Too little hormones and the cervix can stay firm, thick, long, posterior, and closed and contractions become irregular, mild, infrequent and ineffective.

Too many hormones (typically seen in the case of augmentation/induction aka pitocin) and the contraction pattern becomes too strong, intense and overwhelming. Baby can become distressed and this can lead to interventions like epidural or c-section.

Effective contractions can be contractions that are long and strong enough to encourage baby to descend and stimulate the cervix to support dilation. Long and strong enough depends on your body.

Ineffective contractions can be are short and irregular, sometimes frequent and painful. Unfortunately ineffective contractions can be demanding, painful, and not contributing to the progress of your labor. These contractions can lead to maternal exhaustion and fetal distress.

Worried about strong contractions?

How much will birth hurt?

The beauty and intelligence of your body is that it can regulate a contraction pattern you can tolerate.

When you become overwhelmed with the intensity of a strong, frequent contraction pattern, your body releases cortisol, a stress hormone that decreases the strength, duration and frequency of the contractions. This slows down labor giving you and baby a chance to recover and recalibrate your hormones.

Once you’re relaxed and feeling safe, your body releases happy hormones like oxytocin that stimulate contractions allowing a labor pattern that you can support successfully.

MEANING…Your body won’t give you more than you can handle!

This is very different when labor is artificially augmented with induction methods in which case labor patterns can be overwhelming physically and emotionally. Your body can’t reduce the intensity of the contractions to a place that you can tolerate even though it is releasing stress hormones because it is being pumped with contraction producing hormones.

Not only is need for pain medications indicated because your body can’t produce natural pain relief when you are stressed, but this state of stress shuts down other functions that help you in labor. Your body isn’t getting nourishment because your metabolism slows or stops all together under stress leading to muscle fatigue and clinical exhaustion, two main causes of hemorrhage.

Likewise, these stress hormones paired with intense synthetically induced contraction patterns send babies into distress.

Scary, I know!!

How to Support your hormones

Allowing yourself to move through labor, surrender, and flow with the sensations of labor gives your body the opportunity to adjust your hormones to increase or decrease intensity of labor and adjust your natural pain relief.

Hormones are an important part of the childbirthing journey that are conspiring with you.

If you’re fearful of birth, your body will release cortisol and trigger the flight or fight response that stops labor.

If you trust birth, even in moments of fear, your body will release natural pain relief and hormones that support a steady progression of regular and effective contractions.

I have seen women fearful and intimidated by birth, unfamiliar and untrusting of the process. With the first wave of contractions or the first set of intense contractions, they tighten their body in order to contain the sensations of birth.

Being “strong” in the masculine/rigid/tough/unaffected way by
channeling strength–>to avoid the sensations of labor
when we actually want to be strong in our surrender/vulnerability/feminine by
channeling strength—> to move through the sensations of labor.

If you are containing, instead of surrendering to, the sensations of birth by moving away from intensity, your body may prolong and even stall your labor pattern.

By surrendering with trust in the process, you’re supporting the natural unfolding of your biological design and the release of hormones that will support a labor that is specific to your capacity and your baby’s.

More tangible ways to support your hormones:

Choose your birth team and birth place with intention. You want to feel safe in your birth space with a team that can hold that space for you.

Reduce stress and cultivate your stress coping tools. This is important both in labor but also during pregnancy and leading up to your labor.

Nourish your body. Our bodies need hydration, healthy fats, and minerals to produce, release and distribute our hormones

Calibrate your circadian Rhythm. Live in alignment with nature-for women that is the sun rise & wake cycle and the lunar energy guide.

Related: Calibrate Your Circadian Rhythm: A Natural Hormone Balance

Fetal position

Let’s not forget the second aspect of a smooth labor—> YOUR BABY’S POSITION

We want to support your baby and your body’s version of optimal fetal position both in pregnancy and in labor.

1. Fetal position supports hormone release and cervical dilation (as we just learned)
2. Fetal position affects fetal decent through the maternal pelvis

Both affect the length and smooth progression of your labor and both are affected by fear and mistrust in birth.

Baby’s descend through the pelvic bowl by doing the cardinal movements to navigate the three levels of the pelvis

1. inlet
2. mid pelvis
3. outlet

Each level requires a new fetal position. We want to create space in the pelvis to give baby opportunities to change position as they enter a new level of your pelvis.

Fear can affect your baby from descending when mamas tighten up. Mamas can tighten their body when under stress either physical or emotional.

Tightening your body can reduce the amount of space and flexibility in your pelvic bowl, including your pelvic floor, your lower back, your core and your internal hip and butt muscles.

This tension in the maternal body can hold baby up high in the pelvis and high off the cervix and/or keep baby from descending through the three levels of the pelvic bowl.

What is important to consider here is not “how to avoid fear” but rather “how to address fear and navigate fear”

How to Support Baby’s Position

Movement!

• creates space aka opportunities for baby to change position by creating different variations of the pelvic bowl shape with each change in position
• Relaxes tension which softens and opens the pelvic bowl
• Relaxes and soothes the maternal central nervous system
• Acts as a natural pain relief further relaxing the birthing mama

RELATED: How to Have a Smooth, Safe Labor?

We can introduce movement like:

• Vibration & Vocalization
• Rocking & Swaying
• Dancing
• Walking
• Bouncing
• Spinning Babies Exercises

Are you afraid to birth?

Mama, by shedding light on the mysteries of birth and learning about the amazing design and capacities of the pregnant female body, we can reclaim our confidence and trust in birth. While there are so many factors that affect labor, supporting these two main factors-Hormones & Fetal Position-supports the smooth, natural unfolding of a biology based birth.

What are some ways to address fear before baby comes?

1 Explore this blog ! Find other posts about Childbirth

2 Learn about your body, labor & birth. Shed light on the mysteries of birth by exploring resources like books, podcasts, and videos.

3 Get to the root source of your fear. Reflect on what and why you’re afraid. Why don’t you trust [yourself] [birth] [your body] ?

4 Take a Childbirth Education Course The number one thing I hear from mama’s after taking a class is “I didn’t know, what I didn’t know”

RELATED: Do I Need to Take A Childbirth Education Class?