How
to easily make birth easier & safer
by Samantha Thurlby-Brooks
 |
Stay
Warm
Darkened Room
Quiet
Relax
Privacy
Feel Unobserved
Breathe
Trust Your Body
Eat Nourishing Foods,
Drink Plain Water |
Over the past few millions of
years, humans and mamals have been giving birth
without the use of hospitals, doctors or epidurals,
for the most part, very effectively. The female
body is designed to give birth very successfully
and efficiently without the need for conscious
control. In fact, the more you try to control
the functioning and experiences within your body
as you go through labour and childbirth, the more
uncomfortable, stressful and prolonged your experience
will be. Here's why...
The
thinking part of your brain, called the NEOCORTEX,
is responsible for your intellect. This
part of the brain, when stimulated, will try to
rationalise, criticise, control and generally
act very 'human' towards a situation. The neocortex
is stimulated by language, bright lights, feeling
cold, feeling observed and certain forms of touch.
If this part of the brain is stimulated during
childbirth, it will prevent the 'mammalian' side
of the brain from functioning effectively.
During childbirth,
if a woman's neocortex is stimulated the whole
birthing process will slow down. Being asked to
think (for example asking what her phone number
or postcode is, how frequent her contractions
are or asking her to score her pain levels), being
in a room with bright lights, being watched by
one or more people or being touched in an irritating
rather than relaxing way, a labouring woman will
be taken out of her ideal state and become self-conscious,
fearful and her muscles will tighten and create
pain.
Allowing a labouring
woman to relax and to 'zone out', turning off
her neocortex, will make her labour more comfortable,
faster and easier. This applies to the whole of
the labour, from the beginning of the first stage
right through to the delivery of the placenta.
Staying in a non-thinking, meditative, animal
state will help you to experience the birth of
your child in a more Joyful way.
By understanding
the process your body will undergo to allow your
baby to be born will help you to feel more confident
and relaxed.
During the first
stage of labour, your uterus will be stimulated
by the hormone OXYTOCIN to allow
the muscles to pull up and outwards. This allows
your cervix to become thinner and move out of
the way to allow your baby to pass through your
vagina. This means your cervix is dilating. Your
cervix can dilate very quickly, so even if you've
been having contractions for a while and you're
5cm dilated, you may become fully dilated within
an hour if you've allowed the conditions to be
right (relaxed, unobserved, dim lighting and possibly
contact with water).
With each contraction,
remember that you are getting closer and closer
to holding your baby in your arms for the first
time. This is a Joyful process and your baby is
looking forward to seeing you just as much as
you are of him/her. Having negative thoughts and
feelings about your contractions will make them
feel even more negative. Feeling positive in your
thoughts and emotions will allow the experience
to be easier and faster.
Once your cervix
is fully dilated (about 10cm), your uterus will
respond by squeezing your baby's bottom (if they're
head down) helping to push your baby downwards
and out through your vagina. The wall of your
vagina will already be lubricated by a pinkish
substance to help your baby slip through. Make
sure you're still focusing on relaxing your breathing
at this stage as your pelvic floor muscles around
the opening of your vagina will need to be relaxed
to allow a more comfortable birth. If your baby
is in the 'optimum position' (chin to chest) then
at the time of birth they help themselves to be
born by wiggling and turning and lifting up their
chin. This is the safest, quickest and easiest
way for a baby to be born.
Just before the
second stage of labour starts, you're likely to
feel a mix of emotions. It is at this point that
many women opt to have drugs to ease the experience.
A certain amount of pain during labour is very
healthy and in fact essential for a Joyful Childbirth.
Once your baby has been born, both of you will
have a huge cocktail of hormones running through
you, one of them being an endorphin that will
make you feel fantastic and help with the bonding
between you and your baby. By using painkilling
drugs, you are likely to disrupt this cocktail
of hormones and your experience of childbirth
will be hampered.
Ask your midwife/medical
carers not to offer you medication throughout
your labour, and to only give you medication if
you ask for it (in fact I would say if you ask
for it more than once, just in case you can go
without it). It is standard procedure to ask a
woman if she would like medication, and during
labour when it gets intense, you're likely to
accept anything. Encouragement, reassurance and
a positive attitude will get most women through
without medical pain relief.
During labour and
the 'crowning' of your baby, you're likely to
feel the whole region as being very warm and expansive.
Your bones, joints and muscles in and around your
pelvis are making way for your baby and they've
had nine months to prepare so are more than capable
of doing this job. You won't be the first or last
woman to think you're going to explode during
childbirth as your body shifts and changes. But
no woman has! In fact, some women orgasm at this
stage because of the stimulation of all those
wonderful, sensitive parts. It's important not
to be 'coached' through the second stage of labour
so you and your baby can listen to your body and
move and respond in a safe and instinctive way.
Once your baby is
born, you and your new baby will both have a huge
rush of hormones running through you. Dr Michel
Odent discribes these as a 'cocktail of Love'.
It is very important for you and your baby that
you are not disturbed during this time. Not only
will it help with breastfeeding, but also with
the bonding of you and your baby and your memory
of childbirth. These hormones will make you feel
full of life and love even if you've just come
through a long labour. Painkillers can often disrupt
this process. Ask your midwife to leave you alone
with the baby for an hour following the birth
so you can focus your whole attention onto your
baby (if you ask for an hour, then if you get
a bit less it's better than asking for half an
hour and getting a bit less). It is very important
to STAY WARM at this time to
allow the hormones to release.
The birth of the
placenta, according to Dr Michel Odent is not
too important... the only thing that is important
is to allow the placenta to release itself from
the uterus walls naturally. Using a synthetic
drug rather than the natural release of oxytocin
increases the risk of bleeding compared to being
left alone with your baby to increase your own
natural oxytocin release. Synthetic oxytocin may
also inhibit the natural release of oyxtocin needed
for breastfeeding shortly after birth.
The hormones that
are rushing around your body during pregnancy
and birth will be opening your emotions as well
as your body. Feeling very open and vulnerable
is very healthy and normal during childbirth and
gives you the opportunity to let more feelings
of love run through you. So long as you feel safe
and relaxed with the people you are with and the
place you are in, the birth of your child can
be a truely Joyful and empowering experience. |
