Oxytocin is one of the most important hormones you produce when your in labour!
When your labour starts you have a whole cocktail of hormones that kick off.
Your body produces Prostaglandin to soften your cervix, Oxytocin to contract your uterus,
Endorphins to help with the powerful sensations (e.g natures pain relief) as well as Adrenaline towards the end of your labour. (usually when you hit transition stage)
You may produce more Adrenaline if your scared or fearful and then go into your fight or flight mode! Adrenaline isn't really very helpful in the most part of labour as it can block the very important Oxytocin!
It is so important to try and keep Adrenaline at bay as this can cause your labour to slow down or even stop!
Doing a Hypnobirthing course and learning tools and techniques to stay calm and learn about birth will definitely help to banish any fear that will then trigger the Adrenaline.
So why is Oxytocin the QUEEN of all the birthing hormones?
You need Oxytocin for your labour to start and to keep it progressing. The more Oxytocin you produce the more effective and powerful your contractions will be, the less Oxytocin you have the weaker and the less effective your contractions will be!
So the more you produce the shorter your labour will be, as each contraction that you have is really drawing up the uterus and opening your cervix a bit at a time, until your cervix is fully dilated at 10cm.
Oxytocin is known as the love hormone, as you also produce it when you make a baby, while hugging and kissing and It's that warm fuzzy feeling you get when you see a cute kitten awww.
It is also known as the shy hormone and you produce more of it when you feel safe & unobserved. Other mammals go off and have their babies somewhere quiet, dark and usually on their own. We are also mammals and so thinking about the environment you give birth in can help massively with your comfort levels and oxytocin production.
Here are just a few ways you can help boost your oxytocin:
Setting up the environment you plan to give birth in with tealight candles/fairy lights. (oxytocin is produced in dimly lit environments, a lot of women go into labour overlight as its dark)
Having pictures of family/friends/pets that you love
Limit the amount of people in the room
Music that you love
Massage/soft touch
Words of encouragement (positive affirmations)
Practice relaxation in pregnancy
Ask for a hands off approach is possible.
Hug and kisses
Supportive birth partner
Your birth partner is the guardian of oxytocin, tell them how important this hormone is in labour and that it is needed for you to labour effectively. They can help you to keep the Oxytocin flowing!
If you choose to give birth to your baby in a hospital or Midwife led unit, get your birth partner to set up the room so it is oxytocin friendly! If your labour slows down or stops before agreeing to augmentation of labour think about the environment, do you feel safe? do you feel comfortable? Are there to many people in the room? Do you need a hug? Some words of encouragement maybe? Your birth partner can be in charge of making sure these needs are met, so you can stay in the zone and get your labour back on track.
Hypnobirthing gives your birth partner a very important role to play in labour!
If you would like to find out more about the hormones produced, learn about birth and how to banish any fears, so you don't go into your fight or flight mode click the button below for upcoming courses or contact me!
I would love to hear from you xxx
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