During labor it can be hard to relax. It is painful and our natural instinct is to tense our bodies. This tension can have a very negative effect. When we experience pain and allow it to bring fear, our fear brings tension which creates more pain. It is a cycle created by Grantley Dick-Read to explain how emotional responses contribute to pain. The opposite can be true too. When we experience pain if we can manage our fear, our tension is reduced, and we will experience less pain.

With fear, our fight or flight response is activated. The adrenaline our body releases begins to give our limbs more of the blood supply which takes away that blood supply from our internal organs (i.e. where baby has taken up temporary residence). Also, our bodies produce epinephrine. This causes the the muscles near the cervix to tighten which prevents the cervix from dilating. Back when we were cave women, this would be useful. The body naturally sought out a quiet, safe place to birth the baby. When that safety was threatened, we needed to find another safe place to birth our baby.

Skip ahead to modern day. Stop and think what this could do to your labor. What happens when the cervix doesn’t dilate? It can make the labor process take more time or cause doctors to intervene. The doctor may give pitocen to speed things up, he may even send you home saying labor hasn’t progressed far enough. Sometimes the doctor may say we have stalled and we are rushed in for a cesarean surgery. If there isn’t enough time for an epidural to take effect, the anestheologist would then knock us out. How would that make you feel if you didn’t hear your baby’s first cry?

This is the sad truth for some women. It can also have long lasting negative feelings in the new mommy. Sounds like a rotten way to begin motherhood, huh? It is incredibly important to have a support team you trust. If there is a particular aspect of childbirth that you fear, seek out evidence based information. Knowledge IS power. Oh, and hire a doula (my shameless plug). A good doula is well worth the money!

As Dr. John Kennell, a pioneer in the field of perinatal health care said, “If a doula were a drug, it would be malpractice not to use it.” I have personally used one and that experience inspired me to become a birth and postpartum doula myself.

When I say the word doula to most people, all I get back is a blank stare. I then have to explain what exactly I do. Are you one of those? Here is a great explanation I have created.

BIRTH DOULA
The professional birth assistant is a woman who tends to the birthing family from early labor until a little after the baby is born. She is trained to deliver continuity of care from home to hospital, be there through changing hospital shifts and alternating physician schedules; serve as advocate, labor coach, and support partner, and above all, help manage the fears of both parents. If it is a home birth, she is trained to take over tasks so the partner can be 100% present. A doula’s presence does not make a birth partner’s presence unnecessary. To the contrary, her presence frees the partner from certain aspects of concern and allows the partner to interact more closely with the birthing woman. The goal is to give the parents-to-be the freedom to focus inward and increase the intimacy of the experience for both the mother and her partner as they meet the challenges and rewards of their unique birthing experience, thereby leaving her with a sense of empowerment and a beautiful and positive birth memory.

POSTPARTUM DOULA
A postpartum doula is a non-judgmental woman with a quiet presence in the home. Most postpartum doulas are mothers themselves who have their own children and enjoy motherhood. By giving emotional and breastfeeding support along with practical newborn care tips and taking care of necessary household tasks such as: grocery shopping; meal preparation; doing the dishes, laundry or tending to the older children, postpartum Doulas help ease the transition into motherhood.

Unlike a baby nurse who focuses her care solely on the newborn, a postpartum doula encourages and teaches parents how to care for their newborn, to interpret their baby’s cues, and to trust their instincts in responding to their baby’s needs, infusing the parents with the confidence and support they need to develop their own parenting style.