How Perception Affects Women Giving Birth Naturally

Understanding the Mind-Body Connection | How Perception Affects Childbirth 

 Changing Your Perceptions about Natural Childbirth

For women giving birth, it's critical to note that natural childbirth is an area where the mind-body connection is well-established.   We now know that the way we think directly influences the way we feel.  For example, we often speak of athletes "choking" or subconsciously sabotaging their performance in a make-or-break situation.

Their internal dialogue is one of self-doubt and anxiety over whether or not they will make that shot or complete that play.  In this moment, they ensure that the shot will be difficult. In effect, their mental state resulted in the action they feared, missing that key shot.

We see this type of mind-body connection in everyday situations as well. 

For some, it's seeing a spider or a mouse.  What happens? Your palms get sweaty, your heart starts pounding, and you might feel breathless or even have tingling in your hands.  This is your automatic response to the anxiety you feel when faced with a potential stressor. 

But does the stressor even have to be present?  For some, the answer is no.  The mere thought of a spider or mouse may send them into a state of panic. 

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How Perception Affects Childbirth

When a person feels threatened, whether real or imagined, adrenaline is released. The hormone adrenaline is a potent hormone, which alerts the limbic system in the brain, or the "fight-or-flight" response.  Adrenaline belongs to the catecholamine family of hormones which are responsible for stimulating the body to a state of high alert.

When this reaction is triggered, blood is diverted from the main organs to the limbs, heart rate increases, body temperature rises, digestion slows, and breathing becomes rapid and shallow, all of which are bad news to women giving birth.

For women giving birth, these physical manifestations of stress or anxiety will divert blood from the uterus, cause your body to tense, and increase your breathing rate.  In short, this reaction is a natural birth nightmare.  When this reaction occurs, you will most definitely experience pain.

Changing Your Perceptions about Natural Childbirth

The most-asked question I hear from newly pregnant women is "How bad is labor really?".  This just breaks my heart.  The phobias of natural childbirth are so firmly ingrained that many women giving birth  have come to accept that drugs are the way to go.

The good news is that by changing birth perceptions, women giving birth naturally can eliminate the physical reactions that interfere with the birthing process.  There are several areas in which many women harbor phobias or fears about labour and birthing.

Change Your Internal Dialogue about Contractions

By simply changing the way you perceive contractions, you can improve your comfort level while birthing. 

Women giving birth can benefit from changing their birthing vocabulary.   Since we as a society have come to associate the word "contraction" with "pain", we can form new associations by using different terminology to describe them.

Ina May Gaskin, in Spiritual Midwifery , uses the term "rushes" to describe contractions.  In Hypnobirthing, they are termed "surges".  Both names are much more positive in nature and help convey the true purpose of a contraction, an opening or wave to bring your baby to you.

Using a visualization can also help.  Some women giving birth naturally picture a contraction as a wave in the ocean:  it laps gently up your body and then slowly recedes.  Others use the visualization of blowing up a balloon: as the contraction builds, the balloon expands, and once the contraction starts to ebb, the balloon floats away.

A contraction is not meant to be a painful rite of childbirth.  Instead, they are the force that brings your baby to your arms.  With each contraction, you are one step closer to holding that precious new babe.  By recognizing them as such, you are welcoming them as a friend, not a foe.

This new perception prevents the automatic stress response covered previously from occurring, which means that your contractions will then be more effective since your body is working with them, not against.

As a result, for women giving birth naturally, their labor is more likely to progress quickly and efficiently, reducing the number of "surges" before you hold that baby.

Changing Your Perception of Pain

A critical factor to remember is why a person feels pain.  Pain is felt to signal that something is wrong. 

So, if a natural childbirth with no complications is occurring, and pain is felt, we must ask ourselves, "What is that pain signaling?

If you are tense and anxious, the pain can be a result of your body working against each contraction.  Remember that a stress response diverts blood from your uterus, which impedes its ability to function optimally.

Studies have shown that women's expectations of pain during childbirth match their actual birth experience.  In other words, what you expect is what you get - for better or for worse.

If women giving birth expect a horribly painful experience they won't be able to handle, rest assured, they will have it.  However, if you believe that your body was perfectly designed for birthing and have eliminated your existing phobias, you are well on the path to a comfortable natural birth.