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.
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.
An excellent preparatory guide is the Pink Kit.
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.
