oxytocin - Stockport Birth Services

What Do I Do If My Labour Slows Down?

Sometimes labour slows down. This might also be called stalling or “failure to progress” (bleurgh, nobody should be using that phrase if they’re giving proper personalised care). When labour slows down, contractions aren’t as effective and as efficient as they could be. Your body might need a little help increasing the frequency, duration and intensity of contractions in order for your labour to progress.

This is a checklist of things for you or your birth partner to consider if labour has slowed. Trying some or all of these might help ‘unstick’ whatever’s made labour get stuck and take a holistic view of what’s happening during the birth experience. Depending on what’s happening in your individual circumstances you may be offered medical augmentation of labour – all of these methods can be used before or as well as medical methods.

Progress Ps

Position: Are you in your preferred position? Is your position giving space for your pelvis to open, and is it using gravity to help your cervix to dilate and baby to come down the birth canal? Would moving help maximise your physiology? Do you need help and support to move?

Preferences: Has your birth plan been read and understood? Are your preferences being actively listened to? Are you being supported to work towards your preferences? Have your preferences changed?

Personal: Are your physical needs taken care of? Have you eaten and drunk to make sure your birthing muscles work effectively? Are you breathing to ensure your muscles are well oxygenated? Is your jaw (and therefore your pelvis) clenched? Have you had a wee recently – full bladders can impede baby’s progress.

Place: Is the room you’re in promoting oxytocin? Is it too hot, too cold, too cluttered to mobilise?

People: Who is present in the room with you? What are they doing? Do they make you feel safe? Do they need to be there if they’re not? Are they giving unbiased evidence based information for you to make your decisions? Are they asking consent?

Prohibitors: Are there any inhibiting factors that might be slowing your labour progress? Fear, stress, energy levels, mobility…?

Partner Potential: Is your birth partner/s doing everything they can to help labour progress? If not, what’s stopping them? Are they hungry, tired, in need of a pep talk? Do they understand what’s happening in the labour? Are they being respected in the birth room?

Things For You To Try That Could Shorten Labour

If you’re pregnant, you may be wondering what you can do to shorten labour – because who wants to spend longer than necessary in labour rather than meeting your baby?! The good news is that there are several things you can do to help prepare your body for labour and potentially shorten the process, which can last between 14-21 hours depending on whether it’s your first baby or not. But of course, all bodies are different and there are lots of factors that affect how quickly a baby comes.

Stay Active In Pregnancy

Staying active throughout your pregnancy can help you prepare for labour and birth. Exercise strengthens your muscles, including your pelvic floor muscles, which can make pushing easier. Walking, swimming, and antenatal yoga are all great options for staying active. People who exercise 3 times a week in pregnancy can reduce the length of their labour by 50 minutes!

Antenatal Yoga

Yoga and other forms of stretching are excellent ways to help get your body for labour and birth. A lot of the movements help to keep you upright and open up your pelvis, as well as stretching and releasing the psoas muscle which supports the pelvic floor. If any of the muscles in your pelvic area are tight or imbalanced it can cause suboptimal positioning for baby, which in turn can cause labour to be longer. Yoga can also help turn your baby into an optimal position with their head down and chin tucked, and if baby’s in a great position then that can help reduce the amount of time it takes to meet them.

Antenatal Education

You wouldn’t head off to a job interview without doing some prep work first would you? Giving birth is exactly the same – birth preparation can help you prepare for your labour and birth. Knowing what your body does when giving birth, how you can optimise your birth physiology and what you might encounter if your birth throws you a curve ball can really help you reduce your stress hormones when the big day arrives. And we know stress hormones impact oxytocin and can slow your labour right down. The good news is we cover all of that and more in my classes – check out the store page to see what options suit you.

Eat Dates

Research tells us that eating dates can reduce the length of your labour as well as increasing your chances of going into spontaneous labour rather than being induced. Eating them also decreases the chance of having heave blood loss after birth. Around 7 dates a day from 36 weeks of pregnancy might mean you get a little bit bored of dates, but not bad for a humble fruit!

Raspberry Leaf Tea

Many women and birthing people swear to the power of raspberry leaf tea to tone the uterus and make contractions more effective, and in doing so making labour shorter. The evidence behind it isn’t robust but we do know it’s not going to cause any harm. Worth a shot, eh?

Oxytocin Boosters

Oxytocin stimulates contractions. Having a good healthy dose of oxytocin in your system will ensure your contractions are as effective and as efficient as possible leading to a shorter labour. Without enough oxytocin in the system, your contractions will slow and things will take longer. Find out ways you can encourage oxytocin here.

Breathe!

Breathing is a very powerful tool when giving birth. Not only does it help you relax which reduces physical tension and soreness, it trips your parasympathetic nervous system and reduces stress hormones – allowing oxytocin levels to rise and the wonderful positive feedback loop mentioned above to start. But that’s not all! A steady breathing pattern makes sure your body has plenty of oxygenated blood to carry to the birth muscles, and well oxygenated muscles work more effectively.

Continuous Support Partner

Whether this is from a birth partner, a doula, or both, research tells us that having a continuous support during birth can help improve outcomes. Having a non-medical person to help support you in different positions, with oxytocin boosters, to help you relax, and to make suggestions if things seem to be slowing down can help you optimise your birth.

Stay Home

We know that people who plan home births have fewer interventions because things aren’t progressing as quickly as expected as well as a whole heap of other benefits. Even if you’re not planning a home birth, staying at home for longer helps keep your oxytocin levels up which can reduce the amount of time you’re in labour (and hospital) for.

Try Different Birth Positions

Changing positions during labour can help ease pain and pressure and encourage your baby to move down. Some positions to try include squatting, kneeling, or standing and leaning forward. You can also try using a birthing stool or a birth sling. Positions that help you be upright and open are great ones to try. Being on a bed on your back generally slows things down as your body has to work against gravity and the pelvis doesn’t have space to open.

Use a Birthing Ball

Sitting on a birthing ball can help open up your pelvis and encourage your baby to move down. The gentle bouncing motion can also help ease pain and discomfort during contractions. If you don’t have a birthing ball, you can use a regular exercise ball or even a chair.

Eat, Drink and Be Merry

Staying hydrated and fuelled with calories is important during labour, as dehydration and not having enough calories can slow down the process. Make sure to drink to thirst (or have someone remind you) and snack on calorie dense food throughout labour.

Consider Medical Intervention

For some people, no matter what they try, labour will be slow progress. This might be due to lots of different factors such as baby’s position. If your labour isn’t progressing your midwife or doctor may suggest medical help such as an oxytocin drip or rupturing your membranes. When interventions are offered they must always discuss the benefits, risks and alternatives with you so you can give informed consent.

There are no guarantees when it comes to giving birth but we do know that lots of things can help – and hinder! – the process. Make sure the team around you know how they can help you with some of these things.

17 Fantastic Facts About Oxytocin in Birth

Oxytocin is often referred to as the “love hormone” or “cuddle hormone” because it’s associated with social bonding, love, and trust. It’s produced by the hypothalamus in your brain and is released into your body by the pituitary gland.

Oxytocin is produced in large quantities during birth where it helps to stimulate and strengthen contractions. These contractions help to push your baby down the birth canal and into the world. Although in labour your body naturally produces increasing amounts of oxytocin, there are things that you can go to help promote the production of the hormone in your body.

17 Facts About Oxytocin in Birth

Oxytocin stimulates the muscles of your uterus to contract, and these contractions help to dilate your cervix and push your baby through the birth canal.
Oxytocin can’t coexist in your body with stress hormones; we know that if we can reduce the stress, anxiety and fear you might be feeling, we can reduce stress hormones and promote the production of oxytocin. This also breaks the fear-tension-pain cycle.
Once oxytocin levels start to rise in your body, a positive feedback loop is created. The cervix is pulled up and over your baby’s head which drops your baby down, triggering more oxytocin receptors to release oxytocin, resulting in stronger contractions which pull the cervix up and over baby’s head…
Oxytocin helps to reduce your pain during labour by stimulating the release of endorphins, which are natural pain-relieving hormones.
When oxytocin and endorphins mix, you enter a hazy dazy birth bubble where you zone out of the world. Peace man.
An oxytocin and endorphin fuelled labour can reduce your need for pain medication during labour (although, of course, it’s still available for you if you want it…)
…however, note that epidurals can impact the release of your own oxytocin, which may impact the strength of your contractions.
A good amount of oxytocin in the system makes labour more efficient and effective, ie shorter!
An increase in oxytocin levels during birth can lead to you feeling like you had a more positive birth experience.
You’ll have the most oxytocin in your body in your lifetime just after your baby’s born but before the placenta arrives.
Skin-to-skin contact with your baby can help to enhance oxytocin production and promote bonding. This goes for partners too!
Oxytocin is responsible for the feelings of love and bonding that are often experienced between mothers and their babies during the postpartum period.
Oxytocin helps to stimulate the release of milk in the breasts by contracting the muscles surrounding your milk ducts.
After birth, oxytocin helps your uterus to return to its pre-pregnancy size and shape by contracting and reducing its volume.
Oxytocin has been shown to have a calming effect on babies, reducing stress and promoting a peaceful and restful environment. Wearing your baby in a sling and having skin-to-skin contact can help with this.
Oxytocin has also been linked to improved sleep patterns in both parents and babies, promoting overall health and wellbeing.
Oxytocin production in your baby helps to organize neural circuits in the brain, as well as promoting a sense of attachment, security and confidence in them.

Oxytocin is an important hormone that plays a crucial role in the birthing process and in promoting the health and well-being of both the birthing person and baby. Its many benefits, including shortening labour, promoting bonding, increasing pain tolerance, and reducing stress, make it a vital hormone. By enhancing oxytocin production during labour, you can promote a positive and empowering birth experience, and create a strong foundation for the future.

To read more about oxytocin during the birth process, head over to Sara Wickham’s site where she looks at the evidence.

15 Ways To Boost Oxytocin In Labour

Oxytocin is produced naturally in your body during birth where it helps to stimulate and strengthen contractions. These contractions help to push your baby down the birth canal and into the world. Although it’s produced naturally and in increasing quantities in labour, are things that you can go to help promote the production of the hormone in your body.

15 Ways To Boost Oxytocin in Labour

Gentle touch and massage can help to stimulate the release of oxytocin, reducing stress and promoting a sense of wellbeing. Massage can also relieve sore muscles of tension. There’s also research that shows that oxytocin rises in the person giving the massage, which is a great way to promote calmness in your birth partner.
A warm bath or shower can reduce stress hormones and enhance oxytocin production.
Deep breathing can turn off the sympathetic nervous system’s stress response, allowing oxytocin to relax your muscles and calm you down.
Having an emotional support person who’s there solely to focus on you rather than anything medical, such as a partner, doula, or close friend, can help to enhance oxytocin production and reduce stress during birth.
Cuddles! Research shows that oxytocin starts to be produced 20 seconds after a cuddle starts, so some lovely long hugs are bound to help your oxytocin levels.
And on the subject of intimacy…orgasms produce oxytocin too. Just make sure you’re somewhere private first!
Nipple stimulation triggers the release of oxytocin, whether this is from your own hands or your partner’s.
Laughter – it really is the best medicine!
Essential oils and other smells that trigger feelings of love and happiness can boost your body’s production of oxytocin.
Music has been found to boost oxytocin levels, so crank your labour playlist up! Some people like to have a calm playlist and a more upbeat one – as long as it’s music that you enjoy do whatever suits you best.
Start eating dates; it seems that the fruit influences oxytocin receptors and stimulates the muscles to respond to your body’s oxytocin.
Creating a peaceful, supportive, and nurturing environment can help to enhance oxytocin production and promote a positive birth experience.
When you’re stressed you produce stress hormones, inhibiting oxytocin. So if you’re feeling stressy during labour figure out the cause and get rid of it, allowing the oxytocin levels to rise.
Showing love and affection towards your support partner can boost your oxytocin levels; meaningful connection while bringing new life to the world, can there by anything more worthy of the love hormone?
Avoiding unnecessary disturbances can help promote an oxytocin-fuelled environment. If someone’s constantly bringing you out of your hazy dazy birth bubble the oxytocin production will be disrupted – yuck.

Oxytocin is a crucial hormone for the birthing process. It has many benefits including reducing the amount of time your labour lasts, increasing your tolerance to pain, promoting bonding and attachment. By enhancing oxytocin production during labour, you can promote a positive and empowering birth experience, and create a strong foundation for the future.

For more information about oxytocin in birth, head over to Sara Wickham’s page where she looks at some of the evidence.

15 Non-Pharmacological Pain Relief Options For You To Choose In Child Birth

For those that would prefer not to use medication, or want to try other options first, you might be wondering what on Earth is available to you. Well don’t worry, you have plenty of pain relief options!

Many of these are things that will naturally enable oxytocin and endorphins to work in your body, creating a hazy dazy birth bubble that protects you. All people respond differently to different things so it’s worth putting the work in to think about what might boost your oxytocin (the love hormone) and your endorphins (your pain relieving hormones).

The brilliant thing about these is that there are no negative side effects and you can layer them up like a little pain relieving onion, and take them away when they no longer serve you. In no particular order, I bring you 15 non-pharmacological methods of pain relief during childbirth:

Breaking the fear-tension-pain cycle: Fear leads to tension, tension leads to pain. By relieving the fear you can reduce the physical symptoms of tension, ie pain! So think about some of the things that help you reduce fear and anxiety – things like deep breathing and oxytocin boosters like aromatherapy can help, as can a big cuddle from your partner!

Concept of purposeful pain: Giving birth isn’t like breaking a bone. For a start, it usually comes on gradually and builds in intensity, unlike the sudden sharp shock of a break! It’s not a something’s wrong type of pain. Reframing the lens through which you look at labour pains and understanding that each contraction brings you one step closer to your baby can help transform the way you react to the pains. Instead of being something you fear (that fear-tension-pain cycle again!), they can become something you welcome.

Breathing: Deep breathing can help encourage your physical and emotional body into a relaxed state, promoting a healthy blood flow to the birthing muscles so they work effectively. A calm, relaxed body and mind reduces the pain you experience – yep, it’s that fear-tension-pain cycle again!

Visualisations: By creating images in your mind, especially when they’ve already been anchored in your brain to a time when you were relaxed and pain-free, can help reduce your experience of pain and give you a way to handle each contraction. Many people use the concept of a wave as your contraction during labour – the wave swells and with it so does the contraction in your body, and the wave washes away as the contraction releases; you can tie this in nicely with long deep breaths.

Hot water bottle: One of the oldest and cheapest methods of pain relief!

Laughter: Laughing produces endorphins, endorphins are your body’s pain killing hormones. Easy as that!

Bath/shower: Water promotes oxytocin and endorphins, helping that birth bubble be built around you. Being submerged in water can relieve stress hormones and muscle tension, while showers can be used to massage the sore bits.

TENS machine: These send tiny electrical impulses into your body, disrupting the pain signals that you’re experiencing from your contractions. You CANNOT use this with any pain relieving method that involves water.

Massage: Getting hands on can be a great way to reduce the pain your experiencing! Massage can relax painful muscles, relieve stress and promote oxytocin, especially if it’s someone you love doing it.

Music: Music isn’t just a good distraction in birth, it can actually disrupt your brain’s pain pathways meaning your pain is reduced! Also, when else can you listen to entirely your choice of music without someone moaning?!

Rebozo: Rebozo sifting is a really gentle way to move muscles and joints, bringing relief from any pain stored up in them. It’s not a very well known concept in the UK but one that people tend to love if they do use it.

Movement: Keeping mobile helps you move and sway into contractions, relieving your body of tension, stiffness and soreness as you go. Being able to choose which position you get into and move around helps reduce your experience of pain, as well as increasing the self-efficacy you have. Choosing upright positions can help wiggle your baby down into the cervix, helping trigger oxytocin to be released into your body and stimulating effective contractions. Win win!

Acupressure: Certain acupressure points can reduce pain intensity. One of the increasingly common ways of using acupressure is to hold a comb in your hand with the teeth pointing just below where your fingers meet your palm.

Aromatherapy: Olfactory stimulation can result in pain reduction. It can also be used to promote oxytocin and reduce stress. Some essential oils are contraindicated in pregnancy/birth so do check what you’re using with someone qualified.

Personalised oxytocin boosters: We’re all individuals and respond to different things in different ways. Have a think about what makes you feel loved up, joyful, ecstatic and on a natural high as they might be just the thing to help you in labour!

(And to finish off, if you do choose pharmacological pain relief then that’s perfectly ok! You can choose to do your birth any way you want! <3 )