**Please note that some parts in this piece may act as triggers**If we are to heal the planet, we must begin by healing birthing. Agnes Sallet Von Tannenberg
Why Birth Matters - Inspired by notes from a lecture "Womb Ecology" by Dr. Michel Odent
In this, the second decade of the twenty first century, the number of women, globally, giving birth in a totally physiological way is so small it is insignificant (Odent 2012)
Physiological birth is a finely tuned, perfectly balanced INVOLUNTARY process that shuts down when inhibited. Yes, that's right... its exactley the same kind of involuntary process as taking a poo... a process that shuts down when interrupted or inhibited.
Ina May Gaskin refers to this as "sphincter law".(GASKIN - Guide to Childbirth, GASKIN - Birth Matters) The human body has several sphincter's and the cervix is one of them. It is beyond inconceivable that as human beings would be expected to defecate in unfamiliar surroundings, wired up to various electrical monitoring devices, given intravenous laxatives in order to move our motions on along a pace, with several strange people wandering in and out of the room... can you imagine? Yet this is exactley the conditions under which most women in the developed and developing world are expected to birth their babies.
As human beings, when physiological processes are under used, they become weaker, eventually becoming ineffectual and eventually becoming obsolete, through the process of generational transfer. Dr. Michel Odent and his colleagues at www.wombecology.com are pulling together research-based evidence in the Primal Health Database which is showing that the human oxytocin system is becoming weaker. Birth IS getting more difficult, with an average first stage of labour lasting two and a half hours longer than it did in the 1950's and 60's. Breastfeeding IS getting more difficult. Oxytocin or lack of oxytocin is impacting on rising levels of sexual/genital disfunction. A study conducted between the years of 1979 and 2009 has shown that our capacity for empathy is decreasing and in 2010 when the study was presented, was 40% lower than in 1979.
There is a very urgent and real need to think about the longterm implications of inteference to the natural processes within the primal phase. The primal phase is pregnancy, birth and what many call the fourth trimester, a period of intense growth during the first year of a baby's life. Human babies are the only mammals other than baby kangaroo's who are born premature. Every other mammal is born able to walk and survive. Kangaroo's have a pouch in which they nurture and feed their premature infant until it reaches maturity and can survive away from the mother. Human babies are mostly born and placed in clear plastic boxes, removed from their mothers for long amounts of time, fed on chemical formulations and denied stimulation of their hormone systems. Increasingly in the field of epigenics, it is becoming known that many genes are established during this primal health phase. For example, the gene which governs scizophrenia, it's critical environment sensitive phase is during the fetal phase, yet this gene doesn't express itself until puberty. Another example is the gene that governs our metabolic health. Again it's environment sensitive critical phase is fetal. There are many genes which are switched on during this primal health phase and their sensitivity to environment may determine a person's health, both physical and mental, before they have even been born.
Cultural conditioning tells us that women cannot give birth on their own, that it is a dangerous pathological process where both mother and baby's lives are in grave danger. This conditioning is reinforced by ritualised practice such as the routine use of electro fetal monitoring, the insistance that home birth is dangerous, the rapid decline of the midwifery model of care, the normality of induction drugs for women who carry a pregnancy beyond "term". It is also reinforced by the media, when was the last time you saw a woman orgasm whilst she birthed her baby on Eastenders?
The truth is that women are perfectly capable of giving birth on their own, just as any large mammal is perfectly capable of giving birth on it's own. There is a truly remarkable youtube video of an Elephant mother giving birth which deliciously gets this point home... she kicks her baby into life...savage? heartstoppingly raw? such is birth.
I feel at this point it would be helpful to explain the physiological process.
During the end of pregnancy, the presenting part of the baby (either top of head, brow, face or breech (frank(arse), knee's or footling) will drop down into the woman's pelvis and put pressure on the cervix to soften and then begin to dilate. This process cannot begin until the woman feels safe.. no matter how much some women want to go into labour, for some women this process never begins on its own and this is, in my own opinion, can have an awful lot to do with psychology. However, let us assume that our woman has begun to have tightenings (contractions - i use the word tightening as i don't like the word contraction). Her tightenings may not be obvious as such to begin with, she may feel mild cramps or back ache as her baby begins to manouvre through the pelvis before the descent through the birth canal can begin. This phase is known as latent labour. At this point I shall come back to why language is so important. Many women have been stalled at this point, the wind taken from their sails, their confidence eroded into a sense of failure during this latent phase. The term "false labour" has been used culturally. The labour is not false at this point... it is just getting going... and a woman's psychological well being at this time is of paramount importance. When the woman's cervix has dilated to around 3-4cm, the tightenings are usually in a good regular pattern, getting longer in duration with shorter gaps in between. This then becomes what they call "established labour" although I have heard it referred to as "true" labour more times than I care to mention. Again language is so important... "oh you're in false labour love... go home... the pain's only going to get worse from here.... oh you can't manage at home? oh well you're not really dilating fast enough, we'll get you set up with some oxytocin, get you going a bit...." I digress...Our Mum has been in a protected established labour for some hours. Physiologically her neo cortex is beginning to shut down. She may have instinctively taken herself to a dark, protective space... physiologically she is stimulating Melatonin which is stimulated by darkness. Melatonin is the main player in shutting down the neo cortex. The neocortex needs to shut down in order to allow the mother to follow her instincts and birth. In this situation, a woman will instinctively move during and between contractions to the rythym and positions her body is telling her she needs to be in. She is connecting with her mammalian self (Ina May calls it the Monkey Self), allowing the finely tuned hormonal cocktails to rise and flow and do the jobs they are designed to do. Oxytocin is the hormone that gets labour going, that stimulates the uterus to move the baby down. It is the hormone that pushes the placenta out during the third stage of labor. It is the hormone that peaks hugely in the hour after birth allowing a woman to fall head over heels in love with her baby and therefore protect it with her life if needs be.
Synthetic oxytocin is structurally exactley the same as natural oxytocin. However, synthetic oxytocin doesn't cross the brain/blood barrier. During a physiological birth, natural oxytocin is a powerful analgesic, aswell as enhancing feelings of ability to cope and reducing levels of fear and therefore Adrenaline and Cortisol. During an augmented labour, synthetic oxytocin will keep the uterus contracting very efficiently but will offer none of the pain relieving and soothing qualities of the natural stuff. Not only that but synthetic oxytocin will halt the natural oxytocin system....with the natural oxytocin system halted, it's opposite, the stress system - the fight or flight reflex, will have free reign to do what damage it will. I will come back to Oxytocin later.
A ritualised aspect of our current attitudes towards pregnancy and childbirth is this obsession with the estimated date of delivery. Women count 40 weeks forward from the day their last menstrual period began and come up with the hallowed D DAY! except this business of 40 weeks is at best the bleetings of a silly straw clutcher and at worst, damaging humanity, every single second of every day. You see, the 40 week myth is just that really. Increasingly women are standing up and protecting their babies, their bodies and their human rights, to allow their bodies to dictate when they will go into labour. The trend of working out a due date based on last menstrual period, is farsical because it is based on the assumption that most women have a 28 day menstrual cycle and that they ovulate at day 14 on their cycle. So this calculative method excludes everyone who's menstrual cycle falls outside 28 days and who therefore doesn't ovulate on day 14 of a 28 day cycle. Thats a hell of a lot of women!!! The method also works on the assumption that each pregnancy will be the same and that a woman carrying her fourth baby will carry that baby for a similar or shorter time than her first baby. Insane?? yes I thinkso to. It is true for an awful lot of women that they will go into labour some time around 38-40 weeks of pregnancy, however it is also true that for an awful lot of women, that they will naturally enter into labour around 42 or even 43 or 44 weeks, depending on how many children they have previously had, what their menstrual cycle is like, when they ovulate etc etc etc. Culturally, many many women argue with their midwives until they are blue in the face about when they KNOW they conceived their child. Many of us KNOW also that getting this estimated due date, even just a week wrong, can have huge, massive and complex impact on our birthing experience, impacting on where we may or may not be supported to birth, impacting on whether our baby's lungs will be mature enough to cope away from the uterine environment, impacting on now long our care givers will display confidence in our pregnancy and our ability to birth in a physiologically natural way.
Many women are still routinely offered "induction" after the pregnancy is deemed "over-due". Culturally we need very much to drop this obsession with the 40 week due date. Why? induction usually involves the application of a pessary of prostaglandin gel (nature has an effective counterpart - its called SEMEN). After the pessary it may be deemed necessary to begin the woman on an IV of synthetic oxytocin (syntocinon/pitocin). Every day across the globe, women are being induced with a substance that is inhibiting their own oxytocin. Remembering about generational transfer, this trend of induction without any medical reason beyond a spurious "your baby is overdue according to our ridiculous, un-inclusive method of plucking information out of thin air", is slowly but surely destroying our ability to birth physiologically.
It is clear that we need a new paradigm that protects birth as an involuntary physiological process. We must challenge cultural conditioning and ritualised practice which does not serve any purpose and hinders. We must be ever mindful of the language we use when we talk about birth. We must protect the birthing woman from stimulation of the neocortex inorder that she can find her "labor-land" and birth her baby. The true role of the midwive can be described as a silent knitting session. What could be more reassuring and comforting than the every attentive but silent companionship of a highly knowledgeable and skillful midwive, knitting in the corner? Dr. Michel Odent says we must Rediscover what is Simple and I whole heartedly agree.
"If Women Can Lead - Men Can Nurture" - Inspired by notes from a lecture by Detective SuperIntendant John Carnochan of the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit.
Birth Matters because as already discussed, at an epigenic level, practically our entire lives are governed by what our environment is like in the Primal phase of life, i.e during pregnancy, birth and the first year or two of life. The Scottish Violence Reduction Unit recognises the fact that violence needs to be addressed in the early years of life because by the time a child reaches puberty it is too late. Remember our scizophrenic gene that is turned on during our fetal phase but is only expressed at puberty?
The causes of violence can be split:
- Propensity to Violence
- Social factors that trigger violence such as anger.
So where does birth fit into this?
A long term model of consequences could be displayed as a pyramid with toxic childhood forming the base and early death forming the pinnacle.
Early Death
|
Disease, Disability and Social Problems
|
Adoption of Health Risk Behaviours (alcohol and drug addiction, violence)
|
Social, Economic and Cognitive Impairment
|
Adverse Childhood Experience - Toxic Childhood.
Birth becomes of paramount importance when you understand the role Oxytocin plays in our capacity to be nurturing, loving parents.
Let us return to our Mum from the previous section.
She is induced at 41weeks pregnant. The induction means she cannot move around in labour and so after a night of severe pain, a failed epidural and utter exhaustion, she is labelled as a "failure to progress" and whisked off to theatre for an emergency caesarean section. Her bodies own oxytocin system is halted. She goes into shock after the baby is born as the baby needs rescusitation and has been whisked off to the neonatal intensive care unit due to low oxygen levels. Our Mum doesn't know anyone who has breastfed and despite listening to her midwife discussing the benefits of breastfeeding, our Mum knows that her boyfriend has said he thinks breastfeeding is disgusting and only Paedo's would do that to their babies. However our Mum listens to her midwife and decides to try and express some of her own milk for her baby to have in a bottle. Our Mum expresses a few drops of collustrum and hands it to the NICU staff who tut and roll their eyes and exclaim on the minute amount in the container. Our Mum doesn't know that her baby's stomach is only the size of a marble so she doesn't know that what she has expressed is perfect for her baby. Her tiny amount of confidence is eroded and, listening to her Mum, she decides to bottle feed formula milk instead. Baby is discharged along with Mum and they return home. Mum's breasts become very painful and she goes down with a nasty flu-like bug. Her GP diagnoses mastitis and gives her some antibiotics but doesn't tell her to empty the breast and thus drawn the infection out. Mum feels very poorly indeed for quite some time but feels grateful to the hospital for saving her baby's life (rescusitation) and for cutting her baby out of her apparantley useless body. One day she tells her boyfriend that she feels so sad that she didn't give birth naturally. Her best friend has just had an unexpectedly quick labour and birth at home and has been telling everyone on facebook about how amazing it was and how powerful she feels. She has even told her very best friend that she didn't think it was possible but she actually had several orgasms whilst pushing her baby out. Our Mum is feeling torn in two and utterly alone. Her boyfriend tells her that its not the birth that matters, all that matters is that her and the baby are healthy. She nods and crys silent tears. Some time later she shares how she is feeling with her own Mum who tells her not to be silly, she should be grateful her baby is alive and healthy!! Our Mum plods along with a growing resentment for this young life that has made her feel so completely and utterly shit. Her boyfriend walks out one day because she is "miserable all the fucking time" and doesn't come back. Her resentment and apathy towards the baby grows because everything was brilliant and alright before she fell pregnant!! Luckily her baby is a good baby and sleeps between bottles but when the baby is awake our Mum finds it very hard to even pick up her baby and spends long amounts of time ignoring the baby crying in the moses basket in the corner. One day the baby doesn't cry like it usually does and the Mum feels glad that "that phase" must be over with. She doesn't know that the reason her baby doesn't cry anymore is because its body is over-run with cortisol and adrenaline and it has simply given up crying as a way to try to communicate it's need to be loved and nurtured. This little family plod along in a very poor area with little work oppurtunities, serious territorial gang problems and huge drug and alcohol addiction problems. They are moved several times due to domestic abuse and due to regeneration projects. Our Mum has slipped through the support net as she has a cultural belief, fed by her friends and her own Mother, that Health Visitors are the same thing as social services. So she has never bothered to keep appointments or allow them access and has pretended to be out when they have called around. Our child begins pre-school as a very quiet, very withdrawn little thing. He doesn't know how to play or use his imagination. He doesn't get cuddled or kissed at home and when the other children try to be affectionate, he hits out at them. By the time our child starts secondary school, he has been excluded more than several times. He spends most of his time bunking off school and hanging out with his mates. They don't know about the gang structure they are in. They are just mates and they fight with other groups from neighbouring estates. One day they are fighting and our lad pulls a knife and stabs two innocent passers by. He has stabbed people loads of times before. This time one victim dies at the scene and the other put in intensive care... Our lad goes to prison for Murder and is not yet 16.
The first part of this story I have made up but I could easily be talking about a huge number of women including myself. The second part of this story is sadly very true and very real. The lad is called David, from Glasgow. His story is heartbreaking... it does continue... David comes out of prison released to his grandmother's care because his Mum has died from a Heroin overdose whilst he was inside. Gran is a formidable woman with 8 children. 2 of David's uncles die in the next few years from alcohol related diseases. David does more time inside for drug dealing and associated violent behaviour. On release he gains employment from an organised gang as a security guard. During this time there is an unreported attack carried out by him using a Machete. On the street he lives, practically every house is home to a drug dealer. David becomes a Dad aged 27.... the cycle begins over... and over... and over.....
Why does birth matter? Why does Oxytocin matter? Can we really heal the planet by beginning with birth?
As the physiological process of birth weakens, as the cultural trend of viewing pregnancy as a disease to be managed and treated persists, as our oxytocin system declines we continue to give up our power to those that we believe will do it for us. We look to our doctors and midwives to deliver us healthy babies with little mess and fuss and nonsense. We look to serious nasty drugs to dull our senses and take away the pain of our fear. We look to brightly coloured tins of formula milk that we may water down to make it go further, to feed our babies. We buy specially designed bottle props so we can clean our boxes whilst our babies feed. Our babies are "good" when they are stressed to the max and are "naughty" when they are crying for love and nurture. We look to school teachers to instill in our young right from wrong and we moan that they have too many holidays and that we have to take time off work in the school holidays. We pay nannies/aupairs/childminders to look after our children whom we label with disorders when we feed them poisons masquerading as food additives. We look to the community police men and women to cuff the ears of our little shits when they are abusing innocent passers by in the street and we moan about how much more respect children had for their elders and betters back in our day......
In our communities we need leaders with vision and creativity NOT technicians.
We need to recognise that professional gangs such as the police force and health service lead to territorialisation... them and us!
We need to look at outcomes NOT processes.
We need to look at assets not deficits!
This means again going back to what is simple. Looking at what is working and helping, not spending millions of tax payers money on ideological processes that lead to nowhere, fast.
"If you bring young men up in war zones, you will create warriors" - John Carnochan 2012
"What you teach a child about violence, you teach them for life" - John Carnochan 2012
Birth Matters because birth can make or break a woman. Birth Matters because birth can make or break a child.
AMAZING PEOPLE DO AMAZING THINGS - John Carnochan 2012.
Oxytocin-The Inner Guide to Motherhood - Inspired by notes from a lecture by Dr. Kerstin Uvnas-Moberg.
I have referred to the Oxytocin system at length thus far but now I shall attempt to illustrate just why it is of paramount importance and why it's decline on a global level is putting humanity into a highly critical phase of existance.
The Fight or Flight reflex is a very deep survival reflex. The hormones Adrenalin and Cortisol are hugely present during this reflex. We experience no empathy and become insensitive to touch. Our gastro/intestinal system shuts down and our liver releases glucose to fuel our flight/fight. The fight or flight reflex is triggered in the hypothalmus which is also where Oxytocin and the hormone that governs the release of Prolactin, the other vital breastfeeding hormone.
What words/feelings/emotions are associated with good Oxytocin levels?
Relaxed, Calm, Content, Happy, Peaceful, Warm, Open, Generous, Empathic, Friendly, Closeness, Trust, Loyalty, Giving, Receiving, Love, Unity.
What does Oxytocin do?
It triggers maternal behaviour.
It is important to facilitate bonding between mother and child but also in pair bonding in relationships.
It lowers blood pressure and heartrate.
It increases gastro/intestinal activity.
It increases our pain threshold and acts as a natural analgesic.
It has an effect very similar to Valium in that it makes people less afraid and calmer.
It decreases cortisol secretion so therefore has a positive effect on depression and anxiety.
It does the exact opposite of the stress system.
Its effects are long lasting.
It decreases inflammation.
It increases capacity to learn.
It increases social interaction and ability to interpret social cues.
It increases capacity to trust.
It is closely linked to seratonin.
It can also cause weight gain in females that are stressed.
If oxytocin is given to a newborn baby its effects are life changing and last a lifetime.
There are ongoing clinical trials into the use of Oxytocin (synthetic given as nasal spray which WILL cross the blood brain barrier) for conditions such as Autism, Social Phobia, Schizophrenia, Depression, Anxiety, Stress-related disorders, Substance Abuse, and as an adjunct to Psychotherapy.
I am reminded of Michel Odent's "Keep it Simple" and John Carnochan with his assets not deficits.....
The stimulation of nerves from the skin is the major contributor to Oxytocin production, yet touch has largely been disregarded for it's therapeutic value. Our skin is the largest sensory organ that we have. It is also the first sensory organ to activate during the fetal phase. Studies have shown that pleasant touch produces an anti-stress response or put into other words, an increase in Oxytocin.
What brings about Oxytocin release?
40 degrees centigrade... this fascinates me as a reiki practicioner as I have felt increasingly that Reiki stimulates Oxytocin production. Reiki can produce the sensation of intense heat.
Vibration.
Low intensity.
Stroking of no more than about 40 strokes per minute.
Stroking has been proven to be incredibly efficient at bringing about Oxytocin release.Stroking the front of the body is much more efficient than stroking the back. The reason for this is that the front side has more primal connections to the brain.... and this is the physiology behind why we like cuddling and hugging :) This is also why babies knead and stroke their mother's breasts and why cats knead laps of their owners ;)
Stroking as a method of increasing Oxytocin is more efficient than either injected synthetic oxytocin or nasal spray oxytocin.... keeping it simple ;) HUG MORE!!!!
During breastfeeding, Oxytocin is released in pulss that relate to milk ejection. Levels will fall back to base levels after about 20 minutes. Higher Oxytocin levels mean higher Prolactin levels which means more milk is made. Hormones are mirrored by mother and baby. A baby's suckling reflex not only stimulates it's own gastrointestinal tract but also that of its mother! Every time a mother breastfeeds, her Cortisol levels reduce and her blood pressure decreases.. and this effect is cumulative. Breastfeeding gives the exact same short and longterm positives as synthetic oxytocin nasal spray!!
Higher levels of Oxytocin in the body result in a higher birth weight but a child infinitely less likely to suffer Stroke, Hypertension, Heart problems or Type 2 Diabetes.... I hope readers are starting to see how massively vitally important Oxytocin is, and how obvious it is becoming that our Oxytocin system, as a species, is becoming weaker and failing....
Something that all women who have encountered pregnancy will be familiar with is the phrase "skin on skin". After a totally physiological uninterrupted birth, a newborn baby if placed on its mother's abdomen or chest, will actively seek out the breast. You can view videos on Youtube of babies less than an hour old, actually crawling up their mother's bodies and seeking out their booby! Oxytocin levels after a physiological birth, peak hugely in the hour after birth... to allow Mum to bond, fall hopelessly in love with her baby and to ensure that she will protect that new life with her own life if needs be. Little wonder that this bonding can be so infuriatingly ellusive to so very very many of us when our births are far from physiological!
Men also produce oxytocin so are perfectly equipped to whip shirts off and offer skin on skin to their newborn if Mum is unable. Dad's are also perfectly equipped to offer kangaroo care to sick or premature babies. Oxytocin pulses make the breasts warm and skin on skin can help warm a cold baby up aslong as the oxytocin is flowing. Due to the mirroring phenomena previously discussed, if mum is warm then baby will be warm. I have direct personal experience of this. When my daughter was but a few hours old, a midwife wheeled in an incubator because they felt that she was too cold. I firmly declined this option and instead snuggled my daughter in very close and my dear friend curled herself around me and my baby girl and we got warm.... the other name for Oxytocin is the LOVE hormone!
Skin to skin is almost as beneficial as breastfeeding in terms of oxytocin release but just gives a single pulse of oxytocin release as opposed to the multi-pulses of milk-ejection release. Skin on skin doesn't effect milk production as much as many are led to believe but is vitally important never the less. After one year, a child that has had skin on skin as a baby will display higher levels of social interraction than a child who has not.
It may be the love hormone but there is a darker, primal side to Oxytocin aswell. It increases worry and concern for the infant and will also increase propensity to maternal aggression if mum feels threatened! Hah! Yep I got first hand on that one aswell ;) and a midwife in the hospital I had my daughter at got the full pelt of my aggression the night she told me off for feeding perched on the edge of my hospital bed ;)
Oxytocin is inhibited by being in an unfamiliar environment!! Hospital? Theatre?
During an elective caesarean (i.e a caesarean conducted when the mother is not in labour). Oxytocin levels take several days to come up. This is possibly the biggest reason that so many women who have had elective caesareans struggle to breastfeed, struggle to bond with their babies etc. I would say this is also true of any non-labour caesarean be it elective or emergency. With an emergency caesarean whilst Mum is in labour, oxytocin levels should be raised aslong as they haven't been inhibited by the administration of synthetic oxytocin!!
To conclude this essay, I hope I have managed to illustrate the science behind why I am so passionate about natural physiological birth and breastfeeding. I firmly and passionatley feel that we can heal the sickness within humanity by starting with healing birth. I am convinced that almost everything that is wrong with our species is to do with the way we handle birth on a global scale. I am sick of this notion that medicalisation of birth is necessary, with the idea that because we walk on two legs we are incapable of giving birth naturally. I am infuriated with what is happening to midwifery in this country and all across the globe. I am inspired massively by the amazing men and women working tirelessly to promote the new paradigm of birth that Michel Odent talked about. Birth is sacred. Birth needs to be protected. Attending this conference, I left with a warm heart and safe in the knowledge that everything my instinct and intuition tells me is right and true, is backed by the cutting edge of science!!!!!!!We need to take back our power like John says, we need to cuddle and touch more like Kirsten says... and like the wonderful Michel says, we need to protect the physiological involuntary process that is birth with everything we have...
I have used notes taken during "The Biological Norm" Breastfeeding Awareness Conference at Bournemouth 4.5.12 as the basis for this piece. Please do feel free to raise points for discussion :)
What words/feelings/emotions are associated with good Oxytocin levels?
Relaxed, Calm, Content, Happy, Peaceful, Warm, Open, Generous, Empathic, Friendly, Closeness, Trust, Loyalty, Giving, Receiving, Love, Unity.
What does Oxytocin do?
It triggers maternal behaviour.
It is important to facilitate bonding between mother and child but also in pair bonding in relationships.
It lowers blood pressure and heartrate.
It increases gastro/intestinal activity.
It increases our pain threshold and acts as a natural analgesic.
It has an effect very similar to Valium in that it makes people less afraid and calmer.
It decreases cortisol secretion so therefore has a positive effect on depression and anxiety.
It does the exact opposite of the stress system.
Its effects are long lasting.
It decreases inflammation.
It increases capacity to learn.
It increases social interaction and ability to interpret social cues.
It increases capacity to trust.
It is closely linked to seratonin.
It can also cause weight gain in females that are stressed.
If oxytocin is given to a newborn baby its effects are life changing and last a lifetime.
There are ongoing clinical trials into the use of Oxytocin (synthetic given as nasal spray which WILL cross the blood brain barrier) for conditions such as Autism, Social Phobia, Schizophrenia, Depression, Anxiety, Stress-related disorders, Substance Abuse, and as an adjunct to Psychotherapy.
I am reminded of Michel Odent's "Keep it Simple" and John Carnochan with his assets not deficits.....
The stimulation of nerves from the skin is the major contributor to Oxytocin production, yet touch has largely been disregarded for it's therapeutic value. Our skin is the largest sensory organ that we have. It is also the first sensory organ to activate during the fetal phase. Studies have shown that pleasant touch produces an anti-stress response or put into other words, an increase in Oxytocin.
What brings about Oxytocin release?
40 degrees centigrade... this fascinates me as a reiki practicioner as I have felt increasingly that Reiki stimulates Oxytocin production. Reiki can produce the sensation of intense heat.
Vibration.
Low intensity.
Stroking of no more than about 40 strokes per minute.
Stroking has been proven to be incredibly efficient at bringing about Oxytocin release.Stroking the front of the body is much more efficient than stroking the back. The reason for this is that the front side has more primal connections to the brain.... and this is the physiology behind why we like cuddling and hugging :) This is also why babies knead and stroke their mother's breasts and why cats knead laps of their owners ;)
Stroking as a method of increasing Oxytocin is more efficient than either injected synthetic oxytocin or nasal spray oxytocin.... keeping it simple ;) HUG MORE!!!!
During breastfeeding, Oxytocin is released in pulss that relate to milk ejection. Levels will fall back to base levels after about 20 minutes. Higher Oxytocin levels mean higher Prolactin levels which means more milk is made. Hormones are mirrored by mother and baby. A baby's suckling reflex not only stimulates it's own gastrointestinal tract but also that of its mother! Every time a mother breastfeeds, her Cortisol levels reduce and her blood pressure decreases.. and this effect is cumulative. Breastfeeding gives the exact same short and longterm positives as synthetic oxytocin nasal spray!!
Higher levels of Oxytocin in the body result in a higher birth weight but a child infinitely less likely to suffer Stroke, Hypertension, Heart problems or Type 2 Diabetes.... I hope readers are starting to see how massively vitally important Oxytocin is, and how obvious it is becoming that our Oxytocin system, as a species, is becoming weaker and failing....
Something that all women who have encountered pregnancy will be familiar with is the phrase "skin on skin". After a totally physiological uninterrupted birth, a newborn baby if placed on its mother's abdomen or chest, will actively seek out the breast. You can view videos on Youtube of babies less than an hour old, actually crawling up their mother's bodies and seeking out their booby! Oxytocin levels after a physiological birth, peak hugely in the hour after birth... to allow Mum to bond, fall hopelessly in love with her baby and to ensure that she will protect that new life with her own life if needs be. Little wonder that this bonding can be so infuriatingly ellusive to so very very many of us when our births are far from physiological!
Men also produce oxytocin so are perfectly equipped to whip shirts off and offer skin on skin to their newborn if Mum is unable. Dad's are also perfectly equipped to offer kangaroo care to sick or premature babies. Oxytocin pulses make the breasts warm and skin on skin can help warm a cold baby up aslong as the oxytocin is flowing. Due to the mirroring phenomena previously discussed, if mum is warm then baby will be warm. I have direct personal experience of this. When my daughter was but a few hours old, a midwife wheeled in an incubator because they felt that she was too cold. I firmly declined this option and instead snuggled my daughter in very close and my dear friend curled herself around me and my baby girl and we got warm.... the other name for Oxytocin is the LOVE hormone!
Skin to skin is almost as beneficial as breastfeeding in terms of oxytocin release but just gives a single pulse of oxytocin release as opposed to the multi-pulses of milk-ejection release. Skin on skin doesn't effect milk production as much as many are led to believe but is vitally important never the less. After one year, a child that has had skin on skin as a baby will display higher levels of social interraction than a child who has not.
It may be the love hormone but there is a darker, primal side to Oxytocin aswell. It increases worry and concern for the infant and will also increase propensity to maternal aggression if mum feels threatened! Hah! Yep I got first hand on that one aswell ;) and a midwife in the hospital I had my daughter at got the full pelt of my aggression the night she told me off for feeding perched on the edge of my hospital bed ;)
Oxytocin is inhibited by being in an unfamiliar environment!! Hospital? Theatre?
During an elective caesarean (i.e a caesarean conducted when the mother is not in labour). Oxytocin levels take several days to come up. This is possibly the biggest reason that so many women who have had elective caesareans struggle to breastfeed, struggle to bond with their babies etc. I would say this is also true of any non-labour caesarean be it elective or emergency. With an emergency caesarean whilst Mum is in labour, oxytocin levels should be raised aslong as they haven't been inhibited by the administration of synthetic oxytocin!!
To conclude this essay, I hope I have managed to illustrate the science behind why I am so passionate about natural physiological birth and breastfeeding. I firmly and passionatley feel that we can heal the sickness within humanity by starting with healing birth. I am convinced that almost everything that is wrong with our species is to do with the way we handle birth on a global scale. I am sick of this notion that medicalisation of birth is necessary, with the idea that because we walk on two legs we are incapable of giving birth naturally. I am infuriated with what is happening to midwifery in this country and all across the globe. I am inspired massively by the amazing men and women working tirelessly to promote the new paradigm of birth that Michel Odent talked about. Birth is sacred. Birth needs to be protected. Attending this conference, I left with a warm heart and safe in the knowledge that everything my instinct and intuition tells me is right and true, is backed by the cutting edge of science!!!!!!!We need to take back our power like John says, we need to cuddle and touch more like Kirsten says... and like the wonderful Michel says, we need to protect the physiological involuntary process that is birth with everything we have...
I have used notes taken during "The Biological Norm" Breastfeeding Awareness Conference at Bournemouth 4.5.12 as the basis for this piece. Please do feel free to raise points for discussion :)
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