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ABSTRACT: When a woman labors and gives birth without disturbance, her body produces peak levels of birthing hormones. These include oxytocin, the hormone of love; beta-endorphin, hormone of pleasure and the body's natural analgesic; adrenaline and noradrenaline (epinephrine/norepinephrine) hormones of excitement; and prolactin, the mothering and breastfeeding hormone. This paper outlines current knowledge of the functions, and interconnections of these hormones, and the hormonal interferences caused by medical interventions, in particular, induction and augmentation (acceleration), opiate and epidural pain relief, cesarean surgery, and early separation of mother and baby. The author argues that an undisturbed birth creates maximum ease and safety for mother and baby, as well as making birth a potentially ecstatic experience.
KEY WORDS: Oxytocin; beta-endorphin; adrenaline; noradrenaline; epinephrine; norepinephrine prolactin; induction; pitocin; syntocinon; augmentation; acceleration; opiate analgesia; epidural; mother-infant attachment; bonding, labor; birth; undisturbed birth; ecstatic birth.
INTRODUCTION
The term undisturbed birth came to have great meaning for me when I gave birth to my fourth baby, unassisted (and unexpectedly breech) at home. It describes well this beautiful experience which awakened me anew to the ecstasy of birth, and I realized that the process of birth can be very simple, if we avoid disturbing it. Comparing this birth to my three previous midwife-assisted home births, and to home and hospital births that I had attended, I saw also how ingrained is our habit of disturbance, and that our need to "do something" so often becomes self-fulfilling in the birth room.
I realized that birth is also very complex, and that the process is exquisitely sensitive to outside influences. The parallels between making love and giving birth became very clear to me, not only in terms of passion and love, but also because we need essentially the same conditions for both experiences; to feel private, safe, and unobserved. Yet the conditions that we provide for birthing women are almost diametrically opposed to these; no wonder giving birth is so difficult for most women today.
WHAT DISTURBS BIRTH?
As I imply, anything that disturbs a laboring woman's sense of safety and privacy will disrupt the birth process. This definition covers most of modern obstetrics, which has created an entire industry around the observation and monitoring of pregnant and birthing women. Some of...