Thursday 21 April 2011

Why labour hurts 3

Imagine you are a cave woman coming toward the end of your labour when a saber toothed tiger appears at the cave door. OMG. The first thing you would do is to release adrenalin into your system so that you have extra energy to run away or stay and fight. But 'Oh No' your cervix is nearly fully dilated, if your baby is born now then the tiger will think its her birthday and celebrate with a very fresh human, covered in a tasty liquour dressing accompanied by a side order of bloody placenta. Yum.
Mother nature however has other tricks up her sleeve and has put receptor or binding sites on the cervix for adrenalin. The adrenalin secreted when we are under physical or mental stress 'sticks' to the cervix and helps to stop it from opening. Your cave baby is thus held in utero untill you can run out of the back cave door leaving your cave buddies to scare off the tiger. Sorted. Or is it?
Unfortunately mother nature has not moved with the times. Curse you evolution. In the modern world we no longer need adrenalin receptor sites on our cervix and they have become a hindrance. Todays modern woman is so afraid of going into labour that as soon as she does the adrenalin produced from the mental stress will attach itself to the cervix and hinder dilatation. The contractions will have to become stronger in order to heave the resisting cervix up and so become painful.
Howells et al (2000) was a piece of research which compared injecting the uterine cervix before surgery with adrenalin or another substance. The adrenalin worked best at reducing blood loss as it caused the cervix to become rigid. This is similar to how adrenalin performs during labour when levels are high enough to affect the cervix.
A relaxed person does not secrete adrenalin. Relaxation techniques previously discussed in this blog can be used in pregnancy and labour to prevent the cervix being restricted in its dilatation. This should make the labour shorter and easier and end all the cries of " What do you mean I am not in labour? I've been contracting for 2 f***ing days and my cervix has still not dilated?" Oh bliss.

Monday 18 April 2011

Why labour hurts 2

Imagine you are Buffy the vampire slayer walking through an eerie graveyard at the dead of night when suddenly, out leaps a vicious vamp looking for your blood. What is your reaction?
The first thing your body would do is to send an automated message to your adrenal glands to release adrenalin. This adrenalin would then circulate the body and make certain changes in order to maximise your chances of survival.
One of the ways it does this is to redirect blood flow from the body to the arms and legs so that you can run away very fast from the vampire or, if you really are Buffy, you can stay and fight.
Women today are scared of going into labour cos they believe they will be in agony for hours and hours, as soon as they have a few contractions the anxiety they feel starts releasing adrenalin from the adrenal glands. As with Buffy, this adrenalin sends extra blood to the arms and legs. This means that non vital organs within the body, such as the uterus, get starved of oxygen rich blood.
When a labouring uterus gets starved of oxygen it produces lactic acid, this then connects to pain receptors and sends messages to the brain of PAIN!
Running too soon after a meal has the same effect on the digestive system. The adrenalin released in response to physical exercise starves the gut of oxygen and you get a stitch. All you need do under these circumstances is to stop exercising. Unfortunately we do not have this option when going into labour.
Learning how to relax during the pregnancy so that you are ready when the big day comes  is vital for a pain free labour. A relaxed body does not secrete adrenalin so the blood flow is not sent away from the body to the arms and legs. During a normal labour with a normally presenting baby there is no reason for the contractions to hurt.
Choose a  method of relaxation that suits you best, stay upright on a comfy chair or other upright position and you will be amazed, as I was when I experienced my first pain free labour.




Sunday 10 April 2011

Why labour hurts

From the feedback I have received regarding pain free labours it seems that people are just too brainwashed by society to believe. OK, but I refuse to give up.
The uterus is basically a bag of smooth muscle. It is very similar in its design to the stomach. They both have three layers of smooth muscle each. These layers work together when contracting and relaxing. The stomach to churn up food and drink to digest it and the uterus to open the cervix and push a baby out.
Have you had anything to eat today? OMG you must be in agony if the smooth muscle in your stomach is contracting. Did you send for an ambulance and get rushed to hospital for an epidural? No. Why not? From what people have told me, when smooth muscle contracts it produces pain. If this is correct then every time you eat you must be in pain.
Smooth muscle is not designed to cause pain when it contracts under normal conditions. Simple. Then why does uterine smooth muscle seem to cause so much pain when it starts to contract with most labours?
See my next post for the answers.


Friday 1 April 2011

Relax with meditation

Meditation is used to focus the mind and combat the negative effects of stress. It brings together mind and body so that they work in unison more easily. There are different ways to meditate, you don't have to be sat still as it also works whilst on the move. A focused calm mind will automatically calm the body, reducing adrenalin output which is vital for a pain free labour.
For best results in labour:
  • Sit upright in a quiet environment making sure you are well supported and comfortable.
  • Focus the mind with a meaningful phrase ('pain free labour' will do) and repeat it in your mind while relaxing.
  • Or focus on an object in the room and work at emptying your mind of all else.
  • If other thoughts intrude, work on fading them away as soon as you realise your mind has drifted. It is quite difficult at first but gets easier with practice.
  • Similar to progressive muscle relaxation, you can conduct a body scan whilst meditating. Focus on parts of your body from the feet up but instead of telling them to relax you just note how they feel and move on.
  • Practice meditation for at least 10 minutes a day to get really good at it.
Any relaxation technique when practiced regularly brings your body and mind into balance whilst increasing energy levels cos you are not wasting resources having unnecessary panic attacks throughout the day. Stress hormones are reduced along with their harmful effects on the body.
Finding a technique that appeals to your lifestyle and preferences is vital. When you find the one that best suits you it can be used throughout the pregnancy so that when labour begins you will not instantly go into panic mode. If you do then you can pull back and start to take control by practicing relaxing in a way that suits you best.
Progressive muscle relaxing worked for me in my two pain free labours. I still use it today more than 20 years after my forth was born and it can work wonders at reliving the stresses of everyday life.