The following are some thoughts you may wish to consider about how fears and concerns can impact on the woman during her labour. We will also explore how these concerns can sometimes be turned into an opportunity.
Can fears and concerns affect the labour?
Fears and concerns from previous birth(s)
Fears and concerns turned into opportunity
Can fears and concerns affect the labour? If a woman is feeling fearful, her body can become tense, often without her realising it. This can also be the case if she feels frightened or 'threatened' in her birthing environment (or by the people around her). In response to any fear and tension the body naturally triggers the protective action of releasing adrenaline, to deal with that fear. Adrenaline interferes with the body's release of its own natural pain control system, 'endorphins'. It also can slow or stop contractions and at times possibly distress the baby by reducing blood flow to the uterus.
An example can be if the woman arrives at her birthplace in labour and hears another woman moaning, groaning or screaming. Caregivers working with labouring women are accustomed to these normal birthing sounds however, they can be very confronting when hearing them for the first time. Hearing another woman in labour can sometimes cause fear and resistance, even to the point of slowing or stopping the labour.
Tension and resistance to the labour pain can take an immense amount of energy to sustain over a prolonged period of time. This can impact on how the woman feels about her labour pain and how she feels she is coping with her labour.
The body's energy is absorbed in the fear and little is left to deal with the labour.
The cycle can be one of:
Positive thought.....
Often the woman's concerns will change and evolve as the pregnancy progresses. Sometimes being quite immense and overwhelming in the beginning of the pregnancy to less of an issue towards the end (or visa versa).