HELPING LABOUR PROGRESS
It’s the million dollar question- How can I speed up my labour? While no one can ever tell you for sure how to have a fast birth, there are some things that we know help. Before we dive into that, I want to reiterate that rest should almost always be your priority in early labour. If you *can* sleep, you should. Remember you are preparing for a marathon, not a sprint.
If you can’t sleep, but labour needs help progressing (labour stops and starts but doesn’t pick up in intensity, you have strong contractions without dilation/effacement) then here are the things you can look at:
First off: Oxytocin. And I don’t mean the IV kind. Your body produces oxytocin naturally which is the main hormone behind labour and contractions. Do you know what else it’s called? The love hormone. That’s because this hormone flows when your body feels safe and secure and taken care of. If you want labour to progress- protect this oxytocin flow!
Environmental factors can be huge, especially in early labour. Turn down the lights, kick out unwanted people, play soothing sounds, introduce fresh air or pleasant smells. Often birthers will go into the bathroom because it’s warm, private, dark and feels safe. Bonus if you jump in the shower and get the added benefits of the white noise and the tactile stimulation from the water rushing.
Romance is a great way to boost your oxytocin! Many people aren’t feeling particularly sexy at this point, but snuggling, making out, nipple stimulation and especially orgasm are great boosts to your body’s oxytocin levels.
Movement is the next best way to encourage active labour. Rest is best- but if you can’t, stay active. This can be as simple as a slow leisurely walk around the block, slow dancing with a partner or yourself, walking stairs, swirling your hips on a birthing ball, or even just changing positions every half hour or so. If you’ve really got energy, put on some hype up music and move your hips! This helps shift baby into a good position, promotes descent, increases oxytocin production- and probably releases some tension from your body!
None of those appealing to you? Laughter is the best medicine, and that’s often true in labour too! Put on a funny movie while you figure 8 your hips on a birth ball! You can also try accupressure, a change of scenery, or relaxation techniques like horsey lips (blowing air through loose lips) to release tension in your body.
There is a powerful connection between mind and body. Think about anything causing you anxiety or fear, or holding you back from truly relaxing and try to consciously release it.
This is a great follow up video from Chanel about how to use the information about station we learned earlier in order to guide your labour movements and help labour progress.
I’m also going to include Luka’s Oxytocin Guide here as well. She does a great job teaching about oxytocin and how it affects labour, as well as some additional ideas to support your body’s natural oxytocin. That said - she looks at birth from a slightly different lens than I do, and some of the ending pages of this guide can read as very anti-medical intervention. Please know that I support all births and all birth choices, and I have seen incredibly fantastic births that also happened to have a lot of necessary or chosen interventions. Knowing about oxytocin and how it works can be a game changer when you’re considering who/what/where you want to surround yourself with during labour. If the choices that you are comfortable with means your oxytocin production may take a hit, we will use the knowledge we have to support your body in other ways. Knowledge is power.
While I am so sad that I don’t have a source for this graphic, it’s too good not to include. In a lot of ways, labour beginning and progressing is science and mathematics. Simply put, your body needs enough of an oxytocin dump in order to kind of ‘push it over the edge’ into full blown labour. Once that bucket is full, or you’ve metaphorically pushed the boulder to the top of the hill, it will continue doing it’s thing in the absence of major fear inducing events.
Your job in early and active labour is to provide your body with as many of these oxytocin inducing stimuli, and avoid as many of the adrenalin inducing factors that you can. Some won’t be negotiable, that’s ok - we will make up for it with the oxytocin boosters.
The updated version of the Spinning Babies three balances includes this jiggle instead of a rebozo sifting. This can be super effective AND feel really great during labour.
Labour Stalled?
This is your reminder to go back to basics. While yes we can introduce pitocin, break your water or start talking cesareans, your first step should be to see what oxytocin inducing activities you can go back to. Turn down the lights, snuggle a blanket, touch your partner. Comfort first, and progress will often follow.
If you’ve revisited oxytocin and comfort and are still seeing a stall, we will look at positioning and baby’s part of it. Sometimes this means we need to provide more space for baby to move the way they need to.