For many ladies, “worry” is a word that is readily associated with childbirth. You may have heard this one before, but just in case you have not, here is a fun method to think of worry. Yes, that’s right -thinking about fear can be enjoyable. Fear is:
· F else
· E xpectations
· A ppearing
· R eal
There’s something I want you to know about these false expectations that appear genuine; they mess up the uber-powerful birthing hormones. The false expectations highlight the catecholamines (I like to call them the “felines”), which are your fight-or-flight hormones.
When we’re not expected to be fighting or flighting, like when we remain in labour, the “felines” trigger issues and mess up the uber-powerful birth hormonal agents called oxytocin and endorphins. I can’t think about a fun name for these, but believe me, you really wish to have these around when you’re delivering. Let’s talk a bit more about oxytocin and endorphins.
Oxytocin is also known as the hormonal agent of love. It acts of things: assisting us feel excellent, setting off the nurturing mommy sensations, and telling the body to do what it requires to do to deliver. Oxytocin is accountable for essential things like contractions, which dilate the cervix and move your little munchkin down the birth canal and into your caring arms. This hormonal agent assists with the delivery of the placenta, and it decreases bleeding. Without enough oxytocin, contractions can slow down, labour can lengthen, bleeding can increase, and medical interventions can increase. Not so fun, right?
Endorphins are the wonderful calming and pain-relieving hormones. They’re a bit like morphine … however about 100 times more powerful. This is the wonderful substance that’s connected with the altered state of consciousness that women experience throughout birth. I’ve heard it described as “labour heaven,” “the zone,” “ecstasy,” “the flow,” and lots of other delightful descriptions. Without endorphins, labour can appear exceedingly agonizing and even unbearable.
Ideally by now you want to know how you can deal with the fear – false expectations appearing real – so that you can develop an environment for the oxytocin and endorphins to thrive.
Here are a couple of tips:
1. Identify the worry. Which specific false expectation is appearing genuine to you?
2. Challenge it. Is it genuine? Is it occurring right now? Can you know for sure that it will occur? Is it helping you? How would you feel without it?
3. Change it. Chances are great that the incorrect expectation appearing genuine won’t measure up when you challenge it. Whatever the fear is, it just exists in the future, and considering that the future isn’t genuine yet, the worry can’t be genuine. Change the false expectation appearing genuine with something that holds true, handy, and supportive. This can be something as simple as advising yourself, “My body is a carefully tuned work of art that is developed to deliver.”
By dealing with the false expectations appearing real, you can keep the “cats” at bay so that you can welcome the uber-powerful birth hormones into your birth experience and find your own “labour heaven.”

No comments:
Post a Comment