Where do you want to give birth?
Thinking about your chosen birth environment and how it can be adapted to support you is really important.
We aren’t always consciously aware of how external information can control us and feed the fears. Most believe that giving birth in hospital is where they will feel the safest. However, some have had traumatic experiences that may influence their choice or triggers their flight flight response. We usually associate hospitals with illness and in some cases dying.
We leave our safe familiar surroundings of home to give birth in an environment that our subconscious may find threatening. Many times I have had clients say ohh I transferred in and my contractions just stopped. This would be due to the adrenaline that is released in response to the danger signals being received in their subconscious.
However, the environment can also send signals that all is calm and safe and then the response is comfort and relaxation and calm. This is enhanced if the sensory information comes via the skin or nose as these processes, to a large extent, take place unconsciously. All mammals rely on these senses to give birth safely. The reality is most women will decide to give birth in hospital, because that is what society has come to believe is best but it can be difficult to ‘let your monkey do it’ surrounded by the interventions, interruptions and time constraints often surrounding a hospital birth.
The positives are that these negative stimuli can be reduced and replaced with those that you associate with calmness and relaxation. Think about the smells and the sensations and the sounds and the sights you want to have around you during labour and birth and start making them part of your relaxation/hypnosis. The sooner these can become a familiar part of the self-hypnosis/hypnosis process, the more effective they will be when you go into labour. This is particularly important if you’re having a more medical birth for whatever reason.
Think about how you’ll set up your nest at home for the early stages of labour and which items will you easily be able to transfer to a hospital environment? The importance of the environment is not to be underestimated.
Studies have shown the birth environment may aggravate a labouring woman’s anxiety and pain levels.
- Loud noises increase fear, which we know can make someone more sensitive to pain.
- The perception of pain can also be influenced by the brightness of the room, the temperature and the feeling of being observed because of the stress hormones that are stimulated in these situations.
It is, therefore, essential the stress-inducing components are reduced as much as possible. Even if you have decided an epidural is an absolute must for you – once it has been sited turn the lights off in the room, put some relaxing music on and let the Oxytocin flow!