Hormones

More inspirational readings from my Lamaze Independent Study...
HORMONES!
Check out these amazing, powerful, interconnected chemicals that we generate naturally to facilitate birth, bonding, and breastfeeding with our babies...and then, the ways that drugs interfere and inhibit them. This is no judgement. These are the facts.

The Pituitary Gland (care of Healthtap.com)

The Adrenal Glands (care of Healthtap.com)

Oxytocin, the *love* hormone

• associated with ejection reflexes (like sperm ejection, fetal ejection, placental ejection)
• released from pituitary gland
• descending baby stimulates the stretch receptors in mom, causing peak levels of oxytocin
• protects against hemorrhage and ensures postpartum contractions
• reduces stress

Endorphins *pleasure/transcendence*

• naturally occuring opiate, similar to morphine and heroine, works same brain receptors
• released from pituitary gland
• creates pleasure, euphoria, mutual dependency
• allows mom to reach an altered consciousness in an undisturbed birth
• in breastmilk, induces pleasure and mutual dependencey for mother and baby

Epinephrine *excitement/adrenoline*

• fight or flight hormones
• released from adrenal glands on kidneys
• released in response to fright, anxiety, hunger, cold, and excitement
• at birth, it activates the fetal ejection reflex
• rush of energy when it is time to push, mom gets upright and alert
• this hormone is implicated in instinctive mothering (who wants to mess with that?!)
• for baby, it protects against hypoxia/acidosis, and ensures baby is wide-eyed and alert at first contact with mom

Prolactin the *mothering* hormone

• major hormone in breastmilk synthesis
• activate mother's vigilence adn help put her baby's needs first 

Synthetic Oxytocin (Syntocinon)

Anyone ever hear of Pitocin? This is synthetic oxytocin.

It doesn't crosses the blood/brain barrier, so when injected with Pitocin, the mom does not experience above-mentioned benefits of the *love hormone*. However, the body does believe the hormone is present, and thus ceases to the natural production of oxytocin, thereby increasing the chance of hemorrhage (that natural oxytocin prevents).

Epidurals

Epidurals have major effects on all of the above-mentioned hormones.

• INHIBITS endorphine production, thus restricting the natural shift in consciousness
• INHIBITS oxytocin production since mom's stretch receptors are numb and cannot trigger natural oxytocin
• No natural oxytocin, no natural ejection reflex, leading to increased second stage of labor.
• INHIBITS Prostagladnin F2 alpha (which makes uterus contractible). 

One study showed women with epidurals and decreased PGF2 alpha had average labors increased from 4.7 hours to 7.8 hours.

One study showed mothers given epidurals spent less time with their babies in the hospital in inverse proportion to the dose of drugs they received during the second stage of labor. (lack of *love hormone* maybe?)

One study showed mothers with epidurals describe their babies as "more difficult to care for" one month after birth. (lacking that *mothering hormone* maybe?)

This hormone system is common to all mammals. For birth to proceed optimally, the mother must shift from her neocortex (rational) brain to her mammillian, or middle brain, also known as the limbic system. We as a society need to place some importance on this shift in consciousness and facilitate it.

I love this quote from a Dutch professor, G. Kloosterman, 

"Spontaneous labour in a normal woman is an event marked by a number of processes so complicated and so perfectly attuned to each other than any interference will only detract from the optimal character."

These innate chemical reactions are so powerful when allowed to proceed on their own.

Let's trust in ourselves, and our natural, untapped potential.

Information from:

Ecstatic Birth, The Hormonal Blueprint of Labor by Sarah J. Buckley

First printed in Mothering Magazine, March-April 2002.

Robots are Taking Over Birth

http://nursingbirth.com/2009/09/07/the-worst-idea-since-routine-continuous-fetal-monitoring-for-low-risk-mothers/

Art and Pregs

Here's one from the *Learn Something New Everyday* file...

I was looking for a strong-pregnant-woman image in honor of a dear friend Kelly who gave natural childbirth to her second child and first daughter this past month. Thank the universe that she educated herself and knew exactly what she did and did not want out of her hospital experience. She had taken steps to have someone she was comfortable with, a certified nurse midwife, present as her primary birth facilitator.

However, after the birth, when healthy mom and baby were recovering, an MD decided (with a phone-in decision...no direct observation or patient visit) based on to two borderline blood pressure readings, that pre-eclampsia was a concern and she would inflict magnesium on the patient. For those that don't know, the primary treatment for pre-eclampsia is yes, delivering a baby. Additionally, mag has these lovely COMMON side effects:

• Flushing
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Palpitations
• Headache
• General muscle weakness
• Lethargy
• Constipation

Being of sound mind and common sense, my friend politely and firmly declined this treatment. To which the doctor said, "okay". I guess it wasn't that important after all.

Back to the image I found....Hope II by Gustav Klimt.
Yep that's one beautiful pregnant mama.

During the search, I also found the first Hope by Klimt:

Stunning.
I didn't realize Klimt was so into the pregos.

And finally, through the magic of the internet, I learn that Dave Navarro, formerly of the group Jane's Addition, has a tattoo of Hope on his forearm. The artist in question desperately lacking the talent of Klimt.Learn something new every day!

Hospitals

Good for the Quaids...

Dennis Quaid Settles With Cedars Over Twins' O.D.
Natalie Finn – Mon Dec 15, 11:58 pm ET
Los Angeles (E! Online)
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is looking to clear up any bad blood with Dennis Quaid. According to court documents obtained by E! News, Quaid and his wife Kimberly have accepted a settlement of $750,000 from the Los Angeles hospital, which last year took responsibility for giving the babies a life-threatening overdose of blood thinners.

Zoe Grace and Thomas Boone Quaid, now both 1, were being treated at Cedars for staph infections in November 2007 when an employee accidentally administered dosages of heparin (commonly used to flush out I.V.s) that were 1,000-times the recommended amounts for newborns, 10,000 units per millileter apiece instead of the standard 10.

Cedars was fined $25,000 earlier this year by the California Department of Public Health for "multiple failures by the facility to adhere to established policies and procedures for safe medication use."

Though they never sued Cedars, the Quaids, blaming poorly labeled bottles, sued heparin manufacturer Baxter Healthcare Corporation for negligence last December.

Quaid also testified before Congress in May against a proposed statute that would make it more difficult for patients to take pharmaceutical companies to court.

Once a judge signs off on the Quaids' deal with Cedars, the couple will no longer be able to pursue litigation against the hospital as part of a good-faith stipulation in the settlement, although they could sue on their children's behalf for future consequences of the accident.

The Cedars settlement does not affect the Quaids' lawsuit against Baxter.

Induce!!

In USA Today, on 10/8/2008, the paper quoted University of Wisconsin’s Douglas Laube, a former president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, who blames “very significant external forces” for the overuse of expensive technologies in maternity care.

“I don’t like to admit it, but there are economic incentives” for doctors and hospitals to use the procedures, says Laube, who reviewed the new report before its release. Dr. Laube goes on to say that some doctors might get bonuses for performing more labor inductions, which adds costs and increases the risk of C-sections, which, in turn, increase hospital profits because they require longer stays. In addition, some doctors order unnecessary tests and procedures to protect against malpractice suits, Laube says.

A Nurse Speaks

This was posted on the *Business of Being Born* website. It is a great summary of why I am SO passionate about non-hospital, non-surgeon births (in the case of a low-risk pregnancy).

Written by a Labor & Delivery Nurse
November 9th, 2008

I am a labor and delivery nurse and I must say that I see all too often women coming in who want a natural birth and are not being supported in their decision. A women comes in labor and we strap them to the bed so we can see the babies every heart beat. They want to move to their side or sit up but then we lose the heart beat and have to reposition them in sometimes uncomfortable positions. Women who are healthy and want a natural delivery should go to a birthing center or deliver at home where they can walk around and get into comfortable positions that make laboring bearable. If they come to the hospital doctors are all too eager to rush things along one intervention at a time.

First we break the water which puts you at greater risk for infection and fetal heart decels. Then we check you every couple of hours which after rupture of membranes further increases the risks of infection. If no progress is made we start pitocin which dramatically increases your risk of cesarean. Pitocin also makes contractions more intense and makes it very unlikely that you will be able to deliver without having an epidural. An epidural can lower your blood pressure which makes it hard for baby to get the oxygen it needs from your blood which very often turns into a stat cesarean. An epidural also decreases your urge to push and guess what…doctors don’t let you push for more than two hours…so if baby is not out you have a cesarean.

Its a snowball effect that I see all to often and I can’t help but wish these women had known about alternatives to hospitals. I’ve seen doctors lie to patients and say that the baby is in danger when it’s not and tell them that even if they don’t agree they will do a cesarean to save the baby. NOT TRUE. You cannot do a cesarean or start pitocin without written and verbal consent from the patient. If anybody tries to tell you otherwise, tell your nurse you want to speak to the hospital’s patient advocate. If you want a natural vaginal delivery and have had a healthy uneventful pregnancy with no past medical problems, I strongly urge you to consider your options. If however you have had increased blood pressure or sugar issues or any other health problems you should not attempt to deliver at home.

Heather

The Business of Being Born

The Business of Being Born
Its a documentary.

No, its not gross. Its AWESOME.
Rent it right now from Netflix .
It's only 87 minutes of your life, but worth it.

Remember, birth is NOT A SICKNESS!

With a consistent rise in C-sections and a ridiculously high rate of infant mortality in the United States compared to other developed countries (behind Canada, England, New Zealand, Portugal, CUBA!), we have to ask ourselves...why is this happening and how can we change it?

I think this is a start: