Is the ‘thinking’ part of the brain a friend of foe of labor? It all depends on the context. 

I’m been a big fan of Obstetrician Dr Michel Odent since starting my work in the birth world in 2005 and teach the principles of undisturbed birth in our GentleBirth classes.  If you’re not familiar with Michel Odent’s approach to birth he suggests that birth is likely to progress normally when we can give birth under the same conditions as mammals in the wild.  As humans are also mammals Michel (and plenty of research) suggests we have the same needs as any other mammal in the wild. 

Mammals need to birth their young in a place where they feel unobserved and safe.  Dimly lit, quiet, warm surroundings are ideal.

Niles Newton studied birth in several mammals, but focused on mice in particular. She analyzed the factors that made labors longer and more difficult.

She found that labor could be slowed or even stopped completely by:

Placing the laboring mother in an unfamiliar environment (with strange sights, smells and sounds).

Moving the mother from one place to another during birth.

Putting the mice in a transparent cage made of glass and observing them.

What happens if a zebra about to give birth sees a lion approaching – the fight flight response kicks in releasing adrenaline and cortisol which essentially stops labor so the zebra can escape and find a safe place to birth her foal.  The brain evolved for survival so this response possibly saved the zebra and her foal’s life. Some mammals experience the freeze response and collapse and most predators don’t want a meal that could have been dead for a while.

Dr Sarah Buckley another thought leader in physiological birth describes how animal studies demonstrate that being disturbed in labor can disrupt several other hormonal pathways as well (see Sarah’s report Hormonal Physiology of Childbearing), emphasising the biological and evolutionary importance of a safe place to birth.

We are mammals but human brains evolved to work a little differently.  Around 80% of our brain is taken up by the neocortex.  The neocortex is the most recently evolved part of the brain and it’s where functions such as reasoning, judgment, decision making and focus are all located. 

I’m sure most of this will be very familiar to birth professionals and lots of parents preparing for birth.  Nothing new here.

But are we throwing out the baby (and brain) with the bath water when we warn moms that they must turn off their thinking brain (neocortex) in labor? 

Is it possible that the thinking brain can help rather than hinder labor depending on the circumstances?

Unlike mammals most humans give birth in brightly lit, noisy hospitals surrounded by strangers –  hardly ideal for mammalian birth. 

Imagine if Michel Odent is your OB and you’re at home in your warm dimly lit living room with your midwife quietly knitting in the corner.  You float undisturbed in the deep warm pool with your partner supporting you. You feel safe and uninhibited so the oxytocin flows effortlessly.   These are the perfect conditions for the neocortex to become less active and let the primal parts of your brain get on with giving birth.  

But let’s face it most parents aren’t giving birth in an environment that optimizes oxytocin production. In a busy hospital the prefrontal cortex can be your best friend.  You can use it to intentionally calm down the fight or flight response unintentionally caused by the environment by using meditation and/or focused breathing. 

This is an important way that meditation differs from hypnosis.  When you are meditating you are using intentional activity to soothe and calm the limbic part of the brain that causes the stress response (it’s known as top down control). When you’re in fight/flight it’s ‘bottom up’ processing (fear shuts down communication between the fear center and prefrontal cortex which is why it’s so hard to make rational decisions when we’re stressed). Haven’t you ever flown off the handle and said something you immediately regret when you were stressed?  Then you know exactly what that bottom up processing feels like. In labor when you’re stressed, unfocused and afraid the neocortex is offline.

Top down control take practice – it’s something that athletes, surgeons, pilots have all developed as a way to intentionally get in the zone and reduce distractions that can impact their performance. It’s a skill that can be developed in the weeks before labor with your daily practices in the GentleBirth App.

It’s similar to what the marines learn in their egress water training – when faced with a life threatening challenge (being held underwater or escaping from a submerged helicopter they have to intentionally manage their minds and stay calm so they can survive).  If you’re in a state of fight or flight in labor your brain BELIEVES this is about survival so having the skills to calm your brain is essential.

Is Thinking In Labor – Friend or Foe

Does all thinking get in the way of a great birth? That depends on what you’re focused on and whether you believe what you’re thinking.  Thoughts like “my body is working hard, I am strong enough, I can do anything for a minute”  can be  wonderful way to release oxytocin.  Compare how they feel to these thoughts “this is awful – it’’s never going to end.”  Will those kinds of thoughts release oxytocin or adrenaline? These kinds of thoughts will hijack your neocortex  and make getting into labor land more challenging.

Use Your Brain for a Better Birth

• Understand how the environment can direct your focus and activate the fight flight response.

• Train your brain with meditation to reduce internal distractions (your partner and doula can help too) “I can do anything for a minute” is always a favorite. Meditation activates right brain activity (instincts, movement, creativity). The ‘left brain’ is language focused and tends to tell tall tales about what’s happening in the moment as it is interpreting what’s happening based on your beliefs and previous experiences. It means well but it often causes more problems than it solves.

• Use your favorite affirmation - focus on how it makes you feel rather than the actual words.

• Go through the Focus exercise in the free workbook in the GentleBirth app with your partner so they have strategies to help keep you in the zone.

• Focused breathing.

• Headphones and eye mask to reduce distractions (most of the brain’s input comes through vision).

• Use your Labor companion (GentleBirth App).

• Hire a doula to help you stay home longer and to help your partner manage the hospital environment to reduce the fight/flight response caused by pain and fear as well as and strange sounds, lights, smells etc

So Michel didn’t get it completely wrong at least not when you have the perfect Michel Odent environment….but for parents who don’t have the luxury of giving birth in that environment you can make your brain a powerful tool in your labor toolkit.

The truth for women living in a modern world is that they must take increasing responsibility for the skills they bring into birth if they want their birth to be natural. Making choices of where and with whom to birth is not the same as bringing knowledge and skills into your birth regardless of where and with whom you birth - Michel Odent

Train your brain for a better birth today with the GentleBirth App.