We hear mind over matter all of the time, but is it just an expression? Or is there something more to this phrase?
Science has been studying this for some time now, however when it comes to women’s health, research is somewhat behind. This is for several reasons: It is challenging to ethically research pregnant women and deliveries, there is alot of red-tape in regards to this area of healthcare; additionally, women’s health has not been put at the top priority of scientific ventures. I heard it said once, “If men were experiencing many of the things related to women’s health, we would know so much more.”
That being said, there has been some recent research related to the mind-body connection during pregnancy and labor, and how it can impact outcomes. For one, it has been shown that oxytocin (the hormone that is responsible for contractions during labor) is produced much more easily in a state of “flow”; whereas when the mind is in an anxious state, it does not get produced efficiently. Secondly, in order to initiate the nerves that are responsible for communicating to the cervix, it has been shown that it is very helpful to be in a state of internal calm. Another reason that it is helpful to have a calm mind-body connection during labor, is that when the woman is tuned into her body, she can feel intuitively how to move so as to help her pelvis to open and her baby to descend. When someone is stuck inside of their head and feel disconnected to their body, and they receive painful stimuli, the response is most often to tense up and freeze! This is unhelpful when it comes to laboring and delivering the baby.
It has been shown that both practices like yoga and behavioral talk therapy during pregnancy will improve labor outcomes. The mind-body connection is extremely important in regards to the success of empowering, physiologic birth. Dedicating time to this during pregnancy is important and should be talked about more in our obstetric care of women.
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