Endorphins during pregnancy
Have you ever wondered how a woman’s body can endure something as significant and life-changing as childbirth?
In the 1970s, scientists discovered what laboring women have witnessed and understood for ages: that the body produces what it needs to temper the physical stress and pain of natural childbirth.
Science put a name to the body’s natural painkillers—endorphins—and discovered exactly how they work in the body before, during, and after birth. What they found is remarkable. Read on to find out how endorphins during labor and pregnancy can support you throughout the process
What are endorphins?
Endorphins, specifically beta-endorphins, are hormones secreted within the brain and nervous system in situations of stress or pain, such as pregnancy or labor. They are the internal (endogenous) equivalent to pharmaceutical painkillers, such as morphine (without the many undesirable effects of the external, or exogenous, drugs).
What do endorphins do, and how do endorphins work?
These hormones are small proteins that act as neurotransmitters and are produced in the brain's pituitary gland and hypothalamus. When your body experiences stress or pain, your brain releases endorphins to block the nerve cells that receive the pain signals, which helps to alleviate uncomfortable symptoms.
Endorphins are also released during pleasurable activities, which we’ll explore later. Although we’ll focus on endorphins today, other natural hormones, such as oxytocin and prolactin, also play a major role in birth.
What do Endorphins do to Your Body During Pregnancy?
Endorphins are among the many wonderful hormones flowing through your body during pregnancy. As pregnancy gets closer to the end, some people have discomfort due to their growing baby and belly. Endorphins can help ease discomfort and lift a person’s mood. They also play a key role in the nesting effect. At the end of pregnancy, people often experience the desire to nest, which means cleaning up and preparing for the baby’s arrival. It is typical for this to happen a few days before labor starts.
Endorphins in Labor: The Body's Natural Painkiller
It is simply amazing what our bodies are capable of doing. At no time is this more obvious than pregnancy, birth, and breastfeeding. It’s incredible how well-built the female body is for giving birth. We have everything we need built into our body’s chemistry to be able to endure labor and give birth!
10 facts about endorphins During Labor
Endorphin levels increase toward the end of pregnancy. During childbirth, endorphin levels rise during each contraction, most noticeably in the second stage of labor. Endorphin levels are highest just after birth. It takes two weeks after birth for the body’s endorphin levels to return to normal.
These hormones are highest during vaginal deliveries in unmedicated mothers. Endorphins are lower in women who have a cesarean section after laboring on their own for some time and even lower in women who have a cesarean without experiencing labor.
The use of exogenous pain medications (drugs that mimic endorphins) dramatically decreases the body’s natural production of endorphins. Unlike narcotics, which are given in “surges” to some laboring women, endorphins are released more steadily, providing consistent pain relief without the crash that comes with big bursts of chemical pain relief.
Endorphins can help regulate the pace of labor by lowering oxytocin levels, which balances and regulates the intensity of labor and our ability to manage it.
These hormone levels protect and support babies during childbirth as well. Baby endorphins are elevated in newborns that experience distress during the birth process.
Endorphin production in the body is tied to our emotional states. Stress hormones (i.e. catecholamines) counter endorphins in the body. The more relaxed and calm a woman is through childbirth, the more endorphins she produces and the fewer stress hormones her body makes. A relaxed laboring woman feels less pain than a woman who is scared or distressed. Unresolved stress or anxiety should be addressed before labor to prevent these from hindering her labor experience.
Hormones like Endorphins behave differently from woman to woman, which is perhaps one factor in why women have different perceptions of the pain of childbirth.
Endorphins stimulate the production of prolactin, the relaxing “mothering” hormone that aids in breastfeeding and mama-baby bonding after birth.
They are the cause of the “high” many women experience during labor and in the early days postpartum. Endorphins allow a woman to be alert and attentive to her newborn despite sleep deficits.
Endorphins are present in breast milk, which may explain the natural high that babies can get after breastfeeding.
photo credit: https://www.allielauritson.com/
How to increase endorphins in pregnancy and labor
There are several ways that you can naturally increase endorphin levels in your body alongside other “feel good” hormones. Here are a few below:
Exercise and movement
Maintaining low stress levels
Nurture your emotional well-being
Light touch and massage
Practicing gratitude and mindfulness
Giving and receiving affection and love
Acupuncture
Meditation
Sex
Laughter
Sunshine
Warm baths
Preparing for Childbirth
From birthing classes to lactation consultations, Twin Cities Birth Center is here to help guide you as you prepare for your little one’s arrival. Contact us today to set up an appointment.