Do mood and environment matter in labor?
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Kaely Harrod 0:00
Hey welcome back. Today's question is, Do mood and environment matter in labor? This is Kaely Daily, the bi weekly podcast about all things Doula Tips and Tits where we answer one question about pregnancy, labor, postpartum, or lactation, in order to have your journey in this parenting world be just a little bit more informed and filled with consent. Hello, there I'm Kaely Harrod, and today we're diving into do mood and environment matter in labor. Now, you're probably not surprised that I'm just gonna say yes. And then keep going. Because I shouldn't really ever have yes or no questions because I am always going to expand on them some. Before I really dive into this, I want you to know that I am super excited that we have a bunch of podcast guests coming over the next couple of months. And I am really pumped to kind of sprinkle those in to this first season of Kayleigh daily doula Tips and Tips. And it's a wide variety of folks. So that is going to be really exciting. So stay tuned for that. If you are not already subscribed, go ahead and do that. I would really love a few left a review, that's a way for people to find this podcast is super helpful to me. And I think to others as they find this and get helpful information from it. And I also have a brand new oxytocin guide. So it's six things you need to know about oxytocin to prepare for birth. So it's a super simple oxytocin guide. it'll guide you through like what to prepare what to think about what to do in advance of birth, to be ready to have that oxytocin nice and high. Now, if you don't know what oxytocin is, I do have an episode all about that then. So I will post that in the show notes. I was just making a note for myself. But that goes in right into today's topic, because today's topic topic is about mood and Environment and Labor. And that has everything to do with oxytocin. Okay, so just take a minute, just close your eyes. And imagine you're going in for a pedicure. Okay. Imagine you're going in for a pedicure and you walk in. And the like chairs are like, kind of old and don't have massage things. Maybe this is just me as a side note, but I half go to a pedicure to get my nails done, and half to get a massage in the massage chair. I mean, I'm like, why am I coming to you to get a pedicure, if you don't have a massage chair, like that's at least half of why I'm coming, right. Which makes me feel like I need to go I haven't, I don't have them very frequently, but also, especially in COVID, I have not had them very frequently. But I occasionally will take my daughter and she really loves it. And so that that's putting me in the mood for that anyway, I'm sidetracking myself. So imagine that you go in, and the seats are kind of like ripped, and they don't have massagers. And this this salon smells kind of like sour or like stale, like kind of just old and not very clean, maybe. Or maybe even not dirty, but just like off right? And doesn't have any music and and the nail polishes like just like all toss on a table. Okay, so in that scenario, like that layout that I just set out for you. Personally, I would probably be like, not sure like maybe, maybe I don't need to pay here today, right? Like I would probably leave that place.
Kaely Harrod 4:21
And it's not because the people giving pedicures aren't amazing at it because maybe they are right. It's not even because it's not clean. Like maybe it is super clean, right? But it's the environment. It's it's the like, first look at things for smell of things. The first things I hear like, all of that gives me a good summary of how I feel about that. And then I either like feel really great about coming or not right. So on the flip side, imagine that you walk in to get your pedicure, and there's like a lovely smell and that like covers the smell of the nail polish right I'm and there's a beautiful, wonderful massage chairs. And the nail polish looks like a dream wall of color, right? And there's like soothing lights and soothing colors to the art, then you probably walk in at least for, for me, I can imagine walking in and being like, I'm so glad I came right like this was a good decision to come here. Because it feels relaxing, it feels lovely, right? So that matter, like the the mood that is set matters in things that we do all the time. But in birth, it's even more important, in my opinion. Because you need oxytocin for contractions, right? Also, because you can get through labor without that, but you want labor to be as lovely as possible. Now, what does that mood or environment need to look like? It that is where you get to make things up? Right? The difference between birth and any other scenario is that we need you to love it, like you the person who's going to be in labor, you need to have high oxytocin. So you need to love whatever it is, right? Whether it's the music or the scent, or the like ambiance, the, the lighting, if there's candles, or like twinkle lights, or if there's like cozy stuff, or if you want it to be like, you know, the windows are open and you can feel the breeze like whatever it is, it has to be oxytocin inducing for you. Okay, so it's not quite the same as like, if you go to a pedicure place, they're not thinking like, oh, Kaylee's gonna come today. And she really loves the scent of orange. So we're going to put that scent. No, they're doing things like lavender or vanilla, like things that basically everyone considers relaxing right now, obviously, not everyone likes those. Those are not relaxing to everyone. I know people that hate the scent of lavender, for instance, smells very, like soapy and not relaxing, right? To some people. So then they are not someone who should use life hunter in their birth setting. Right. And so part of it is really honing in on like, what would your dream birth environment look like? And also what is practical? And what are you able to do in terms of environment, right? I mean, I think on the one hand, I've seen some, like, birth centers and things that I'm like, oh, man, what a dreamy birth room right? Like, just like the tools, the like, the way that it's set up, like the the different things that you have to use around the room, like it's just beautiful and comforting and lovely. And you could bring in your own music, and you can bring in your own whatever, right, whatever to make it kind of your own space. However, that is not always the case. Right? So part of it is looking at like, what is your birth environment? Is it your house, then where in your house? Do you love to be like, where can you kind of set up as like your labor space? Right? Or maybe a couple of different spaces? And how do you how do you want them? Do you like the lights dim? Do you want the blinds open and like the natural light coming in? You know, I mean, there's so many different ways to do this. There's not just a way to create your birth environment, right? If you're going to a hospital, what's easy to take with you or if you're going to a birth center, right? What's easy to take with you, that feels doable to you in terms of set up and all of that, right? Maybe that's different than a home birth because at home, you can work on setting up your environment for a while, which is part of I think what's amazing about home birth is that you're in your space, and you can actually make it this like awesome labor space, and work on that for a while before you go into labor, right? So you can be really prepared to make it
Kaely Harrod 9:21
this awesome, beautiful space that you can't really do when you're like entering into a space just for the second part of labor just for the end of labor or something like that. So I do recommend that you go grab that oxytocin guide, I will put the link in the show notes. Also I will link to the oxytocin episode. And then I would love love love for you to come and connect with me on Instagram at Herat doula is my name over there and I would love to hear from you what your questions are for the podcast you already know. All this lovely little podcast answers one question a week about fertility, pregnancy Leber postpartum and lactation. We've been really heavy on postpartum and birth. So we especially need some lactation and fertility questions. But we do have some guests coming up for both of those things. So I'm really pumped to share some of that with you. And so please do send me a question, whatever question you have, and I would be happy to answer it on one of the podcast episodes. And just let me know what you're loving about this. Like, that's not only super encouraging, of course, to me, but it's also really helpful to know what parts of this are most helpful and what things are maybe not as helpful, right? Because I want this to be a lovely guiding thing for you. It's not for me, right? It's for you. So So I really want to hear how you what you think about it, and how it's been helpful to you so so that's all for today. I will see you again soon. And in the meantime, I hope that you have wonderfully educated consent filled with simple startups edited and produced by Kaely Herat as I'm sure you can probably tell, and our amazing music is credited in the show notes as well. So we look forward to seeing you on the next episode. And in the meantime, have a wonderful and consent filled
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
Babies so frequently come in the early hours of the morning. Night time is a favorite labor time for bodies in part because the oxytocin is high and people are relaxed and cozy. Because we know this we can apply it to labor during all hours of the day and night! But the cozy level is best if it’s personal to the person in labor, so it takes some extra
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Here are some things to consider about setting the mood in your labor space:
What things make a space “cozy” for you?
What visuals or scents or sounds would be helpful for you?
Consider where you’re delivering and how you can
RESOURCES
FREE OXYTOCIN GUIDE:
6 Ways to Increase Oxytocin for Labor Progression
https://www.harroddoulaservices.com/free-guide-6-oxytocin-tips
Oxytocin Episode:
https://www.harroddoulaservices.com/kaely-daily-podcast/episode-18
CONNECT with Kaely on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/Harroddoula/
This podcast is hosted by the Birth Prep Blueprint - comprehensive Childbirth Education for expectant parents to feel calm, prepared and confident about labor and birth. Podcast listeners (that’s YOU!) get 10% off! Use the link below to get that great deal!
https://thebirthprepblueprint.com/offers/884d5a56-9089-4482-a944-6bb7c26c9b04
If you like this episode, don't forget to share it to your Instagram stories and tag me @harroddoula
Kaely Daily is produced by Kaely Harrod of Harrod Doula Services
It is sponsored by The Birth Prep Blueprint Childbirth Class
Music by Madirfan: Hidden Place on Pixabay
