The Ecstatic Hormones of Labor and Birth
The Hormonal Impact of Interventions
Selected references:
Full references and detailed information in: Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering: A Doctor’s Guide to Natural Childbirth and Gentle Early Parenting Choices (Celestial Arts 2009)
Agren G, Uvnas-Moberg K, Lundeberg T.(1997) Olfactory cues from an oxytocin-injected male rat can induce anti-nociception in its cagemates. Neuroreport. 8(14):3073-76.
Alehagen, S., B. Wijma, et al. (2005). Fear, pain and stress hormones during childbirth. J Psychosom Obstet Gynaecol 26(3): 153-65.
Beilin, Y., C. A. Bodian, et al. (2005). Effect of labor epidural analgesia with and without fentanyl on infant breast-feeding: a prospective, randomized, double-blind study Anesthesiology 103(6): 1211-7.
Bystrova K, Widstrom AM, Matthiesen AS, et al. Skin-to-skin contact may reduce negative consequences of “the stress of being born”: a study on temperature in newborn infants, subjected to different ward routines in St. Petersburg. Acta Paediatr. 2003;92(3):320-326
Carter CS. Developmental consequences of oxytocin. (2003) Physiol Behav 79(3):383-397.
Clark SL, KR Simpson, et al. (2009) Oxytocin: new perspectives on an old drug Am J Obstet Gynecol.(1):35.e1-6
Csaba G, Knippel B, Karabelyos C, et al. (2003) Effect of neonatal beta-endorphin imprinting on sexual behavior and brain serotonin level in adult rats. Life Sci. 73(1):103-114.
Declercq, E. R., C. Sakala, et al. (2006). Listening to Mothers II: Report of the Second National U.S. Survey of Women’s Childbearing Experiences. New York, Childbirth Connection.
Fisher, J., J. Astbury, et al. (1997). “Adverse psychological impact of operative obstetric interventions: a prospective longitudinal study.” Aust N Z J Psychiatry 31(5): 728-38.
Fogelson NS, Menard MK, Hulsey T, Ebeling M. Neonatal impact of elective repeat cesarean delivery at term: a comment on patient choice cesarean delivery. Am J Obstet Gynecol. May 2005;192(5):1433-1436
Fratelli N, Prefumo F, et al (2011) Effects of epidural analgesia on uterine artery Doppler in labour. Br J Anaesth. 2011 Feb;106(2):221-4. Epub 2010 Nov 24.
Fuchs AR, Fuchs F, Husslein P, Soloff MS. Oxytocin receptors in the human uterus during pregnancy and parturition. Am J Obstet Gynecol. Nov 15 1984;150(6):734-741
Fuchs AR, Romero R, Keefe D, et al. Oxytocin secretion and human parturition: pulse frequency and duration increase during spontaneous labor in women. Am J Obstet Gynecol. Nov 1991;165(5 Pt 1):1515-1523
Hoffman DI, Abboud TK, Haase HR,et al. Plasma beta-endorphin concentrations prior to and during pregnancy, in labor, and after delivery. Am J Obstet Gynecol. Nov 1 1984;150(5 Pt 1):492-496.
Jacobson B, Nyberg K,et al (1990) . Opiate addiction 728-38.in adult offspring through possible imprinting after obstetric treatment. Br Med J 301(6760):1067-1070.
Jonas W, Wiklund I, et al. (2007) Newborn skin temperature two days postpartum during breastfeeding related to different labour ward practices. Early Hum Dev. 83(1):55-62.
Jonas, W., L. M. Johansson, et al. (2009). Effects of Intrapartum Oxytocin Administration and Epidural Analgesia on the Concentration of Plasma Oxytocin and Prolactin, in Response to Suckling During the Second Day Postpartum. Breastfeed Med.(2):71-8
Jonas, W., E. Nissen, et al. (2008). Influence of oxytocin or epidural analgesia on personality profile in breastfeeding women: a comparative study. Arch Womens Ment Health 11(5-6): 335-45.
Jordan, S., S. Emery, et al. (2005). The impact of intrapartum analgesia on infant feeding. BJOG 112(7): 927-34.
Jordan, S., S. Emery, et al. (2009). Associations of drugs routinely given in labour with breastfeeding at 48 hours: analysis of the Cardiff Births Survey BJOG 116(12):1622-9
Kloosterman, G.J. (1982). The universal aspects of childbirth: Human birth as a socio- psychosomatic paradigm. Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics and Gynecology, 1(1): 35-41.
Kotaska, A. J., M. C. Klein, et al. (2006). Epidural analgesia associated with low-dose oxytocin augmentation increases cesarean births: a critical look at the external validity of randomized trials. Am J Obstet Gynecol 194(3): 809-14.
Lagercrantz, H., J. Peyronnet, et al. (2001). Catecholamines, hypoxic defence and the neonatal brain. Dev Med Child Neurol Suppl 86: 28-9.
Lagercrantz, H. and T. A. Slotkin (1986). The “stress” of being born. Sci Am 254(4): 100-7.
Lederman, R. P., E. Lederman, et al. (1985). Anxiety and epinephrine in multiparous women in labor: relationship to duration of labor and fetal heart rate pattern. Am J Obstet Gynecol 153(8): 870-7.
Lee HJ, Macbeth AH, Pagani JH, Young WS 3rd Oxytocin: the great facilitator of life. Prog Neurobiol. 2009 Jun;88(2):127-51. Epub 2009 Apr 10 (Free at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19482229)
Lieberman, E., K. Davidson, et al. (2005). Changes in fetal position during labor and their association with epidural analgesia. Obstet Gynecol 105(5): 974-82
Nissen E, Uvnas-Moberg K, Svensson K, Stock S, Widstrom AM, Winberg J. Different patterns of oxytocin, prolactin but not cortisol release during breastfeeding in women delivered by caesarean section or by the vaginal route. Early Hum Dev. Jul 5 1996;45(1-2):103-118, p 116.
Naaktgeboren, C. (1989). The biology of childbirth. In: Effective Care in Pregnancy and Childbirth. I. Chalmers, M. Enkin and M. N. Keirse. Oxford, Oxford University Press.
Nyberg K. Long-term effects of labor analgesia. (2000) J Obstet Gynecol Neonatal Nurs. 29(3):226.
Odent M. (1998) Don’t manage the third stage of labour! Pract Midwife. 1(9):31-3
Odent M. (2001) New reasons and new ways to study birth physiology. Int J Gynaecol Obstet. 75 Suppl 1:S39-45.
Phaneuf S, Rodriguez et al. (2000) Loss of myometrial oxytocin receptors during oxytocin-induced and oxytocin-augmented labour. J Reprod Fertil. 120(1):91-97.
Phillip H, Fletcher H, Reid M. (2004) The impact of induced labour on postpartum blood loss. J Obstet Gynaecol. J24(1):12-15.
Pitocin package insert at http://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/drugInfo.cfm?id=4975
Pohjavuori, M., L. Rovamo, et al. (1985). “Plasma immunoreactive beta-endorphin and cortisol in the newborn infant after elective caesarean section and after spontaneous labour.” Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol 19(2): 67-74.
Rowe-Murray, H. J. and J. R. Fisher (2001). “Operative intervention in delivery is associated with compromised early mother-infant interaction.” Br J Obstet Gynaecol 108(10): 1068-75.
Russell JA, Douglas AJ, Ingram CD. (2001) Brain preparations for maternity–adaptive changes in behavioral and neuroendocrine systems during pregnancy and lactation. An overview. Prog Brain Res.133:1-38.
Schlinzig T, Johansson S, et al Acta Paediatr. 2009 Jul;98(7):1096-9. Epigenetic modulation at birth – altered DNA-methylation in white blood cells after Caesarean section.
Smith R. Parturition. N Engl J Med. Jan 18 2007;356(3):271-283.
Smith J, Plaat F, Fisk NM (2008) .The natural caesarean: a woman-centred technique. BJOG Jul;115(8):1037-42; discussion 1042. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18651885
Tyzio, R., R. Cossart, et al. (2006). Maternal oxytocin triggers a transient inhibitory switch in GABA signaling in the fetal brain during delivery. Science 314(5806): 1788-92.
Tutdibi E, K Gries et al.(2010) Impact of labor on outcomes in transient tachypnea of the newborn: population-based study. Pediatrics.125(3):e577-83
Uvnas-Moberg K. The Oxytocin Factor. Cambridge MA: Da Capo Press, 2003
Villar J, G Carroll et al. (2007_ Maternal and neonatal individual risks and benefits associated with caesarean delivery: multicentre prospective study BMJ 335(7628):1025
Vogl, S. E., C. Worda, et al. (2006). Mode of delivery is associated with maternal and fetal endocrine stress response. BJOG 113(4): 441-5.
Volpe A, Mazza V, Di Renzo GC. Prolactin and certain obstetric stress conditions. Int J Biol Res Pregnancy. 1982;3(4):161-166.Wiklund, I., M. Norman, et al. (2009). Epidural analgesia: breast-feeding success and related factors. Midwifery 25(2): e31-8.
World Health Organisation (1996, p 16). Care in Normal Birth: a Practical Guide. Report of a Technical Working Group. Geneva, World Health Organisation.
Zanardo V, Nicolussi S,et al. (2001). Labor pain effects on colostral milk beta-endorphin concentrations of lactating mothers. Biol Neonate 79(2):87-90.