We know more and more about the importance of birth for the rest of our lives. Understanding more deeply what happens to the mother and the baby at that time is key to better understand that childbirth is something sacred that we must recover.
Ibone Olza, child psychiatrist, mother and birth rights activist, tells us about all this in his latest book 'Parir, the power of childbirth', with prologue by Icíar Bollaín. In it, and also through some questions that he has answered in this interview, he helps us understand childbirth from psychology and neurosciences, and reflects on what is being done wrong in childbirth care.
What happens in the brain of the mother and the baby during childbirth? Is there a difference depending on the type of birth?
The delivery is directed by neurohormones from both brains. As labor progresses in the mother's brain, increasing levels of oxytocin and endorphins are released, which in addition to contracting the uterus produce the characteristic “altered” state of childbirth awareness, which entails an experience in which the perception of time changes . At the end of labor there is also a massive release of stress hormones, which can produce in the mother the sensation of imminent death, just before the baby is born.
All being hormones facilitate that what happens in childbirth is deeply engraved in both brains. For the baby, childbirth means an awakening, precisely because of those stress hormones that are released near the end. So as soon as they are born, they are both ready to be loving, for the high levels of oxytocin, addictive, for the endorphins, and to be recorded for life, for the catecholamines.
If there is no childbirth, as is the case in scheduled caesarean sections, the onset is usually much more difficult, so it is important that in these cases the physiology is maximized, that is, the caesarean sections are done with the present father and favoring Skin-to-skin contact and breastfeeding in the operating room.
Why is the first hour of life so important?
Because it is deeply recorded at the brain level, which means activation and creation of new receptors in some specific brain areas etc ...
There is a whole neuroendocrine system starting between mother and newborn that allows not only the beginning of breastfeeding but also the bond. Now we know that it is key in those two hours not to disturb mother and baby, to let them meet, not to distract ... Because if you respect that it is then easier for parenting to be easy, for mother and baby to understand each other better to say it of some mode.
What advice would you give to a woman who plans to give birth at home for the first time?
The key is to be served by good professionals. Ideally it has to be a team of midwives, you must always inform yourself well in advance, know your statistics, work philosophy and experience, and have a relationship of trust.
What do you think is missing change so that women finally recover their birth? We are on the right way?
We are moving forward, but I think it is necessary that as a society we all become aware, not only women, that childbirth is part of our sexuality and that is why it is so delicate and you have to treat it with such care. We are made to give birth. It is also necessary that many professionals bet on recycling and are trained in scientific evidence.
"It is key in the first two hours not to disturb mother and baby, let them meet, not distract ...", Ibone OlzaWhat consequences can have for mother and baby suffer obstetric violence in childbirth, and what can they do to heal that emotional wound?
That there is obstetric violence does not necessarily mean that an emotional injury occurs, they are different things. The wound is left by traumatic birth, which may be due to obstetric violence or for different reasons.
The trauma is subjective. To heal you have to integrate the story, tell it to anyone who knows how to listen, gradually assess what sequels it leaves or how it has affected the psychic level, breastfeeding, the link, sexuality, the relationship, the baby ... In each case we will have to heal Little by little and individually, the role of support groups in these cases is essential. If psychic sequelae are important, it is best to seek help from a perinatal mental health professional.
