Empowered Birth: A Safe Environment

Meg Borman's latest column

I’ve heard many people scoff at the suggestion of fairy lights in the birth space. ‘We are NOT taking fairy lights into the hospital!’ is a phrase uttered by many birth partners dragged begrudgingly to hypnobirthing classes. But what if it isn’t about the fairy lights, but the way they make you feel? The environment we give birth in is actually really important for the way in which we give birth, and while fairy lights won’t make or break a birth, the way we feel in our chosen birth place very much could. Now, luckily, the aforementioned birth partners almost always come round by the end of the hypnobirthing course. You will typically find a lot of emphasis on the environment when preparing for birth in this way – and for good reason, in my opinion.

To give a little context, there are a few key players that we know drive labour forward. One of these is oxytocin, a hormone that stimulates the uterus to contract. Our bodies are incredibly clever: between the first and the third trimester, the number of oxytocin receptors found in the uterus increases twelvefold in preparation for birth.