Why Are Birth Induction Rates Surging?

The exquisite workings of physiologic labor do not need to be improved and yet they are being destroyed.

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Let’s take a moment to marvel at physiological, unmedicated birth: the hormones that contract your cervix start gradually and build slowly overtime, letting your body get used to the rhythmic tightening and allowing oxytocin, a natural pain reliever to help you cope. You move into different positions freely, listening to your body and pushing your baby out when you feel the fetal ejection reflex.

Research into other mammals has found that their babies release a protein once their lungs are fully developed, which initiates the hormonal signal for the mother’s body to initiate labor. There are theories this happens with humans too.

This complex dance of hormones continues on into breastfeeding, helping you fall in love with your baby.

The bright lights of the delivery room, the gallons of synthetic hormones, fetal monitors, the strangers coming in and out, the lack of privacy, the with cervical checks, the restriction of movement, none of these things help a woman tap into her own biological ability to birth a baby.

In nature, mammals typically give birth in seclusion, if they feel threatened or disturbed, the stress hormone catecholamine shuts down labor. Similarly, when a laboring woman does not feel safe or protected or when the progress of her normal labor is altered, catecholamine levels rise and labor slows down or stops.

Induction Rates Were Flat and Now They Are Surging

 Almost every birth story I know begins with “ I had to get induced” and over half end with “emergency C-section” (this, of course, excludes all the badass natural birthers from our online community). Sadly, my first birth wasn’t that different. I was induced and then I was in a 3 day torture chamber of zero sleep, more than 4 hours of pushing, a moments of thinking I was going to die, a threat of a vacuum extraction and a third degree tear. I’m certain that had I gone into spontaneous labor, I could have avoided all that trauma.