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CHOICES IN CHILDBIRTH

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ESSENTIAL CONVERSATIONS
FOR PREGNANCY, BIRTH AND BEYOND

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BIRTH EXPLAINED:
THE BEAUTY OF BIOLOGY

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KASSIE: Because of my frame,

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I've always been unsure
about my body being able to give birth.

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So I wanted to get some,
I guess, advice from you

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to help me alleviate that stress.

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REGINA: Women have been giving birth
for thousands and thousands of years.

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Your mother gave birth to you,
your grandmother gave birth.

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So your body knows what to do.

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You have to listen to your body.

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NO MATTER HOW YOU PLAN TO GIVE BIRTH,
YOUR BODY'S HORMONES HELP THE PROCESS.

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FIRST, THE HORMONE RELAXIN HELPS
YOUR PELVIS MAKE ROOM FOR THE BABY.

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DEBRA: As your body
is getting ready for birth,

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it's amazing how it's designed.

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You get this sequence of hormones,
and one of the early ones is relaxin,

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and it's a hormone
that's just helping your body

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and your ligaments stretch and open.

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And then, as labor is beginning,
we're getting oxytocin,

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that hormone of love.

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OXYTOCIN HELPS LABOR PROGRESS,
AND THEN HELPS YOU BOND WITH YOUR BABY.

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The uterus actually grows
new receptors for oxytocin

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to say that your body's
ready to receive it.

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And then it's produced in our brain,

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where it gives us
that sense of calm, connection.

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And then it drips down into the body
and greets those receptors,

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so the body can have
those sensations of labor

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to begin to open.

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MIMI: I'm thinking
about the last birth I was in.

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And there is definitely something
to say about the social, the family,

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where there is just
so much joy and anticipation

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and just readiness
for this new human being to arrive.

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YOUR BRAIN MAKES ENDORPHINS
TO REDUCE PAIN AND INCREASE RELAXATION

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AS CONTRACTIONS GET STRONGER.

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We have beta-Endorphin,
our hormone of pleasure.

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Our body is designed
to bring us comfort.

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You can't think your way to hormones.

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Thinking's going to stop them.

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You have to feel your way
to let those hormones flow,

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and appreciate that you and your body
and your baby have got this.

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TAYO: I think we have kind of touched
on how important trust is.

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If a mom is like going
into a certain place

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and I can see
that her eyeballs start flailing,

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I am very afraid.

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I will hold her.

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And based on the type
of relationship that we've developed,

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I will touch her
to simulate the same hormones

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that provide you that safety that say,

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"Hey, you can relax.

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Your body can release and can really
keep up with your contractions."

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So I love being touched
through my labors

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because I like to know
someone is here with me.

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I'm not floating
in a sea of nothingness.

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My hormones are responding
to that touch properly.

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My oxytocin is flowing.

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Those endorphins are saying,
"Okay, you're good,

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we're going to help you ride through
this next contraction."

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We can bring the person in

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who does create
that type of oxytocin flow for you.

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Is it your mom?
Is it your partner?

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Is it your sister?

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It's not easy
to just tap into those hormones.

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So we have to have
environments that produce that

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and our nurturing of those things.

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STRESS CAN CHANGE
HOW YOUR HORMONES WORK,

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CAUSING SLOWER LABOR OR MORE PAIN.

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DEBRA: Whenever a person in labor

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is feeling stress
or they feel disrespected,

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our body is designed
to kind of slow labor down or stop it

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so that we have time
to get to an environment of safety.

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NO MATTER WHERE YOU GIVE BIRTH,

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YOU CAN CREATE AN ENVIRONMENT
THAT REDUCES STRESS.

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I have clients... we do birth art
and we hang it on the wall,

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we bring in our favorite quilt.

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So when you can change the environment

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to feel like
an extension of who you are,

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that's going to create
more safety for you.

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When we're surrounded
by people that hold that respect,

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that help us connect to our love,

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that help us feel safe,
we can fully open to the power of birth.

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YOUR HORMONES PEAK
AT THE MOMENT OF BIRTH,

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HELPING YOU AND YOUR BABY FALL IN LOVE.

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When people have given birth
and their hormones are just flowing,

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you can see their face
just greet that baby and bring it up.

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And there are no words
to really describe the joy,

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having felt it myself.

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Those hormones are so perfectly designed

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so that both of you,
in the moments after birth,

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will have
your highest levels of oxytocin

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to help you bond and fall in love.

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And this is the perfect
and most important time

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to bring that baby skin-to-skin.

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And we also know that that skin-to-skin
is getting the baby your microbiome,

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the essential bacteria
to get their immune system started.

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And so there's this sequence happening

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where you're regulating
and helping each other to stay safe,

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to fall in love and to bond.

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Oxytocin is still flowing
after you've had your baby.

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And it's so important
to the bonding and the connection

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and the mother
or the parents' mental health

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and how well they're recovering.

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Even as a culture, we need
to be thinking of them as a unit.

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NO MATTER HOW YOU GIVE BIRTH,
YOUR BODY IS AMAZING.

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LASHANDA: What is the thank-you letter

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that you would write to your body
for your first pregnancy?

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JASMINE: I would say:
thank you for your strength,

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that I'm stronger than I think.

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Thank you for doing
what you were designed to do, right?

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And one of the things
I kept saying during delivery is,

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trust your body
to do what it's designed to do,

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don't overthink it.

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Cut, I almost cried!

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FOR MORE RESOURCES,

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VISIT
EVERYMOTHERCOUNTS.ORG/CHOICESINCHILDBIRTH

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BROUGHT TO YOU BY
EVERY MOTHER COUNTS

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WITH SUPPORT BY
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