It turns out that contractions usually start in the dark.
“And I’m in the morning”, “And by one in the morning the water had receded”, “At 4 in the morning, the contractions began,” women write on the forums about their childbirth. Did you know that midwives have rush hours too? They fall on the interval from 2 am to 4 am. It is at this time that most begin to have serious contractions.
“Probably because you stop waiting,” young mothers say. Or they recall a popular reason: at what time a child is made, at such a time they give birth.
But seriously, why is that? There are two versions.
The first was voiced by , perinatal psychologist and obstetrician. She is of the opinion that it’s all in the head. During the day, any woman has a crowd of thoughts, she has a lot of things to do. The brain is tense.
“And childbirth is a subcortical process. You can’t do anything here with an effort of will, you can’t postpone the birth or start earlier, ”says Marina.
Towards nightfall, all things were redone, all thoughts were changed. Thoughts go away, the cerebral cortex relaxes. And then the subcortex begins to work. She receives a signal from the child: “I’m ready, let’s go!” Oxytocin is released, and voila! – labor begins.
The second version is also associated with hormones, but not with brain congestion. Scientists explain that oxytocin and melatonin are responsible for childbirth. Melatonin, it turns out, not only regulates sleep, but also stimulates the production of oxytocin in the dark. Moreover, if you prefer to sleep in the light, then the hormone is produced worse, it is not enough in the body. And when the bedroom is perfectly dark, everything goes as it should. The level of melatonin rises, under its action, a loading dose of oxytocin is produced, and … “Honey, we are going to give birth.”