Optimizing Your Birth Environment for a Better Labor Experience

Pregnancy Podcast

Vanessa Merten

Newborn, Parent, Homebirth, Vbac, Kids & Family, Doula, Firsttimemom, Midwife, Pregnancy, Doctor, Parenting, Pregnant, Vanessamerten, Physician, Csection, Prenatalcare, Breastfeeding, Naturalbirth, Nursing, Birthcenter, Family, Baby, Hospitalbirth, Health, Obgyn, Research, Trimester, Expecting, Labor, Mom, Diet, Dad, Birth

4.5 • 948 Ratings

🗓️ 2 March 2025

⏱️ 40 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Oxytocin is the key hormone that drives labor, and the fewer stress hormones released during birth, the better your labor can progress. Creating a calm, safe, and supportive birth environment can help optimize oxytocin production and make labor more efficient and comfortable. No matter where you plan to give birth—at home, in a birth center, or a hospital—you can make adjustments to your surroundings to create a space that supports you. In this episode, we explore the evidence on how your environment influences labor and birth. Learn practical tips to optimize your birth space, helping you feel more relaxed, empowered, and in control.

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Read the full article and resources that accompany this episode.

Join Pregnancy Podcast Premium to access the entire back catalog, listen to all episodes ad-free, get a copy of the Your Birth Plan Book, and more.

Check out the 40 Weeks podcast to learn how your baby grows each week and what is happening in your body. Plus, get a heads up on what to expect at your prenatal appointments and a tip for dads and partners.

For more evidence-based information, visit the Pregnancy Podcast website.

Transcript

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0:00.0	You are listening to the pregnancy podcast with Vanessa Merton.
0:10.6	Hello, thank you for tuning into the pregnancy podcast. In today's episode, we're talking about
0:17.9	optimizing your birth environment for a better labor experience.
0:23.5	Oxytocin is the key hormone that drives labor. And the fewer stress hormones released during
0:30.0	birth, the better your labor can progress. Creating a calm, safe, and supportive birth environment
0:36.5	can help optimize oxytocin production to make labor more efficient and more comfortable.
0:44.3	No matter where you plan to give birth, whether you're planning to do that at home, in a birth center, or at a hospital, you can make adjustments to your surroundings to create a space that
0:56.9	supports you. In today's episode, we will explore the evidence on how your environment influences
1:03.4	labor and birth, and you'll get practical tips to optimize your birth space to help you feel
1:10.5	more relaxed, empowered, and in control.
1:14.1	You can find the full article and all of the resources that accompany this episode at
1:19.9	Pregnancy Podcast.com slash birthroom. You are currently listening to the public feed of the podcast, which gives you
1:29.9	access to the last year of episodes. Become a pregnancy podcast premium member. You'll get every
1:38.2	single episode ad-free, plus you get access to hundreds of episodes exclusively available to premium members.
1:47.7	Whether you have questions about whether something is safe during your pregnancy
1:52.1	or you want more information on an intervention for your birth,
1:57.0	there is an episode of the pregnancy podcast with the answers you're looking for.
2:02.9	Check out Pregnancy Podcast Premium at Pregnancypodcast.com slash premium.
2:11.9	Zoller goes above and beyond in formulating their prenatal vitamin to use high-quality bioavailable ingredients,
2:19.8	like the active form of folate, bioavailable iron, and omega-3s.
2:25.2	In March of 2025, save 30% off the Zaller prenatal plus DHA on Amazon with the code
2:33.2	prepod 30.
	...

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