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How Alcohol Affects Oxytocin in Breastfeeding and Labor

12/27/2012

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Picture
This topic was on a midwifery study group. We're specifically taking 6 weeks to learn about Oxytocin. Some HB midwives do recommend alcohol in labor when labor
has been extensively long, to help mom go to sleep. (long as in 36-48+ hours) I was horrified at first until it was reminded to me that in a hospital setting mom would be given morphine, stadol, Demerol, etc. I realized it is the lesser of two evils.

The Question was: “I learned that alcohol
suppresses Oxytocin release, which can therefore suppresses milk ejection. Logically a lack of ejection will lead to fullness in the breast making what appears to be a supply increase. Accurate? Opinions?
and whats that thing where women are re to drink some wine in early labor or some kind of ctx ... to stop them .. or what am i thinking of? would the alcohol stop ctx this way? But why castor oil and vodka to impatiently evict babies before their chosen birthday? In that situation you'd think they'd cancel each other.”

Here is what I found in researching:
I think I found it! It's only because I just added my resource of how Oxytocin
plays a role in pregnancy [I posted the other article below] and then I’ve found
small paths to take down the road of an answer.

This article talks about beers role in milk ejection and alcohol does inhibit it. It talks about
the History of women consuming beers, even in ancient Egypt, to produce more milk.
Also which beers now-a-days is lactogenic. I didn’t realize a mom couldn’t just
have a Corona and be good. Guiness is supposed to be the best, but skip the car
bombs. ;)
http://lactogenicdiet.blogspot.com/2011/10/beer-as-galactagogue-brief-history.html

Looking further into why Vodka, OJ, and castor oil are recommended, I remembered what I just learned in my study group research. (I hope I’m not giving anything away) The uterus’ Estrogen levels rise to help bind to Oxytocin receptors, which increase towards the end of pregnancy. So I looked up how Vodka affects Estrogen levels. It turns out premenopausal women taking Estrogen supplements should not consume even the equivalent to a half glass of wine, since it caused her Estrogen levels to almost double and women drinking the equivalent to three glasses of wine, estrogen surged more than threefold. Alcoholic men also have been shown to have higher Estrogen levels. http://www.nytimes.com/specials/women/warchive/961204_810.html

Since Estrogen is raised when consuming wine, I wanted to see the effect of elevated Estrogen on nursing. I ran into lots of animal research. (I actually like animal 
research more than human, because husbandry is a lifestyle and farmers have to get their science right in order to survive, unlike obstetrics. Plus animal’s life cycles are shorter and easier to study more quickly. They also don’t have the outside influences humans do when conducting controlled studies) I read an interesting article on dogs and the hormone level process. I’ll post later. The one I am posting now is about goats. They found an increase in Estrogen is beneficial in goats producing milk, BUT Progesterone has to be combined with it or the milk production isn’t sufficient.
http://goatkingdom.tripod.com/milk-secretion

Going further I looked into alcohol's affect on progesterone levels. In a study on premenopausal women they found when consuming alcohol the progesterone levels  
drop. It’s also why some women have fertility issues. http://alcalc.oxfordjournals.org/content/35/5/417.full

I think consuming wine in labor is mostly for rest and not a stall of labor. The wine raises the blood sugar levels and then quickly drops causing moms to “crash”. Sleep can help to slow or halt contractions, but not always. Wine is usually recommended with a bath, which often does slow early labor.

[Other article]
I am cutting information out that pertains to sythetic oxytocin. (Drives me crazy that
sythetic oxytocin is often termed oxytocin and no sepreration of the two forms. It makes research harder)

Smooth-muscle cells in the uterus contain proteins that bind specifically to oxytocin; the
number of these oxytocin receptors increases during late pregnancy....large amounts of the hormone cause smooth muscles in the wall of the uterus to contract, which in turn initiates labour. Oxytocin’s effect on uterine smooth muscle is dependent on the presence
of estrogen, and for that reason oxytocin has little effect on the uterus during the early stages of pregnancy; near term....There are no known disorders associated with under- or overproduction of oxytocin.
Encyclopedia Britanica
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/437006/oxytocin

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Square peg into a round hole

7/29/2010

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Picture
How do you fit a square peg into a round hole? It’s called molding. Not like the mold on bread or the infamous stuff health agencies are warning about growing in your home. 

The baby’s head is not particularly square, but it is divided into 4 sections or plates. (Don’t try serving meals on your baby’s head. It will not be received well by guests) Each plate is called anterior and posterior fontanelles. The lack of a plate in the middle is what creates the soft spot.

As the baby fits out of the pelvis the skull is pushed together overlapping one another to fit through the pelvis, birth canal, and perineum. Babies will experience heavy molding as they are being pushed out of a smaller pelvis. It is rare that baby’s truly cannot fit. This is called Cephalopelvic disproportion (CPD). Often this diagnosis is given when the baby has not had enough time to mold. Once diagnosed with CPD doesn’t mean you are going have it with subsequent births. Every birth, baby size, and the amount of relaxin your body produces to open the pelvis and relax ligaments, for the birthing process, is different. If you are diagnosed with CPD you will have a c-section. Research through www.google.com and www.ican.com; for further information on CPD and VBAC, vaginal birth after cesarean. Being born short or petite doesn’t mean you weren’t born to birth your baby.

Will my baby’s cone-head get stuck that way? Nope. Now some people’s head’s are a bit misshapen, but usually not grotesquely as the molding of some births. That is usually from being placed large amounts of time on their backs as infants, the way they sleep, genetics (bone growth), and that’s just the way God molded them.

Two of my favorite moldings are the cleft of the chin and the dimple below the nose. Those are where God placed His thumb on the chin, grasping the underside with the index exclaiming, “You little cutie!” The other was created when He placed his index on your lip saying, “Shhhh.” 

Next time Cone Heads is on TV just remember they had to go through lots and lots of molding to be born.


http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002270.htm
http://www.breastfeeding.com/helpme/baby_fit.html
http://www.consultantlive.com/pediatrics/content/article/10162/10976
http://fammed.washington.edu/network/sfm/newborncaremodule.htm
(picture was taken from here. I couldn’t find a copy right)

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IBirth

7/14/2010

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My 13 year old daughter has been begging for a cell phone since she was 11 years old. We being good parents, torturous to some, have resisted the teenage forces of begging, pleading, and the “but all my friends have one’s”. She used her birthday gift cards, money, and allowance that she does chores to earn, to buy an Itouch Ipod. Her dad, her, and I sat and played with it and were amazed how fast the internet speed on it is.

So how is my daughter’s Ipod pregnancy related? While playing on it I found a FREE Labor and Contraction Counter. I liked the one by Michael Kale. The other ones were $.99 and seemed more in depth, but got mixed reviews. There are also nursing counters, diaper changing apps, there is also pregnancy trackers, baby sign language, diaper bag checklists, Free name finder, there is even an eye color predictor. I am just amazed at this whole app world. I may be behind in this, but it’s worth sharing.
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It's a Ride

7/14/2010

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Hang on tight this coaster is soaring up to new heights!

I remember the first time I was pregnant and thinking birth reminded me so much of a roller coaster ride. Coarse I didn’t pay $54.95 for the admission and there would be no cotton candy, funnel cake, or long lines to wait in.

What made me think of roller coasters is that it felt like a long, LONG ride to the top and then the unknown. I had taken The Bradley Method of Natural Childbirth, an intensive 12 week study course, but I had never been through labor or birth before. I didn’t know if it was going to be those types of coasters that brings you to the top and kind of circles around like a cork screw, or the type that brings you to the top and then shoots you back straight down, or worse the ones that hangs you from the top, where you see what’s up ahead, then drops you down only to put you into a g-force spin. (I envision the Griffin at Busch Gardens with that one)

The feeling after is just like it too. The baby is out, you’re getting cleaned up and you realize YOU DID IT! The same self confidence of conquering the coaster overwhelmed me. That rush of endorphins and what an incredible consolation prize you get to take home. Most time you have to pay $20 for the T-shirt.

Each birth has sort of felt like this, just not as intense. Each labor and birth story is different, just as there are no two identical coasters.
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Vaseline®

7/9/2010

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You may have received this at your baby shower as a gift, which it truly is. I had no idea why I was given this sticky, gloppy, even messy product. I have asked the givers why I had received such a product and what the uses were. The replies were, “It’s what was given to me.” “It was in the baby isle.” No one had and ideas what or why I should have it. I now have about 6 jars of this yellow product in various bathrooms under the sink, since I have seen it along with toiletry items at our local stores.

I have since discovered Vaseline® has so many great uses. Vaseline® is actually a household name like Band-Aid® is an adhesive bandage. Vaseline® is a brand of petroleum jelly. Some of its wonderful uses are a lubricant, plastic preserver, make-up remover, moisturizer; the list is almost endless. It has a shelf life of 8-10 years, which is good for my 6 tubs. It is said to have been discovered in raw form in 1859, but 1872 was when it was patented

The most related use to birth I have heard, and this is very recently, is during post partum. After the baby is born, just before diapering, put a thin layer of Vaseline® (petroleum jelly) on the baby’s rump. This will help keep the meconium from sticking, for easier clean-up. What an amazing idea! You’ll want to apply it to about the first 4 diaper changes of meconium. What an amazing idea!

These two sites also offer some great, practical uses for this little pot of gold.

http://gomestic.com/homemaking/22-wonderful-uses-for-petroleum-jelly/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petroleum_jelly
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  • Home
  • About Me
  • What is a Doula
  • Services
    • Birth Doula
    • Childbirth Education
    • Placenta Encapsulation
    • Belly Casting
  • Contact Me
  • Resources
  • Local Resources
    • Resources in Bay, Walton, Escambia, Leon, and Okaloosa County >
      • Health Care Providers
      • Birth Centers
      • Pediatrician
  • Bella Blogings/pregnancy info
  • Documents
  • References
  • Web board
  • Videos