Light starts affecting physiology the moment you change it, it works whether everyone believes in it or not, and it can be used alongside any of your other strategies.

You can prepare your circadian rhythm before labor starts, but even if you are just learning about this on the day of labor, you can still use light effectively for stronger, more frequent and less painful contractions.

You’ll learn exactly what kind of light you’ll want to have and why, based on the stage of labor and what time of day it is.

If you are already in the birth suite, you’ll learn how you can create your own cave and what to do about the moments after birth to increase your chances of everything going smoothly.

Light modulation is what I believe to be the most actionable tool we have to improve birth outcomes and experience in the modern era.

In the Q&A, you’ll also hear touching testimonials, real birth stories, and the experience of a community midwife who has been using circadian lighting at the births she attends.

Beyond the twinkle lights class recap

Best lights for nighttime labor at home:

• Red LED strips along the floor for safe navigation

• Plug-in nightlights in amber or red with light sensors (they flip on automatically as you walk by)

• Beeswax candles (I used this lantern with these 12 hour burn candles for my most recent birth)

• Incandescent bulbs in lamps (this company ships even to California)

• Himalayan salt lamps with incandescent bulbs inside

Best lights for hospital births:

• Red light glasses (blue blockers) and/or a sleep mask

• A red light panel or portable lamp you can control

• A few Beacon Lights by Block Blue Light (indestructible, amber or red options, brighter and dimmer settings) code NIKKO for a discount

• A Strainless lamp (incandescent, has a dimmer knob, excellent color fidelity) code AMANDALIZ for a discount

Class resources:

• MyCircadian app lux meter by

• Brewer Diet for Pregnancy diuretics information

• Summer without the AC community discussion post

• Quantum Newborn Jaundice text-based course

Read more

I used to believe being tired was just a part of it, but then I learned about the circadian rhythm.

By making a few changes to my habits, I gained the ability to actually feel happy about being awake no matter what time day or night.

Furthermore, I figured out to thrive on interrupted sleep, and how to nap in such a way as to wake up feeling refreshed rather than groggy or disoriented.

I learned that there are many sources of energy, and many healthy patterns of sleep—not just the 8 hours per night I was taught.

Join me in this masterclass to learn all about circadian polyphasic sleep and how to make your motherhood schedule leave you feeling rested no matter how many times your baby wakes up at night.

You’ll understand what drives each of the possible sleep patterns, and how to set yourself up for success so that your body actually understands it needs to be in a polyphasic pattern (if you don’t know what I’m teaching here, most likely your body is compensating for living with a broken monophasic pattern, not actually thriving in a polyphasic one).

• Monophasic = one period of sleep

• Biphasic = two periods of sleep

• Polyphasic = many periods of sleep

TLDR: Your baby isn’t ruining your sleep—you just need to help your body understand what it is supposed to be doing through this stage of life. You can do thit by communicating in the language of the circadian rhythm: light, temperature, meal timing, social and safety cues. When those are right, you can wake up after a few minutes, 20 minutes, 2 hours, or longer—and feel alright—because your body is not primed to always expect 8 hours anymore.

Questions welcome in the comments or the subscriber chat:

Read more

Here are the slides:

Quantum Breastfeeding Slides PDF

15.3MB ∙ PDF file

Download

Download

And the citations:

Quantum Breastfeeding Citations

If you’d like to schedule a quick consultation to anchor your learning or troubleshoot an issue in real time, here’s where you can do so. Use code BFCLASS to get US$25 off:

Use code BFCLASS

As a paid subscriber, you are also always welcome to drop a question in the comments or the community chat.

Reach out if you have any questions! nikko@brighterdaysdarkernights.com.

Read more

For mama to sleep better, her baby needs the most powerful circadian signals because it’s her baby’s rhythm that will determine her baby’s mood, feeding habits, elimination habits, and even their overall health.

Yet few providers have been trained to offer education on this vital part of development.

We know babies are different than grownups, and that they need to eat and feed around the clock.

But in time, all of that will change.

In this workshop, you’ll learn about the stages of circadian development and how to nurture each phase to provide appropriate circadian cues within each phase.

It doesn’t have to be difficult! Here are the key developmental circadian rhythm shifts you will learn about in the Circadian Babyhood Workshop:

• In utero

• First 6 weeks

• First 6 months

• Mobile baby

In this 90 minute workshop you will learn what we know about optimizing environment and schedule in “normal” development so that has the cues its body is expecting to know how and when to sleep well, eat well, and eliminate well.

You’ll also get strategies to apply in “special” situations that can challenge baby’s circadian health, including:

• Latitude considerations - endless summer with little darkness? deep winter with little sun?

• Special needs - supporting NICU or long-term developmental challenges

This class is free for all paid subscribers and comes with access to the slides, citations, and a printable 1 page summary you can tape up on your fridge or desk as a reminder.

With your access, you’ll also be able to ask your questions directly to me in the community chat.

Read more

• This workshop will cover pregnancy, birth, and early postpartum

• Light and electromagnetism affect these processes through the circadian rhythm

• Structure of workshop:

  • Pregnancy - 1 video

  • Nutrition - 2 videos

  • Environment - 3 videos

  • Postpartum - 1 video

• I tell my backstory and how I came to be teaching this information

• I push a nutrition and supplementation question out to be discussed during the nutrition section

If you have any specific questions about this workshop, drop them in the comments or send me a DM and I’ll get back to you soon:

Leave a comment

Read more

• The circadian rhythm controls what happens when

• Via genes, the circadian rhythm controls the creation of sperm, eggs, sex hormones, puberty and overall fertility1

• Mitochondrial health depends on a healthy circadian rhythm to balance pro-oxidative and antioxidant forces (redox) in pregnancy2

• Redox balance allows sperm creation, egg creation, and implantation to complete3

• Melatonin, controlled by the circadian rhythm, plays a major role in balancing redox as well as fertility4

• Any free person can access a lifestyle that nurtures their circadian rhythm

• The placenta connects the baby to its mother’s circadian rhythm in utero5

• Placental health requires high melatonin6

• Melatonin itself is a powerful endogenous—ie, made by the body—antioxidant that protects health of both mother and baby in pregnancy7

• Melatonin climbs throughout pregnancy and peaks at the time of birth8

• There is a synergy between melatonin and oxytocin in the uterus9

• Oxytocin vs pitocin

• Endogenous melatonin vs synthetic melatonin

• …

Read more

• Supporting hormones is one reason pregnant women need a high-protein diet1

• Recommended reading: Lily Nichols’ book Real Food for Pregnancy

• The amino acid (protein) tryptophan becomes serotonin and melatonin2

  • Melatonin is often considered representative of the circadian rhythm as a whole

  • Melatonin is anti-inflammatory3

  • Inflammation in pregnancy is associated with feeling crappy and having morning sickness4

• Melatonin protects pregnancy5

• Fluoride inhibits melatonin synthesis6

• Folate needs many cofactors to work and donate methyl groups to DNA7

  • Folate can be produced by the microbiome in our digestive system8

  • Folate is degraded by UV light; skin pigmentation protects folate in cells9

  • Overcooking food, consuming diuretics, alcohol, sugar, refined carbohydrates, phytates from certain plant foods , certain medications, and taking certain medications can reduce folate’s bioavailability10

• Q&A: talked about using this information to start conversations with providers; talked about the Brewer Pregnancy Diet…

Read more

• The timing of food consumption affects metabolism via the circadian rhythm1

• Sunlight communicates with the gut to drive seasonal changes in metabolism2

• The insulin response changes based on the ambient light3

• Q&A: could grounding mat be helping with morning sickness?

  • Morning sickness may be caused by oxidative forces4

  • So by reducing inflammation5 (oxidative stress in the immune system), grounding could reduce morning sickness

• Autophagy—and cellular remodeling6— is important in reproduction7

• Autophagy in pregnancy is a newer area of research with unresolved logistical challenges8

• Anyone working at night is likely eating both night and day = circadian mismatch9

• A quiet, dark, night where you are fasting = supportive of autophagy10

• The roots of preeclampsia likely begin in early pregnancy11

• Melatonin can help balance the oxidative forces in pregnancy12

• n-6 PUFA13 can affect blood sugar and insulin, especially long-term14

• “Bacon cure” in the middle of the night anecdotally resolves pregnancy nausea

• Q&A: is ther…

Read more

• Dim indoor environments lead to polyphasic sleep requirements1; but if you can’t sleep during the day, it can feel like fatigue

• Chronotype on a populations-basis depends on time spent outside per day; on an individual basis this can vary2

  • Women in their childbearing years tend to have a later chronotype than their male counterparts

  • Gene expression frequencies vary by latitude

• Suddenly increasing the amount of light can trigger episodes in individuals with bipolar disorder and scizophrenia3

• Our eyes and skin have receptors that process different kinds of light to send signals throughout the body4

• Grounding in nature (earthing) gives bioelectric information and anti-inflammatory electron resources to the body5

• Oxidative stress = excess protons / positive charge

• Antioxidants = free electrons / negative charge

• Read: Cellular Hydration and Constipation in Newborn Jaundice

• Diet and environment both contribute to oxidative balance (redox)

• Rule of thumb: aim for 2+ hours grounding outside across th…

Read more

• It’s not practical to be outside all the time, but there are ways to make an indoor environment give stronger circadian cues1

  • You can face furniture and workstations toward windows

  • You can open or remove blinds

  • You can choose light colored furniture and paint

  • You can remove outside objects that block light from entering windows

  • You can choose buildings/rooms with shallower floor plans

  • The most “circadian” design is the courtyard floor plan

  • You can choose buildings with a variety of window locations

  • You can open your windows and doors to let unfiltered light in

• At night, dim, blue-blocked lights could protect circulating melatonin for nighttime activities2 (including work)

• Lighting affects the feel of the birth suite, with orange and amber lighting being the most liked by both birth workers and birthing families (compared with either the white- or red-hued extreme)3

• A question to ask about a birth suite: does the window open? can you access the outdoors during your stay?

• Access to the outdoors…

Read more

• After birth, the baby’s circadian rhythm will entrain to the mother’s circadian rhythm across the first months of life1

• Milk from mothers with preterm babies will actually have higher melatonin than mothers with full term babies2

• Cortisol levels are opposite of melatonin (ie, cortisol in the day and melatonin at night)

• Mothers who pump should make sure to pump throughout the day and especially try to pump during the ~3am daily melatonin spike

  • Babies who are getting pumped milk should be given milk at a similar time of day as it was pumped to match the hormonal cues with the actual time of day3

• Since babies don’t make melatonin, babies may rely more on social cues and daytime sunshine for their circadian timing than adults4

• I promo my Newborn Jaundice Course

• Q&A and stories with Ashley Spellman from the Life Spark Project, who hosted this version of the workshop with me in June, 2023

Drop your questions about this section in the comments or send me a DM:

Leave a comment

And learn more about this topic in t…

Read more