LEDs, pain, and c-section rates

We demand circadian birth suite lighting now

Are modern manufactured lights contributing to the rising c-section rates?

I never would have jumped to this conclusion myself, but when I was putting together my most recent class… the story just put itself together.

Here’s the gist of how changes in lighting and increases in c-section rates correlated:

Pre 1800’s, all the light we had to illuminate childbirth was rich in infrared—sunlight or firelight.

Then we got incandescent.

Then fluorescent—think of the 50’s institutional vibe and how different that was. This was the height of the twilight birth era.

Then fluorescents got compact and entered our homes, too.

(Cue widespread circadian disruption among pregnant women, and the concurrent fact that women who go postdates and get prescribed induction tend to have lower circulating melatonin)

Then we got LEDs.

Then the LED’s became more efficient and even more widely adopted.

Each level of efficiency stripped away more of the energy intensive frequencies.

But, the cost was that it turns out, ou…