The Walking Staff: A useful tool in labor to help you get outdoors

Is there a circadian flow to childbirth?

Most babies are born cozily indoors. Yet we also always hear tales of Wild babies born outside in Nature. Is there a benefit to one or the other? In this post, I will share some of the scientific discoveries that point to the power of the outdoors for labor.

Based on this research and my own experience, it is possible to point to a circadian flow to labor. It may even be optimal for daytime labor to occur outdoors and nighttime labor to occur indoors. This is based on the circadian alternation between cortisol/serotonin in the day, and melatonin at night.

Since laboring outdoors can be hard, I also bring forward an ancient tool that works great in labor: the walking staff.

The walking staff is powerful in its ability to provide a mother with grounded support. It is available no matter where she is in space when her surges hit! And a staff can be used with or without other support people. This is great because some mothers like to be touched during their rushes, while others prefer to be left alone. In either case, the staff can provide the support a laboring mother needs to get through her contractions.

A walking staff can be used with a team or solo

Trees sometimes, but not always, grow so conveniently!

Other objects in nature, such as trees, can also support a laboring mother. But they are not always where a mother needs them when her surges hit!

So, if a mama wants to labor outside, I highly recommend she gets a walking staff to go with her on her journey.

Birth centers can offer more permanent solutions along their walking paths, like:

A series of embedded posts can give support to a laboring mother as she walks. Walking is a great way to help bring baby down into the right position to be born.

Or:

A more permanent post can also be set with a rope that mothers can cling to to get the exact support they need to ride the waves of labor.

What are the benefits to laboring outside?

Scientifically, there are two main reasons. The first is that the blue and green light frequencies of daytime slow or stop contractions¹, and raise serotonin.

Wait, slow contractions on purpose? Why on earth would anyone do that? What if you have young kids around? What if you are in early labor and your body is shifting baby around get into a good position? What if you still have some nesting projects you want to get done before baby comes? The idea that labor needs to be fast or on a particular timeline is based on the exchange of money—the simple fact is, a birth worker earns the same amount for a fast labor as a slow one and unfortunately, there are now many systemic things in play—like timing contractions, charting, etc—that can even put a birth attendant at risk if they don’t play along with the idea that clock time has anything to do with mother-baby time.

But the other thing, biologically, is preparing the hormones & neurotransmitters for future activation of more ecstatic states once labor gets to the more intense stages.

Serotonin in Labor

During labor, serotonin is thought to be responsible for the altered mental state mothers go to so they can bring their babies down. Serotonin is also the precursor to melatonin.

Once the dark sets in, serotonin circulation turns into melatonin circulation. Melatonin causes stronger contractions that feel less painful—amazing, right?

Graphic showing the maternal rise in melatonin leading up to childbirth, and the synergistic role melatonin has with oxytocin.

The other reason a mother might want to labor outside is to absorb extra electrons. Oxidative stress is inherent to childbirth². Supplying abundant electrons can keep oxidation at healthy levels (for more on this, go back to my recent post about antioxidants and oxidative stress). Electrons are present in sunlight, as well as the ground. If mama is barefoot or wearing grounding shoes, these electrons will flow through her³. High levels of electrons reduce oxidative stress, reduce inflammation and speed healing⁴.

Here’s how touching the earth gives usableelectrons to the body.

My anecdotal experience with laboring outdoors

For the 3 labors where I utilized the outdoors, I had easy labors where I delivered just after sunset on the first day. For my one hospital labor, I was not allowed to go outdoors and that labor took 49 hours and I didn’t birth my baby until nearly midnight on the third night. I'm sure there were other factors, but the inability to access the outdoors really stands out to me!

I would encourage any mother in a nice climate to consider adding outdoors time to her labor plan. It just might mellow out her daytime labor and get her body ready to do a quick delivery after sunset.

Here’s where I shared the story of my fourth baby’s labor and birth, which included an outdoor early labor and quick sunset birth:

1. Reiter, R., Tan, D., Korkmaz, A., et al. (2013). Melatonin and stable circadian rhythms optimize maternal, placental, and fetal physiology. Human Reproduction Update, 20:2, 293-307.

2. BĄK, A., ROSZKOWSKI, K. (2013). Oxidative stress in pregnant women. Archives of Perinatal Medicine, 19(3), 150-155. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/258433445

3. Oschman, J. (2007). Can Electrons Act as Antioxidants? A Review and Commentary. THE JOURNAL OF ALTERNATIVE AND COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE; Volume 13, Number 9, pp. 955–967. https://doi.org/10.1089/acm.2007.7048

4. Sinatra ST et al. (2022), Grounding: The universal anti-inflammatory remedy. Biomedical Journal. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bj.2022.12.002