Champagne and the fetus ejection reflex.(Brief Article)

The more I try to combine what I have learned from my experience of hospital birth and homebirth, the more I am convinced that the best way to protect the perineum, to avoid a serious tear and to eliminate the reasons for episiotomy is to deviate as little as possible from the physiological model. In other words, the best way is to create the conditions for an authentic fetus ejection reflex. (1-2)

I am often asked to clarify the difference between the fetus ejection reflex and the well, known Ferguson s reflex. (3) The Ferguson s reflex is related to mechanical conditions: the pressure of the presenting part on the perineal muscles. A real fetus ejection reflex can occur long before the descent of the presenting part, or long after. It can start before complete dilation, or after. Usually it does not occur at all because the prerequisite is complete privacy. In the context of homebirth, I am familiar with this reflex when I follow the progress of labor from another room through the sound the woman is making, while her husband or partner goes shopping and there is nobody else around other than an experienced, motherly, silent and low-profile doula. I cannot remember one case of an authentic reflex in the presence of the baby's father. During the reflex, there is a short series of irresistible, uncontrollable contractions, with no room for voluntary movements; the laboring woman can be in the most unexpected postures (often complex, asymmetrical, bending forward postures).

I have interpreted this reflex as the effect of a sudden spectacular reduction in neocortical activity, making possible the release of a complex hormonal cocktail. The release of high levels of hormones of the adrenaline family is suggested by the sudden expression of fear (often a very short episode of fear of death) (4) that precedes the irresistible contractions, and by a sudden tendency to grasp something and to be upright. The most helpful thing to do in terms of facilitating the fetus ejection reflex is just to accept this sudden expression of fear (e.g. "kill me," "let me die") without interfering: reassuring rational words--a stimulation of the neocortex--would inhibit the reflex. The release of a high peak of oxytocin is of course suggested by the sudden power and efficiency of the uterine contractions. As for the ecstatic state of the mother, it suggests that the hormonal cocktail includes morphine-like hormones.

We must keep in mind that the term "fetus ejection reflex" was originally used by Niles Newton, when she was studying the factors influencing the birth of mice (5)--mammals who do not have a neocortex as powerful as ours. The reflex can occur among humans, provided that the activity of the neocortex is dramatically reduced so that the human handicap is overcome.

I learned from a powerful fetus ejection reflex induced by a cup of champagne. Around 1980, a woman in not-yet-hard labor shared a room in the hospital in Pithiviers, France. Her roommate, who was already celebrating the birth of her baby, gave her a cup of champagne. The unexpected effect was a sudden series of such powerful contractions that the second mother's baby was born on the way to the birthing room. My interpretation is that the bubbles sped up the absorption of alcohol, causing an immediate effect on brain activity ...