trance and childbirth

This paper will focus on the relationship between trance and non pharmacological childbirth. I will draw on both academic literature and my personal experiences of birthing throughout this essay. First I will locate my experiences of childbirth. A brief outline of some physiological and psychological processes that occur to a woman during childbirth will provide insight into the ways in which altered states of consciousness (ASC), come into being. The various supportive options a woman may utilise during child birth and their relationship to trance will then be examined. Finally the possible meanings ascribed to the ritual dance created by the journey of childbirth, will be underlined.

I birthed my two daughters without drugs, and on invitation have fulfilled a supportive role on ten occasions for birthing members of my community and their partners. Some of the women chose pharmacological pain relief and others did not. Each journey was unique and this paper aims to draw on both exogenous and endogenous strategies which may be employed by women for the purposes of pain management during birth. The birth sites I have visited were at various locations in Brisbane; residential addresses, private hospitals, birth centres and public hospitals. Also present at various stages of these births were other support people and medical staff, including midwives and obstetricians of diverse ages, gender and ethnicity.

Many women begin preparation for childbirth during pregnancy and may obtain information from a plethora of sources such as, books, certain members of their community, medical staff and pregnancy/birth classes (Akrich & Pasveer, 2004; Halldorsdottir & Karlsdottir, 1996; Lowe, 1996; Maher, 2008). It is here that a woman may become aware of the many physiological changes that occur during childbirth that effect the uterus, cervix, bladder, urethra, pelvic structure, skeletal system, perineum, lumbar sacral region and more (Lowe, 1996). Lowe (1996) confirms that the psychological perception of acute pain arises in response to the transference of sensory input via the physiological stresses outlined above, to the central nervous system. Winkleman (1997) asserts that both distressing sensory stimulation and severe pain may induce an ASC. He concludes that ASC works to decrease the sympathetic response from the nervous system and aid in relaxation of the mind and body. This paper argues that a woman’s psychological and physiological responses to acute pain, and the strategies utilised for pain management during childbirth, may be drivers that are intrinsic to the maintenance of trance within the birthing experience (Akrich & Pasveer, 2004; Halldorsdottir & Karlsdottir, 1996; Lowe, 1996).

I discovered during the early stages of birthing that my pain was alleviated by the rhythmic and circular rotation of my hips. As I felt each contraction build, I turned my awareness to my breath and focused my attention here. While the momentum of each contraction reached its crescendo and subsided, I consciously brought my focus back to the breath. I have a deep affinity with the ocean and felt the physiological experience of each contraction was comparable to the ebb, peak and flow of a wave, this became my visual imagery. Winkleman (1997) confirms that motor movement, breathing and visualisation techniques such as those outlined above, act as drivers for ASC. I continued to combine the above practices for many hours as the onset of each wave threatened to engulf me. At some times between contractions, I was aware of my body trembling but recall having no concept of time. The relevant birthing literature asserts that women often report losing their sense of temporal reality and memory during birthing (Akrich & Pasveer, 2004; Halldorsdottir & Karlsdottir, 1996; Maher, 2008). Schechner (2007) includes loss of memory and time, and the presentation of certain bodily behaviours such as shaking and trembling, as characteristic features of trance. Akrich & Pasveer (2004) argue that trance may act as a safety mechanism during childbirth, by creating projectable distance between the ‘body in labour’, and other embodied perceptions of the self.

I cannot only credit my own body and mind in enabling me to cope with the sensations of acute pain that I experienced during childbirth. Support people play a vital role in maintaining the ritual created in order to achieve an ASC (Halldorsdottir & Karlsdottir, 1996; Lowe, 1996). My support people aided the relaxation of my sympathetic nervous system by massaging me, applying heat and cold packs to my body, ensuring the music I had selected continued its song, topping up the oil burner, nourishing me with food and water and ensuring all my external needs were met. This afforded me the opportunity of minimal distractions, allowing me to turn my attention meditatively inwards. Akrich and Pasveer (2004) argue that a support person should act on intuitive responses at a birth and should become in effect, an extension of the birthing woman. If acute pain becomes the predominant focus of the woman’s consciousness, Akrich & Pasveer (2004) argue that it is the essential role of the support person to ‘bring’ the woman back to the processes she has employed to maintain an ASC.

Effective support people provide affirmation, nurturance and a sense of security to the birthing woman, allowing her to ‘go with the flow’; finding and acting on her own rhythms in accordance with her individual needs (Akrich & Pasveer, 2004). Any deviation from, or interruption to, the ritual dance created throughout childbirth would seem inconceivable. Yet I have experienced this on several occasions within the hospital environment. Medical staff have entered a quiet and dimly lit birthing room, abruptly turned up the lights and started talking in inappropriately loud and abrasive voices, thus shattering the rarefied and sacrosanct space that has been carefully constructed, and maintained by all active members of the birth journey. Halldorsdottir & Karlsdottir (1996) underpin the possibility of a challenge for authority, over the course of the birth journey, that may be presented by medical staff (see also Akrich & Pasveer, 2004; Maher, 2008).

A gamut of emotions and feelings such as anxiety, exhaustion, anticipation and fear, are felt during the journey of childbirth. This culminates in a sense of pride, wonder and awe, at the therapeutic use of consciousness, and the arrival of a unique spirit child into the world. The ritual of childbirth is a rite of passage that transforms the woman, to the mother (Halldorsdottir & Karlsdottir, 1996; Schechner, 2007). This voyage of discovery may uncover new ‘ways of knowing’ the world, for all members of this ritual journey (Halldorsdottir & Karlsdottir, 1996; Schechner, 2007). Winkleman (1997) confirms that during an ASC the self may be transformed and transcended. I have experienced the dissolution of ego and attachment during childbirth which has left me with the transformative gift of selflessness; a ‘way of knowing’ that I would argue is vital for the role of a mother. Gibson and Oths (2007) attest that by travelling down the path of birthing, an individual may experience a heightened sense of spirituality. Maslow (1976) argues that peak life experiences provide an individual with a focus to which they can aspire and also involves the surrender and transcendence of ‘self’. This paper has underlined some of the ways in which the journey of childbirth may meet his conceptual framework for peak experiences.

Pain during childbirth is not something to be feared but a power to be harnessed. It is a portal that allows entry and exploration into the inner depths of consciousness. A means for uncovering new dimensions of the self, that lie dormant, waiting to be aroused. I have been honoured to be included in twelve birth journeys and am waiting to be called on again. My friends and I will welcome a new consciousness into this world within the next month. The swell and currents of this child gently stir my friend’s waters, creating ripples that will crescendo into relentlessly crashing waves. We will swim again soon to a new shore and bask in the sun, as we lovingly share the insight we have gained into new ways of knowing, and meanings, that we never had before.

REFERENCES CITED

Alrich, M., & Pasveer, B. (2004). Embodiment and disembodiment in childbirth narratives. Body and society, 10(2-3), 63-84.
Gibson, E., & Oths, K. (2007). Blessed events: religion and home births in America. Medical anthropology quarterly, 21(1), 242-243.
Halldorsdottir, S., & Karlsdottir, S. (1996). Journeying through labour and delivery: Perception of women who have given birth. Midwifery, 12(1), 48-61.
Lowe, N. (1996). The pain and discomfort of labour and birth. Journal of obstetric, gynaecologic and neonatal nursing, 25(1), 82-92.
Maher, J. (2008). Progressing through labour and delivery: Birth time and women’s experiences. Women’s studies international forum, 31(2), 129-137.
Maslow, A. (1976). Religions, values and peak-experiences. Middlesex: Penguin.
Schechner, R. (2007). Living a double consciousness. In C. Bell (Ed.). Teaching ritual (pp.15-28). Retrieved September 6, 2008 from Oxford Scholarship online.
Winkleman, M. (1997). Altered states of consciousness and religious behaviour. In S. Glazier (Ed.), Anthropology of religion: A handbook (pp.393-428). Westport: Greenwood Press.