Nipple stimulation can help induce the onset of labor and decrease the overall length of labor. Let’s talk about nipple stimulation, and why it may help with inducing or augmenting labor.
When our nipples are stimulation, the hormone oxytocin is release. This hormone is one of the hormones involved in causing labor to begin and continue. Oxytocin is our love hormone, and is released as a response to loving touch, orgasm, and nipple stimulation. We can enhance the release of oxytocin by also ensuring we feel safe and supported in our environment. If we feel threatened, our levels of oxytocin may decrease to make room for our stress response hormones.
Following birth, nipple stimulation occurs when our baby breastfeeds, which creates this feeling of love. We can mimic this type of nipple stimulation with either our hands or a breast pump.
Nipple Stimulation Technique
This technique is what I have learned from a few different midwives and have had the most success with my clients as a doula.
First, cup the tissue near the end of the areola, or the darkened portion of your breast. Then, pull from the end of the areola towards the nipple. At the end of the pull, add a gentle twist as your fingers come off the breast. This motion tends to mimic a baby nursing and has been the most effective in labor augmentation for my clients.
Breast Pump Option
Another option is to use a breast pump, either electric or manual. The breast pump can be advantageous because it requires less effort. The recommendation of how often or when to pump can vary from provider to provider; some may recommend that you stop pumping during contractions, while others encourage you to continue through a contraction.
Our recommendation is to breast pump only one side at a time for 10-15 minutes. If you find the contractions are too intense, stop pumping during contractions, otherwise continue through them for the 15 minutes. Move freely during contractions! After 15 minutes as elapsed, switch to the other side. Continue this for up to 1-2 hours.
During the pump session, it is important to set the environment. If you are in a loud room, with lots of talking, we are interfering with oxytocin release. Find a quiet, dimly lit space. Focus on your baby and welcome the experience. If there is a meditation or music you enjoy listening to, play it softly in the background.
My Experience as a Doula
I’ve had some success with nipple stimulation as a labor augmentation tool. In my experience as a doula, I tend to find nipple stimulation is most effective when something else is already going on, such as, your water has broken, you have some sort of induction already happening like cervical ripening or a foley bulb; or you are having some contractions.
It is really important that the environment is set! Dim lights, quiet voices, and limited distractions is important when trying to use this as a labor augmentation tool.
I have not had as much success with it inducing labor or causing labor to start. There is research that supports using nipple stimulation for several days in a row, for at least an hour, can increase the amount of oxytocin. So, there is some time commitment required for nipple stimulation to encourage the start of labor.
Final Thoughts
Nipple stimulation can be a tool to help labor augmentation prior to starting Pitocin or avoiding it all together. But it is important to note that nipple stimulation may not be enough and is not always the equivalent as Pitocin for labor augmentation.
The reasons?
Nipple stimulation technique may not be correct or fatigue causes you to stop doing it as often; this is where a breast pump can be helpful, since it requires less effort. Eventually, both techniques will become tiresome or uncomfortable, which may cause you to want to stop doing it. Pitocin is administered continuously, requires little to no effort on your part as a patient (other than working through contractions and being in labor!).
Nipple stimulation helps to encourage the release of your own naturally occurring oxytocin, but if the environment is not set up (such as you feel pressured to get contractions going, or its really bright, loud, with lots of distractions) may not build up enough to cause adequate contractions. Pitocin will increase your levels of synthetic oxytocin, regardless of the environment, so can be reliable in an unpredictable environment.
It’s also important to manage your energy levels with choosing options throughout your birth. If you find that you are more fatigue, is there an option to sleep instead? If not, would it be better to start Pitocin overspending 2 hours trying nipple stimulation? If you feel well rested, maybe the two hours is worth trying out, though!
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References:
Christensson, K., Nilsson, B. A., Stock, S., Matthiesen, A. S., & Uvnäs-Moberg, K. (1989). Effect of nipple stimulation on uterine activity and on plasma levels of oxytocin in full term, healthy, pregnant women. Acta obstetricia et gynecologica Scandinavica, 68(3), 205-210.
Demirel, G., & Guler, H. (2015). The effect of uterine and nipple stimulation on induction with oxytocin and the labor process. Worldviews on Evidence‐Based Nursing, 12(5), 273-280.