Why Feeling Safe Isn’t Optional in Labor: A Nervous System Perspective

Birth Works Better When Parents Feel Safe—But What Is Safety?

We’ve all heard it: “When the birthing parent feels safe, labor goes better.” But what does feeling safe actually mean? And how can we, as birth professionals, create that state with intention?

Polyvagal Theory helps answer these questions. It reframes safety not as a vague emotional state, but as a measurable, physiological condition of the nervous system. When parents feel truly safe, their body can stay in a calm and connected state—one that supports the hormones, rhythms, and calm needed for labor to progress.

What the Nervous System Needs to Labor Well

According to Polyvagal Theory, the autonomic nervous system has three main states:

1. Social engagement (ventral vagal): calm, connected, present

2. Mobilization (sympathetic): activated for action or escape

3. Shutdown (dorsal vagal): hopelessness, collapse, or disconnection

During labor, brief sympathetic activation is normal—birth is intense! But staying in a connected, regulated state helps parents work with the process instead of bracing against it.

When a parent’s body perceives their internal or external environment as threatening—due to fear, stress, or lack of support—the nervous system shifts away from safety. This affects breathing, tension, hormone release, and even cervical dilation. That’s not just theory—it’s physiology.

How Do We Communicate Safety?

Safety is a felt sense.

The nervous system constantly scans for cues of safety or danger in a process called neuroception. These cues come from:

• Voice tone and facial expression

• Lighting and noise levels

• Language and consent

• Touch, posture, and movement

• Who is present—and how they behave

Birth professionals play a key role in shaping these cues. A soft voice, open body posture, rhythmic movement, and consistent, grounded presence all tell the nervous system: You’re not alone. You’re not in danger.

Beyond “Calm”: What Safety Actually Supports

Creating a neurophysiological state of safety does more than just help someone feel “relaxed.” It can:

• Improve oxytocin release and labor progress

• Support pain modulation

• Reduce risk of unnecessary interventions

• Strengthen partner connection

• Help parents stay connected and present

It also lays a foundation for postpartum recovery and emotional integration.

Supporting the Nervous System = Supporting Physiologic Birth

When you understand what safety means on a physiological level, you can support it with precision—not just instinct.

That’s exactly what we explore in depth in my new course, Applied Polyvagal Theory in Childbirth. It’s designed for doulas, educators, yoga instructors, midwives, and therapists who want to:

• Understand the nervous system’s role in labor

• Reduce suffering (not just cope with pain)

• Offer trauma-informed, evidence-based support grounded in neurophysiology