Synthesised Hormones
🧠 Key Points:
🌟 Why This Topic Matters:
Before we dive deep into natural birth hormones, it’s important to explore how modern medicine has tried to mimic them.
Synthetic hormones are widely used in maternity care, often with great benefit—but they don’t fully replicate what the body does naturally. They usually focus on just one job (like contracting the uterus or softening the cervix), but don’t trigger the wider hormonal flow your body would normally coordinate during labour and birth.
Understanding the differences helps you make more informed choices about your care and gives you the tools to support your natural hormone system, even if medical support is needed.
💉 What Are Synthetic Hormones?
Modern medicine has developed drugs that mimic many of the body’s own hormones. These include:
Syntocinon (synthetic oxytocin) – used to start or speed up labour, or help the uterus contract after birth.
Prostaglandin pessaries – used to soften the cervix at the start of an induction.
(Fun fact: they were originally made from pig semen, as semen naturally contains prostaglandins!)Synthetic opiates – like pethidine, diamorphine or remifentanil, which act on the same brain receptors as your natural endorphins.
Steroid injections (e.g. dexamethasone) – used in premature labour to help mature the baby’s lungs.
Oestrogen and progesterone – used in hormonal contraception, IVF, and HRT.
These drugs can be useful and, in some cases, life-saving. But they don’t interact with the body in exactly the same way as the real thing.
🧬 Why It’s Not the Same as Your Body’s Version
Synthetic hormones usually don’t activate the same feedback loops your body relies on. For example:
Syntocinon contracts the uterus but doesn’t cross into the brain – so it won’t trigger oxytocin’s calming, bonding or pain-relieving effects.
Synthetic opiates reduce pain but can dull your own endorphin production and slow down labour.
Prostaglandins soften the cervix but don’t come with the same signals your body would send to prepare you emotionally and hormonally for labour.
Your body’s hormones work together like a symphony, with feedback loops and subtle adjustments happening all the time. Synthetic hormones often work more like a sledgehammer – targeting just one action without the wider hormonal flow.
📚 What Does the Research Say?
French obstetrician Michel Odent, in his book The Caesarean, compares outcomes between babies born vaginally with synthetic oxytocin and babies born by planned pre-labour caesarean. Surprisingly, the caesarean group had lower rates of depression later in life.
He suggests that flooding a baby’s system with high levels of synthetic oxytocin might interfere with natural imprinting and the first “hormonal rush of love” at birth – a moment that’s vital for long-term emotional health. These findings hint at possible epigenetic changes triggered by artificial hormones at birth.
🦠 What Else Could Be Affected?
We’re only just beginning to understand the full picture. For example, Dr William Davis, author of Super Gut and Wheat Belly, explores a missing microbe called L-Reuteri, which plays a role in triggering oxytocin production in the brain.
This microbe is now rare in many people’s gut flora – possibly linked to how we’re born, our exposure to antibiotics, and the rise of processed diets. It’s a reminder that birth, hormones, and gut health are deeply connected – and that interventions at birth may have long-term ripple effects we’re only just beginning to uncover.
The documentary Microbirth explores this too – how the hormonal and microbial environments of birth shape our immune systems, emotional regulation, and more.
💗 What’s the Takeaway?
This isn’t about fear – it’s about understanding.
Synthetic hormones absolutely have a place. They can be the right choice, and sometimes essential. But they’re not a full replacement for what your body already knows how to do.
Supporting your natural hormonal flow – with calm surroundings, loving touch, familiar faces and informed choices – is always the safest place to start. And when interventions are needed, there are ways to support the body’s system alongside them (we’ll explore that in later videos!).
📝 Journal Prompt:
Let’s pause and check in.
Have you ever experienced or come across synthetic hormones in pregnancy, birth, or everyday life?
Perhaps you’ve been offered an induction, used hormonal contraception, or supported someone through a birth with medical interventions.
Take a quiet moment to explore:
What do you know or feel about synthetic hormones?
How do these thoughts land in your body?
Are there any personal memories, emotions, or questions that rise to the surface?
There’s no right or wrong way to reflect.
✨ Let your pen flow freely.
✨ Doodle, jot, sketch, or colour what comes to mind.
✨ This is your space to be curious, honest, and gentle with yourself.
And when you’re ready, share something in the comments below.
Your reflections might spark connection or insight for someone else in our community. 💬