Dr. Carly Cameron | The Neurological Birth Cascade: How the Baby, Brain, Pelvic Floor & Hormones Work Together in Birth
Show Notes:
How does labor actually get started? Labor isn’t simply something the uterus does, but a coordinated neurological and hormonal cascade involving the baby, placenta, maternal brain, cervix, pelvic floor, and nervous system.
Today, Lynn Schulte sits down with Dr. Carly Cameron, a pediatric and perinatal chiropractor, to explore the neurophysiology of physiologic birth and why this process is important for pelvic health providers.
Key Discoveries from this Episode:
- The hidden neurological cascade of birth: How the fetal brain, cortisol, hormones, and maternal nervous system work together to initiate and support physiologic labor.
- The cervix-to-brain connection: A closer look at the Ferguson reflex and how cervical pressure communicates with the maternal brain through the sacral pathways.
- The pelvic floor’s role in the birth cascade: How the pelvic floor, sacrum, fascia, fetal positioning, and descent may influence this intricate neurological communication.
- Why safety matters physiologically: How parasympathetic regulation, fear, and previous birth experiences can influence the hormonal environment and progression of labor.
- Oxytocin’s bigger role in birth: Why this powerful hormone influences far more than contractions – including pain, fear, bonding, and maternal behavior.
Clinical Takeaway
The pelvic floor does not exist in isolation during birth. It participates in a complex system involving the fetal brain, hormones, placenta, cervix, sacral pathways, oxytocin, uterus, and maternal nervous system.
Understanding this cascade can change how we approach birth preparation as pelvic health therapists – considering pelvic mechanics, fetal positioning, sacral mobility, pelvic floor adaptability, nervous-system regulation, and emotional safety as interconnected pieces.
Listen to the full episode to dive deeper into the neurophysiology of birth and discover how the pelvic floor may be participating in the conversation in ways you never realized.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why Does Fetal Positioning Matter?
If pelvic, fascial, or ligamentous restrictions interfere with fetal positioning or descent, the baby may have a harder time providing the cervical stimulus involved in the Ferguson reflex. Proactive pelvic preparation before labor can help resolve these restrictions to better prepare the body and baby for birth.
Why Does Safety During Birth Matter?
Addressing fear, processing previous birth experiences, nervous-system regulation, and helping patients build confidence and trust in their bodies allows the body and the body’s hormones to work more optimally to support labor and birth.
What Role Does Previous Birth Trauma Play in a Subsequent Birth?
Previous traumatic birth experiences can shape fear and protective responses during a subsequent pregnancy. Pelvic PTs and OTs can help patients identify those fears, process previous experiences, and build a greater sense of safety before labor.
What Can Pelvic Health Therapists Do to Support a Smoother Birth?
Pelvic health therapists can work with clients to help them process fear and trauma in their system from previous experiences and build a greater sense of safety before labor. They can help address pelvic, fascial, or ligamentous restrictions in the body to get the baby into a better position for birth as well as help clients build confidence, trust and connection with their body.
Resource Mentioned
Oxytocin: The Biological Guide to Motherhood by Kerstin Uvnäs Moberg
About the speaker
Dr. Carly Cameron, D.C., CACCP, is a pediatric and perinatal chiropractor and founder of Nervology Chiropractic and Neurodevelopment in Raymore, Missouri, serving the greater Kansas City area.
Her work focuses on the critical window from preconception through the first three years of life, supporting mothers, babies, and growing families through chiropractic care and a deep understanding of nervous system function, neurodevelopment, pregnancy, and birth physiology.
Inspired by her father, a chiropractor and sports medicine physician, Dr. Carly is passionate about honoring the body’s innate design and helping families build a strong foundation for lifelong health.
Speaker’s Website: https://mynervology.com/
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Love Dr. Rachael! She is such a gem in the Metro Detroit area. She was my pelvic floor PT during my first pregnancy and postpartum and inspired me to pursue pelvic health certification (coming from an Ortho PT clinic). I’m now working through Holistic Treatment of the Pregnant and Postpartum Body.
Thank you so much for this presentation…I am an osteopath and also trained in SER (love love Upledger!)…the piece about ‘freeze’ related to transgenerational trauma was very informative and a reminder to look further…I have had a client who lost a baby and when I treated her she felt she needed to give birth to this child…and then went back several lives and saw that she had also lost a baby many lives prior! This relieved her of some stress…so every piece of the puzzle counts…keep the nuggets coming, so appreciative! Best, Judith
Great interview, Lynn and Susanne, for pushing us beyond “hands on, hands in”, confirming our need as therapists, for wide, grounded personal presence for our clients to feel safe and then willing to bring forth those physical/emotional/transgenerational, traumas/beliefs that lead to more complete healing and return to function. Appreciate the shout out, and listened delightfully to two of my favorite teachers and mentors. All of this was gold!