And I have to be honest, I definitely think that
unmedicated labor pushes you to some really raw, sensitive depths of your soul.
Adrenaline and noradrenaline (epinephrine and norepinephrine, collectively known as catecholamines, or CAs) are also released under stressful conditions, and levels naturally increase during an
unmedicated labor.15 At the end of an undisturbed
labor, a natural surge in these hormones gives the mother the energy to
push her baby out, and makes her excited and fully alert at first meeting with her baby.