Getting my Midwifery Hygge On

(November 2016b)

Recently I was introduced to the concept of ‘Hygge’, or rather I was recently introduced to the word to describe a principle I realise I already aim to live by. On reflecting on the topic further I made the connection also to my midwifery practice – I often receive feedback from women that I help them to feel ‘safe’ and for me safety in my personal life is wrapped up in the safeguards of my close-knit family life and community of friends. Hygge is a Danish word and is virtually impossible to pronounce in English but you will recognise the feeling of cosiness, intimacy, woolly socks and hot chocolate around an open-fire-ness even if you haven’t been to Denmark, apparently the happiest country in the world. It occurred to me that Hygge and Midwifery were a duo demanding a little extra attention.

Photo credit: http://www.chatelaine.com/living/hygge-danish-concept-could-make-winter-more-bearable/
 

After a busy couple of shifts, I am simultaneously overwhelmed with both joy in my work and the sheer responsibility and physicality of it all; a feeling known well by many in the midwifery community. On a day like today, post double nights, tired, grumpy and bleary eyed, I am craving a sense of ‘Hygge’ almost like a balm to my frazzled self.

A neat little book ‘The Little Book of Hygge – The Danish Way to Live Well’ (Meik Wiking, Penguin 2016) sums up the concept as follows “Hygge is about an atmosphere and an experience, rather than about things”. This then takes the feeling wider than a collection of cosy items. Sure the hot chocolate, the hot water bottle and fluffy socks may make all the difference in the short term but the Danes didn’t become the happiest people (allegedly) on earth by being materialistic I am sure.
The more I read about Hygge the more I couldn’t shake the idea that it is something that can be brought to bear within wider midwifery practice and an article came to mind from the RCM Normal Birth website about ‘Masterly Inactivity’.

“A normal labour unfolds in its own time, which often means that it involves a great deal of waiting. And masterly inactivity is really the art of waiting. Which, of course, doesn’t mean doing nothing. Instead it means carrying out all of your professional responsibilities and clinical requirements properly and effectively – but without giving the impression of ‘busyness’ or constant activity. It can make a big difference to the progress of labour if your presence is calm, confident and unobtrusive.
The key to masterly inactivity is your own attitude. Do you feel the need to be constantly doing things, or can you feel comfortable with periods of doing nothing? Being able to switch off our need to fill time in some way or another, either with activity or thoughts, is a skill that needs to be developed through practice. But if you can learn to quieten yourself, becoming present and ‘centred’ in the moment, you can become a powerful influence in helping her to go within herself.”

(http://www.rcmnormalbirth.org.uk/masterly-inactivity/ )

As a midwife I feel one of my primary roles is to promote oxytocin within the environment and my trusty Hygge reference book (p.57) briefly touches on the role of oxytocin , noting that hygge ‘activities’ release oxytocin, which “make us feel happy and reduces stress, fear and pain…decreases hostility and increases social connection”. The short chapter goes on to conclude that “Perhaps it is not a coincidence that everything that has to do with hygge makes us feel happy, calm and safe”. No coincidence at all that those feelings are vital for a progressive and physiological labour and birth.



So what now? I can write a list of the things we can (and should) do to promote the materialistic side of Hygge – low lighting, coloured blankets, bean bags, water, nice food and warmth but it seems to me that Hygge in Midwifery is not just about ensuring you have turned on the fairy lights, it is so much more. It is a feeling and a concept that you walk through the doors with and an experience you carry with you. It is about safety, competence, and wonderful swirling oxytocin. It can be part of the homebirth, the antenatal examination, the hospital birth, maybe even the obstetric theatre. Hygge is not things, it is me… and you.