Thanks for that. I’ll go tell the black belts at the martial arts school that going “HUH!” after their moves in order to control their breathing and let out their air is actually futile.

Personally, I found screaming “GET OUT OF THERE!” during pushing helped a lot: baby was born over one tremendous push. I guess I scared him or something.

I saw discussion of a study on the Rachel Maddow show that showed repeating a favorite curse word helped people withstand pain (arm in ice water) longer than repeating a regular, random word.

Oh, but YOU screaming at ME to push or counting helps ME push out MY baby. Riggghhhhht.

Dude. Why do some people go into birth work if they hate hearing women vocalizing? I’ve never understood that.

My awesome midwife actually encouraged me to make more sounds and to let the low noises help move the baby out and reduce the pain.

Jill – I agree… but if you really think about it, they aren’t there to help us push the baby out, they want us to schedule our surgeries all nice and neat (and quiet!)

Someone saying that to me might then be making their own noises of pain. I HAD to scream with my fourth, who came flying out in one huge involuntary push as I squatted in front of my toilet. It was the only freaking way I could keep a handle on that particular sensation.

Let’s get something straight:

When *I* am pushing a baby out, I get to decide what is helping me and what isn’t, unless I am doing something that is immediately endangering myself or my baby.

When you are pushing a baby out, you can be as quiet as you want, *I* find vocalizing like a weight lifter going for the world record helps.

And oddly enough when I push like that I don’t become oxygen deprived and need a face mask, like I did during one child’s birth where the nurses got in my face and made me hold my breath…

The only comment my midwife made about my noises while pushing was to “keep it low”…meaning, the low-pitched moaning and humming I had been doing was helpful, and the high-pitched screech I let out at one point toward the end was not as helpful, lol.

I was also told to “keep it low” and I found it helped a lot.
What I don’t understand is why any provider/birth attendant would feel compelled to offer up comments that belittle mom, and offer no benefit to labor or delivery? Women need support! If vocalization is something that mom is showing a need to do, I think it would be more beneficial to redirect it in a more positive direction…like “keep your moaning low, feel it in your belly and let it rip”. Something like that. The last thing you need when you are trying to have a baby is someone tearing apart your self esteem.

Heather, that’s so true! Redirecting rather than belittling needs to be going on.
But, I wouldn’t say, “Let it rip!” to a pushing mom Most moms don’t want to hear or think of ripping while pushing, lol!

I was told that there was no need to scream by the OB (who was a effing MAN) that was delivering me, mind you I was induced with Pitocin and was doing it natural and then I was told, “Push don’t scream your wasting your energy!”

I have a much different birth plan for my next one when we get pregnant

Actually, your jaw is connected to your pelvic floor, so if you can make low moans with your jaw wide open (aaaahhh)it can help open up your pelvis. I did my aaahhhs in tones, and my husband said he could tell where I was in the contraction by the note i was “singing”.

I moaned long, deep, and loud soon after my water broke two hours into my 7 hour labor. My midwife called it my ‘birth song’ and also called it beautiful.