Raise your hand if you screamed bloody murder while giving birth.

[Nicole M]

I am sick to death of screaming birth scenes. Saw Star Trek today. Screaming birth scene, check. Prince Caspian. Check.

 

I'm not a huge movie person, but I cannot think of one realistic birth scene. And I can tell you that I have seen many that I think would be damaging to young female viewers. I know it's more dramatic, but please. I mean, what percentage of real, actual women do that? Does it bother you? Am I the only one who finds this irritating?

[Denisemomof4]

no I did not scream like that, and if I resembled their breathing pattern in any way at all, I would have passed out.

 

Well, I did pass out after having my first but it wasn't because of my breathing. It was because I gave birth to a toddler. They tell me I passed out due to blood loss but I think I did from the sight of such a HUGE kid passing through .......... such a tiny opening.

 

:D

Edited June 1, 2009 by Denisemomof4

[Nicole M]

and if I resembled their breathing pattern in any way at all, I would have passed out.

 

Well, I did pass out after having my first but it wasn't because of my breathing. It was because I gave birth to a toddler.

:D

 

Yes! And if you were breathing that way, and screaming your lungs out, you would not only have passed out, but your entire delivery would have lasted far, far longer than the 15 seconds it takes for a movie character to produce a child.

[cathmom]

I scream a lot. In fact I thought the scream in Prince Caspian was quite realistic. :D

[Heather in Neverland]

Nope. I buried my face in my mom's shirt and whimpered.

[Nicole M]

I scream a lot. In fact I thought the scream in Prince Caspian was quite realistic. :D

 

Does the hospital staff recognize you now? When they roll you in, do they say, "Uh-oh! Here comes the screamer!" ;)

[Nicole M]

Nope. I buried my face in my mom's shirt and whimpered.

 

Hmm. Can't recall a single screen whimper. Can you?

[yslek]

I seem to remember something along the lines of a "primal yell" with T & D...it was sooo intense & fast. (I was also standing up & caught D as she came out...definitely empowering rather than helpless screaming.) With B (my first) I was pushing forever. I think it was mostly quiet & grunty at the end. With L I had no voice at all due to severe pneumonia & pleurisy, so even had I wanted to make noise it would have been futile.

 

I pretty much hate all movie birth scenes. That's not what I want my dd seeing when she's growing up. :glare:

[Vida Winter]

Nope. I was in terrible pain but just not a screamer. After about a day in labor I got an epidural and passed out.

[cathmom]

Does the hospital staff recognize you now? When they roll you in, do they say, "Uh-oh! Here comes the screamer!" ;)

 

Well, if I can I have them in a birth center. They've probably heard worse. And I bet you would scream too if you were having a 10 lb baby with 15 minutes of pushing! But the one where my throat was really sore afterwards was dd#2, who weighed 9 lbs. 11 oz. and was posterior!

[HeatherLynn]

No, I didn't scream with any of mine. I heard a negative comment made by a nurse about a screamer in one of my early braxton hicks visits, and determined NEVER to be one. So, I didn't. I bit down and used that force to push my 10 lb-ers out.

[Nicole M]

They've probably heard worse. And I bet you would scream too...

 

My biggest was a mere 8 pounds. Focused grunting was as far as I got with the vocalizing. My then-four-year-old, who witnessed the birth, told me afterward that he would try that grunting the next time had a really bad BM, because he thought it might help. I told him I was sure it might. :D

[Veritaserum]

Nope. Grunted, exhaled, etc. No epidural. No screaming. No sweat. Most birth scenes in movies are ridiculously unrealistic.

[SheilaZ]

The lady in the next room screamed. Everybody in the whole wing could hear her. She sounded like one of those women in the horror movies. She had been in my childbirth class and ended up giving birth to a barely 6 pound baby.

 

I was induced. My epidural failed and my blood pressure tanked. My son was 9 pounds. I never screamed. I did curtly ask my DH and the anesthesiologist to "please, shut up!" But I did not scream.

 

Oh, and I did tell my doctor to "fix your hair somewhere else" because I wanted some privacy.

 

Hmmm....I was pretty grumpy during that delivery.

[Mari]

and couldn't really feel anything during the actual delivery. I was really sad that I couldn't birth naturally but later in my room I heard a woman screaming bloody murder. Holy cow, it lasted hours!!! I felt so bad for the woman but one of the nurses said the patient opted out of any pain management whatsoever. I think the rest of us trying to get some sleep kinda wished she would change her mind...

[Suzanne in ABQ]

I don't scream like in the movies (and I didn't see the movies you recently saw), but I am loud. I find it extremely irritating when people have the nerve to tell me to hold it down. :) Until a person has felt what I feel when giving birth, they have no business telling me how to express myself in childbirth.

 

ETA: My babies came progressively faster. My third was the fastest. I went from 4cm to 10cm in five minutes. I challenge anyone to do that without screaming. I would have loved an epidural, but it was too fast (and furious). I then was told NOT to push for about 30 minutes, so that the tissues could relax a bit, and not tear (as they had in my previous deliveries). You try to hold a baby in, when it really wants to rip it's way out. And, do it without screaming.

Edited June 1, 2009 by Suzanne in ABQ

[Jean in Newcastle]

With ds11 (very difficult birth) I groaned and grunted and threw up. I held poor dh's hand and squeezed the stuffing out of it. I did not scream.

 

With dd7 (a much easier birth) I alternately laughed and grunted. I'm sure the labor nurses thought I was nuts. Dh said I was the "giddy laborer". I was giddy because labor had stalled and we managed to get it going again by walking for miles down the hospital corridors.

[Rosie_0801]

The first time around was more groaning than screaming. My second labour was badly managed and I screamed my lungs out with each contraction for two and a half hours. If I was going a third time, I'd be thinking of "persuasion" techniques to use on doctors who believe in following policy when administering oxytocin. If I'd been capable of thinking, I would have dragged my sorry self out to the corridor. I'll bet that would have bought the doctor running. Not that it matters now. Two pregnancies was enough.

 

Rosie

[mycalling]

I'm a grunter and at the moment of baby sliding out, a primal yeller. But hey, my 6 were all home birthed in two pushes (except the first, who took hours of pushing because of a stuck arm by his head). Hmmm, I bet I could do movie birth scenes.;)

[BakersDozen]

I groan through transition but I scream during the delivery. Well, I yelled while the head was coming out then all out screamed with the shoulders. Thankfully my deliveries last about 30 seconds (although it seems so much longer!!!). I don't remember yelling/screaming because by that point I am out of my mind with pain and just want to die. Which is why I opted for the epi this last time...kicked back and enjoyed the birth, no yelling/screaming required. ;) I actually find such scenes of childbirth refreshing because when I went in for #1 I had in my mind a calm, relaxing, quiet birth. HA!!! As one poster said, going from 4-10 in a matter of minutes then pushing out a baby in less than a minute is NOT fun and it HURTS! When my OB told me to be quiet, that I was scaring the other patients I let loose with language I've never heard come from my mouth, told her exactly what I thought of her request. I guess I'd rather see scenes like that more than scenes that are (IMO) more unrealistic (quiet, smiling, no sweat/tears/yells, etc.). I saw the episode of "Friends" right after yelling/screaming out #2 and was really, really angry at how labor/delivery was portrayed to millions of naive girls. Yeah, right. :glare: If ever there is a time/place that being vocal even to the point of screaming is absolutely OK then childbirth is that time/place.

[coffeefreak]

Had to ask my husband.

 

Yelled bloody murder with the first (24 hours constant contractions, no break in between).

 

Not so much with the 2nd. The 2nd was 36 hours so I was probably too tired:tongue_smilie:. Long and drawn out, but more regular contractions with breaks in between.

[HiddenJewel]

The scenes that actually bother me more are the ones that the woman looks so peaceful and like she isn't having any struggle at all. Definitely not realistic for my deliveries except when I had an epidural.

[katemary63]

The lady in the next room screamed. Everybody in the whole wing could hear her. She sounded like one of those women in the horror movies. She had been in my childbirth class and ended up giving birth to a barely 6 pound baby.

 

This is what happened to me. When I arrived at the hospital after my water broke w/ my first DD, my DH and I heard a lady in the next room screaming her head off. My DH says, "Shh....Oh my Gosh! Listen to that woman! You had better not scream like that!" I didn't. ( Don't judge him, he was very young and really was just kidding! :lol:)

 

With my second child - he got stuck at the shoulders. The pain of pushing his shoulders out was UNBELIEVABLE! I screamed bloody murder! just during THAT push! It was a natural birth, no epidural, no drugs, no episiotomy. He was 10lb 10oz, 24 inch head, 24 inches long. Too big for newborn diapers or clothes.

 

Third child - never uttered a sound.

Fourth child - screamed my head off - have no idea why, shocked the whole family who was in the room!

[Tap]

Mine were cesareans so no screaming :0)

 

 

My friend...she was a screamer.

My SIL.... she was a screamer too.

Those were the only ones I have attended.

 

My other friend, said she screamed.

 

I have no idea about my sisters. My family doesn't discus bodily functions of any kind...LOL....seriously.

[Nicole M]

I have never seen birth depicted as happy and serene, so that surprises me.

 

It's interesting that so many of you had so much pain right at the end. I had a water birth at home with my second, and was so relieved to be pushing, there was only release at the end. I felt 8 billion times better once I got into the tub, which, unfortunately, was only a few minutes before pushing, because it took so long to set the dang thing up and my labor was super fast, 4 hours. I don't know how you people manage to give birth in the open air. Ouch.

 

When we watched Caspian together, after my boys had already seen it, they said, "Mom, we'll fast forward this part, because you're not going to like it," and, "It's a birth mom, and we know, we know! It's not really like that."

 

Come to think of it, though, even films of women actually giving birth seem a little unreal, because, great guns! What an amazing thing!

Edited June 1, 2009 by Nicole M

[katemary63]

I have no idea about my sisters. My family doesn't discus bodily functions of any kind...LOL....seriously.

 

:lol::lol::lol:

[teamturner]

I only got to have one of my births naturally, the others were c-sections. My labor was very, very long and there were no drugs. I think I let out one blood curdling scream when my midwife was pushing my cervix from a 9 to a 10. It was so bad that I'm sure all the other women on the labor and delivery area were asking for their epidural stat! I realized mid scream that it was so loud that I put my face into my pillow toward the end.

 

Edit to add: After my huge scream during transition, I went on to push for 4 and 1/2 hours (w/o drugs) with no screaming.

Edited June 1, 2009 by Michelle in TX

[KidsHappen]

I yelled my bloody head off, all six times. I wish that I had seen a couple of movie birth scenes before having my children as I was not prepared at all. My mother told me that giving birth was no worse than menstral cramps. Um yeah, right. I don't have cramps but I figured how bad could that be? Well, come to find out my mother was seriously drugged having her babies whereas I had my ten pounders naturally. I have tried to give my dds a little bit more realistic idea of what birth is really like and most of them have actually attended a sibling's birth. I don't think they are overly freightened but they are not in a big hurry either if you know what I mean. My oldest just had her first almost a year ago. She did really well and wasn't a screamer but even she said that she had a tiny baby, only seven pounds.

[dirty ethel rackham]

I hate fake birth scenes as well. I groaned, grunted and made very loud gutteral noises to the point of losing my voice, but I didn't scream. In my 12 years as a childbirth educator, I encouraged women to make noise, to not be inhibited, but I discouraged screaming because it was the opposite of relaxation and was the opposite of positive progress. I coached their husbands to encourage and model positive noisemaking. Sometimes, a woman in labor needs her moment to be vulnerable and out of control without everyone needing to fix it. Often, that moment is a turning point in labor.

[joannqn]

Well, my first labor was 72 hours of hanging out and joking with my midwife, my doula, a doula student, and my husband. We walked around the block, enjoyed a light snowfall, and ordered pizza. I finally transferred to the hospital for an epidural (to stop labor because my cervix had swelled and needed a break) where I proceed to look very tired and bored for the rest of the labor. No screaming there as they had my epidural so strong, I couldn't feel the lower half of my body. You could have cut me in half with a chain saw and I wouldn't have known it.

 

My second labor was 22 hours of walking in circles around my house and getting in and out of the birth tub. My doula's teen, who was there to help care for my oldes, said I made it look easy. I began to scream a little during the pushing stage, getting higher and higher pitched, but my midwife kept telling me to "lower my voice" so I switched to low-pitched "oww, oww, oww". He was 9lbs 2oz and only took 10 minutes to push.

 

My third labor was induced for being post-dates. Pitocin, followed by epidural, made that a nice quiet and boring labor as well.

[KJB]

Last time I gave birth, the woman across the hall from me had a piercing scream that was so loud and shrill the doctor and midwife kept coming out of the room to get a break. I had already delivered and they would come in my room and we'd share, "Can you believe that?" looks.

 

She was screaming like in a horror film. It was unbelievable.

 

I've had easy births and longer ones. Five of them. I know they're not all the same but I can't believe that fear/terror screams are very productive to the process. I went back and forth between feeling very sorry for an obviously unprepared woman to being very annoyed.

 

And I'm a suffer in silence type, so I tend to be unsympathetic to the more emotive among us. I'd make a lousy nurse.

[Natalieclare]

I hate shriek-y scenes in movies. Bleh.

 

And oddly, reading this thread really makes me want to have another baby!

 

??????

[Mandy in TN]

giving birth was no worse than menstral cramps.

My mom had no advice. She was knocked out when both my brother and I were born.

 

As a young woman, I had horrible cramps. I thought labor was suppose to be worse. This explains why I ended up having my first in the emergency room examining area still wearing my own clothes.:001_huh:

 

This also explains why I rushed to the hospital at the first sign of labor with my second. I had an epideral that went bad. The headache the next day was worse than the labor.

 

This explains why I didn't have an epideral with my third. I did go to the hospital pretty quickly and they let me stand then squat and push through the contractions. I guess third times a charm. :D It was wonderful.

 

I never screamed during any of the three and didn't break a sweat with the first.

 

Mandy

[Mandy in TN]

And oddly, reading this thread really makes me want to have another baby!

:lol::001_huh:

Mandy

[MelanieM]

Perhaps this wasn't the thread to read at 37 weeks pregnant. LOL!

 

I handle contractions extremely well, with some breathing and moaning. I have yelled/screamed with both of my births during pushing. And that included one with an epidural and one without. I felt everything both times - the epi was useless during pushing. Actually, I think the epi made it worse because there was no build-up and I was shocked to be feeling so much when I expected nothing.

 

I have friends that have experienced ecstatic births - from no/very little pain, right up to enjoyable. I'm hoping for that this time around. :D

[battlemaiden]

I don't appreciate that image either.

 

I try to stay quiet while birthing. But in my L&D days, that wasn't the norm.

 

Jo

[Peela]

Although I am flexible and intended both times to give birth crouching in that wonderful looking native position where the baby just drops out, both times I gave birth on my hands and elbows, with my butt up in the air, head in a pillow, pretending it wasn't happening. I think I was a loud groaner, but I had my face in a pillow so probably didn't make too much noise.

[MomofSeven]

but in the midst of an unplanned natural childbirth, I wailed like a dying cat. I didn't want to, but I just wasn't prepared for the pain. Natural childbirth is not for me.

[Prudent]

I didn't start screaming until after 16 or 18 hours. I screamed bloody murder for every single contraction for the last 14 or so hours, and while pushing.

 

I had read all the natural child birth books, went to the class, and practiced breathing.

 

Then I experienced labor. No one will ever convince me that screaming wasn't right for me. Based on my two births, I feel like those birth story shows are completely fake because they make labor look so calm & serene.

 

I'm actually a very quiet and reserved person. But labor is the most horrific torture I've ever endured, and I'm not going to be quiet about it. :tongue_smilie:

[Bess]

I did.

[Pamela H in Texas]

I didn't scream. I didn't barely make a sound. I'm a really quiet person when other people are around though. Also, I had it in my head that screaming made it hurt more, if for no other reason than mental. If you gave into the pain, then of course it hurt.

[elegantlion]

I didn't scream, but I was under full anesthesia. After 3 days in the hospital and various drugs I didn't have the strength to scream, much less really know where I was. I'm pretty the only ones screaming would have been my dh and mom, at the doctors as they should decide how to remove said baby soon. :D

[Carrie12345]

My very first scream in a delivery room was during the "repair" after my 4th delivery.;)

My pregnant sister is terrified to watch birth scenes. I tried to convince her to watch The Business of Being Born, but that was a no-go!

[Melissa in Australia]

for the first 3 I just groaned loudly .

the 4th was induced with a drip thingy and had fast, strong contractions. I remember hearing this awful noise, it filled the whole room the loudest scream I had ever heard. I wondered where it was coming from then I realized it was me. I couldn't even speak afterwards. A few years later when I went for a pap smear, the doctor asked me how big had my last baby been, as my cervix was all torn up!

the 5th one, I just kept arguing with the midwife and doctor that I wasn't going to push.

[Jennifer in MI]

Nope. Didn't scream. During the final push with each of them, I remember letting out a grunt that was probably quite loud. But, no screaming.

 

With my third, who was over 10 pounds, I did beg for mercy as his shoulders got stuck. The midwife had me flip over, but she still had to do some maneuvering that hurt!!

[Snickerdoodle]

I don't scream like in the movies , but I am loud.

ETA: My babies came progressively faster.

 

 

:iagree:

 

I have extremely fast deliveries. Any hey, I'm not a screamer, but I am loud.

[sportymom]

But not until the fourth. First three were pretty calm, some grunting, etc. Fourth one, OH MY! I could scream right now just thinking about it. Tiniest of my babies (6.7 compared to 8 & 9 pounders), but by far the hardest and most painful. Had a lovely tear with him, too, the 'other' way, IYKWIM.

 

I just think it's funny how huge newborns are on tv. All clean and smiling, sometimes cooing. :001_smile:

[I talk to the trees]

I did, once, but I think it was out of frustration more than pain. I had been given a sleeping aid upon arrival, since they didn't think I was truly in labor and needed to get some rest before the "real event." So I was basically drunk during the entire labor process, which was agitating (to put it mildly.) I actually remember telling the nurse, " I think I need a primal scream." After I got that one yell out of my system, it was back to business. :lol:

 

-Robin

[LizzyBee]

Nope. Grunted, exhaled, etc. No epidural. No screaming. No sweat. Most birth scenes in movies are ridiculously unrealistic.

 

With my 2nd, by the time anyone realized how fast my labor was progressing, it was too late for an epidural. I did sweat during the transition contractions, but I'm not a screamer. Those contractions were so intense! I'd lay back and recuperate from one and just when I got relaxed I'd feel the next one coming on. I started to panic when the dr said I couldn't have an epidural, but she looked me in the eye and told me this happened during her 2nd childbirth and she did it, and I could do it too! As it turned out, the baby came out in one push and all the pain stopped instantly - it was as though the pressure completely numbed me. When her head came out, the cord was wrapped around her neck and the dr told me to stop pushing. All I could think was that it would take 1000 horses pulling the other way to stop pushing - I had no control over it at that point. Dh said when she cut the cord, the baby just shot out and the dr caught her like a football. :D

[amy g.]

I'm a major screamer. Fast unmedicated births and a whole bunch of yelling.