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

[katemary63]

Funny. While plenty are saying they didn't scream, there are plenty who did. I think birth scenes in movies and TV are terrible, but it does seem from this thread that the screaming part is not exactly unrealistic!

Edited June 1, 2009 by katemary63

[Pam Wilhelm]

Nope, no screaming....... at the moment of birth there was a primordial grunt/growl...... but that was it. I was even reasonably nice to my husband while going through labor. :lol:

[Amy in NH]

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...

 

Four unmedicated births here, no screaming. I didn't even scream when my 10lb 12oz baby got stuck after delivering the head and I had to stand up and move to a different position.

 

We learned in childbirth class that screaming is a waste of energy and very unproductive.

[Quiver0f10]

I am very quiet in labor and delivery, including my 12 pounder :D During my 5th labor I yelled at the Dr and was pretty grumpy, but I didn't scream. I am blessed in that my babies come very very fast once I start pushing.

Edited June 1, 2009 by Quiver0f10

[Night Elf]

Ok, I'll preface this by saying I've only been awake 15 mins. and I'm not in a great mood. I opened this thread and read the OP thinking I'd respond. But after seeing some of the responses, I don't want to because I'm sort of disgusted that women are judging other women by the type and amount of noise they make when they deliver babies! Like a macho contest. I realize the OP started out with a movie reference, but egads!!

 

Hmm.. how much can you bench press? And can you do it without grunting? :)

[amy g.]

I know, I never realized it was a moral issue. Stupid me I just thought people are different. Labors are different. Everyone has a right to respond in their own way. Now I know better.

[jonesloonybin]

I was loud with my first with some yelling (at people, not for the pain) Actually I don't even remember what I did. My dad sat next to my bed for hours, just squeezing my hand as hard as I could take. It really helped. I was able to focus on the pain in my hand and not so much on the labor pains. (Boy did my hand hurt for days after)

 

I don't care if someone screams. After feeling that pain...I don't care WHAT you do. Do ANYTHING that you want. Run down the hall naked if it helps. :lol:

 

Every hospital I have been in has had the delivery rooms and recovery rooms separate.

 

My mother told me that when the baby finally is pushed out, the release felt better than even the BEST "O". Sadly, I have not been able to deliver naturally. I made it all the way to pushing but never actually delivered. Always ended up with a c-section.

[Kelli in TN]

No, I was a whiner instead. Whine and complain and demand people to make it stop. Srsly. I said to my husband, my nurse, my doctor "make it stop". I was argumentative, I remember saying "no, I can't" to everything they asked whether it was a position change, pushing, or even holding still for the epidural.

 

But no screaming.The closest I might have come to screaming was with my second child because I'd had no pain relief and it was a mid forceps delivery. Ouch.

[Nicole M]

Ok, I'll preface this by saying I've only been awake 15 mins. and I'm not in a great mood. I opened this thread and read the OP thinking I'd respond. But after seeing some of the responses, I don't want to because I'm sort of disgusted that women are judging other women by the type and amount of noise they make when they deliver babies! Like a macho contest. I realize the OP started out with a movie reference, but egads!!

 

Hmm.. how much can you bench press? And can you do it without grunting? :)

 

Gosh! I didn't read any of the responses that way, at all. But I've been awake a good 45 minutes... ;)

 

I guess I thought that it was commonly understood that the horror-movie type screaming was counter-productive to labor. I don't have a problem with noises, at all. You need to do what you need to do. Not passing jugement here.

 

I think, though, not based on any real data, but just my own sense of things, that if we were to depict a woman onscreen making the kind of primal noises that aid in moving labor along, it would never fly, because those sounds would likely be construed as sexual. I feel like we're okay with women screaming, at some level, or that we've accepted, culturally, that screaming is normative. I don't know, though. Now I am curious about other countries, how birth is depicted elsewhere, and what is "normal" in other cultures.

 

I read a book when I was pregnant the second time, written by a woman who assisted births in the Amish community. No screaming there, and mostly uncomplicated births.

[kdeno]

during my one delivery without and epidural.

[hsmamainva]

Only for the last one!

 

I was fine until the actual birth itself, when her arm and shoulder came out at the same time as her head! I remember that it hurt like everything -- alot more than my other three births....but my entire screaming session only lasted for 2-3 minutes. ;)

[Tammyla]

I was so focused on not screaming with the first = C-section.

 

Screamed like an athlete with ds = natural all the way.;)

Edited June 3, 2009 by Tammyla

[Guest Virginia Dawn]

Well.... I yelled at God during during active labor. I figure he made it difficult so I begged him for help getting through it.

 

Basically, it was a lot of : "Oh God! Lord help me!" But I'm sure sometimes it sounded more like I was swearing than praying. :-)

[katemary63]

Well, I posted as a screamer with 2 births and a non-screamer with 2 births. I have read all the posts and didn't find any that seemed offensive to either screamers or non-screamers. Not to me anway. I just think people are telling their own stories. I don't think it's bragging or putting another down for having a smaller kid or less pain or what ever. Just telling their own stories IMHOl.

[MBM]

I screamed a few times.

 

Deliveries came fast and furious for me. The most I pushed was maybe 20". No epidurals because I was usually pushing by the time I got to the hospital.

:ack2:

[elizam]

I am relieved to hear there are others who screamed!

 

i am such a shy, easily embarrassed person you can imagine I would have preferred to be a silent birther!

 

my first was almost nine lbs and had a really big head. He got stuck and I was pushing 3 hrs and ten minutes away from a C section on top of all the vaginal swelling and tearing and strained muscles I was going to have from the rest of the labor.

 

2nd was pretty easy.

 

3rd same weight as first

 

4th 7 lbs but sunny side up and it hurt BAD!

 

Epidurals each time but not nearly soon enough except with #2 and a caring OB! The epidural was scary and painful, too, with electric shock sensations ripping through my legs!!!!!!!!!

 

With my first it was a military hospital and I had the rudest nurse you can imagine. She screamed back at me and made fun of me afterward! She even said she preferred Filipino ladies because they birth silently! Wow, none of them crack under the pressure and fear? This lady had no dc of her own, either.

[Impish]

Diva was sunny side up. She was flipped and ripped out with forcepts. Screamer? Oh you betcha! I don't think my throat ever recovered, honestly...my voice has had this Demi Mooreish quality to it since that I swear it didn't before her birth.

 

Tazzie...I don't remember 'screaming' per say...but I *do* remember Wolf telling me I was getting loud and that I should keep it down. The Look I gave him caused the wall behind him to start to smoulder and smoke, and the fire alarm gave the briefest of squawks. I'm pretty sure my husband always had eyebrows, but he doesn't have any in Tazzie's baby pics. Weird. Anways, yeah, I got loud with Tazzie.

 

Loud with Princess too, but doubt I screamed...her labour had been three days worth, I didn't have the energy...but I'm pretty sure I give a primal howl with each head emerging.

 

Poor babies, hearing THAT as their first sound. :lol:

[ereks mom]

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?

 

I did grunt, because I just found it impossible to push that hard and NOT grunt. ;) I did cry a bit during ER's birth, partly because of the pain -- I was given pitocin to speed things up because ER was a premie & in some distress, so the contractions were very hard, but I dilated slowly -- but mostly because I was tired and worried about the baby since he was a premie.

[Wendi]

And no pain medication, either. With the first push, I grunted, but the nurse admonished me that I was wasting energy. So I was quiet after that.

 

I always think the depictions of childbirth in movies and TV are ridiculous. A woman has one contraction, and her husband flips out, and they rush to the hospital, with her about to give birth in the car. How often does it happen that fast?

 

Wendi

[katilac]

I'm sure I screamed a few times, but it was more along the lines of yelling with me. And a great deal of cursing, which disturbed my doc to no end, as she didn't think the little darlings should enter the world with the f-bomb being dropped all around them, lol!

 

They seem to have recovered from any trauma inflicted by my poor birthing manners.

[Danestress]

Every. Yuck. Watching other women give birth is not "entertaining" for me.

[Murphy101]

I screamed loud and long with 3 of mine. 1 actually scared another laboring mother down the hall so bad she tried to leave the hospital. My last delievery had hubby a bit nervous that neighbors would call the police.

 

The other 6 deliveries were total opposites of that. Of course they would be because after having a delivery that feels as bad as those 3 anything else is pretty much a cakewalk.

 

Also, screaming IS a valid form of pain release. Very helpful.

 

ETA; no one was hysterical at all either. I HATE that unless the woman is laying there like she's sedated then she and everyone else is totally spazing out.

Edited June 1, 2009 by Martha

[KidsHappen]

Also, screaming IS a valid form of pain release. Very helpful.

 

 

I just wanted to ditto this. I was kind of surprised to hear so many state that it was counterproductive. If you weren't a screamer then how do you know? For me it came naturally and there was no way I could have controlled it. If I had to concentrate on being quiet then I wouldn't have been able to concentrate on actually having the baby and to tell the truth, I really don't care what other people thought. I guarantee that if someone had had the nerve to tell me to be quiet, they would have regretted it. Oh and my labor were very fast so if screaming was really counterproductive, I hate to think how fast they would have been had I not been a screamer.

[MelanieM]

I also found screaming to be very productive! I suspect that the idea that it isn't has been put out there by the 'professionals' who would like women to be quiet so as not to embarras/inconvenience others around them. Of course, it might not be productive for everyone... but to automatically discount it for all doesn't make much sense. Just like every birthing woman would do best to choose their own birthing positions based on what works for their bodies, then every birthing woman should also be encouraged to vocalize in the way that feels most normal and helpful to them.

[clarkacademy]

I SCREAMED!!! Loudly

[Tree House Academy]

I actually watched "A Baby Story" a lot when I was pregnant and became so irritated with the women who screamed like they were dying during child birth that I promised myself I would NOT scream. I pushed, breathed, and gave birth. No screaming....at.all. :)

[mommaduck]

Vocalization, no screaming. I most screamers I've known are being overly dramatic. On screen, the birthing scenes that I appreciated the most were ones where they had native american women giving birth quietly.

[stripe]

I don't appreciate screaming birth scenes myself, or the ones with the big gush of the waters breaking followed by hysteria and the impression that birth will then occur 5 seconds later.

[Lovedtodeath]

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

I had an epidural, so I didn't scream in pain. With contractions every 4 minutes for the ten and a half hours of labor before the epidural, I was quietly breathing. After the epidural, I slept through most contractions for about another 10 hours. Then I pushed for 2 hours (I think) and I was screaming... like I was exerting myself for Karate, but not blood curdling pain. My babies were both close to 10 pounds. My mother had no epidural... 6 hours of labor start to finish with babies under well under 8 pounds. I am not giving anyone any awards. We do what we have to.

 

Does that clear it up!:tongue_smilie:

Edited June 1, 2009 by Lovedtodeath

[Michelle O. in MO]

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.

 

Yep....my second baby was the same way.

[Sarah CB]

I scream like I'm in a horror movie.

 

Sorry, I really do. Transition freaks me out and my babies come out so fast. Actually, I didn't scream with the last one at all. The doctor didn't believe that I had dialated as quickly as the resident told him I did so he came to check. He said, "Why don't you give a little push while I feel your cervix and we'll see how you're doing."

 

Well, that one little push pushed our baby right out. The dr. said he'd never seen anything like it.

 

With the others it was more like a few minutes of pushing, but it feels so fast and scary (and I don't take drugs) that I scream. And I don't care. And yes, they've told me that I need to put my energy into pushing instead of screaming and I still don't care. Giving birth is scary.

[Elaine]

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.

 

I heard a nurse say the same thing when I was in labor and I didn't want to be *that person.* :lol: Plus, I am not a screamer by nature.

 

I found labor to be relatively easy and we did Bradley so I had no drugs. Of course, I didn't have 10 pounders!:001_smile:

[Elaine]

I was even reasonably nice to my husband while going through labor. :lol:

 

:lol: Me, too. Except for our last one, when I told my husband that if he touched me again (he thought that rubbing my back during labor was soothing) I would have him killed.:lol:

 

He forgave me.

[phathui5]

Screamer here.

[sagira]

No screaming, but definitely lots of moans and grunts here. With my first, I was in a big tub. Ds was born in the water, and I pulled him our of me myself. With my dd it was pacing back and forth, and rocking, and "slow dancing" with dh.. In the end I was upright, squatting to get dd out. No drugs of course. No clothes either. Very strange for mainstream folks if they ever see a movie with this :lol:

[KidsHappen]

I also found screaming to be very productive! I suspect that the idea that it isn't has been put out there by the 'professionals' who would like women to be quiet so as not to embarras/inconvenience others around them.

 

I had the same thought. I have heard many women state that they didn't scream because they were told not to. Yeah, well I was told not to breastfeed, skip immunizations, and homeschool as well. I never was any good at being told what to do. :tongue_smilie:

[Pam Wilhelm]

You know, I've been thinking about this......... as I stated, I didn't scream with any of my three births.... but let a moth into the house and you would think the world was coming to an end right then and there!

[elw_miller]

I do not scream. I moan like a Tibetan monk, only I get louder as the contractions get more intense--not screams, just loud volume moaning. I've read that moaning releases natural endorphins, which ease the pain. I gotta agree. Pushing is the most challenging for me since it takes at least an hour to push out my bowling ball children!

 

Apparently, this last time I gave birth my moans stayed on a single note. A nurse out at the nurses station asked my nurse who was singing!

 

My kids:

dd4 was 9 lbs 0.4 oz. (induction and then epidural) :( I loathe pitocin!

ds2 was 10 lbs 12.5 oz (no drugs, just my moaning)

ds 4 months 10 lbs (no drugs, just my "singing") :)

 

I agree about the movies making birth look horrific and scary. Terribly unrealistic, at least for me. Are there ANY movies that depict birth in a more positive/less terrifying way?

[Garga]

You know, I've been thinking about this......... as I stated, I didn't scream with any of my three births.... but let a moth into the house and you would think the world was coming to an end right then and there!

 

:lol:

[Katrina]

I don't think I was much of a screamer, but I sure wasn't pleasant to be around! My husband still likes to brag about the times I bit his arm and punched him in the stomach. That was child #1. Child #2, I didn't hit him at all, but he wasn't allowed to speak to me for the entire event. (I had a very fast delivery so it was only about 30 min. that he couldn't speak to me.)

[MBM]

Okay, now I'm curious. Is there proof that screaming takes away energy from pushing?

 

Regarding baby birthing shows, what makes me laugh are women in labor who do their hair and makeup before the birth. LOL! I looked downright frightful.

:D

[mellifera]

I didn't scream with any of mine. When I went in to have my first, the lady in the next room screamed loud enough for both of us.

[Matryoshka]

With my twins I spent a whole day with the nurse insisting I couldn't be in labor even though I kept telling her they needed to come out *now* (I was on the antenatal floor because my water had broken 5 days earlier). By the time they got me to L&D I was at 10cm +2 - then they gave me an epidural (because twin 2 was breech) - this was after transition. But I never screamed or apparently even complained vehemently enough, which I think is why they thought I couldn't possibly be in active labor.

 

Delivery #2 was all natural (heck only one baby), and for the first 12 hours I chatted, snacked, and even napped for a while. Relaxed and in control. Then I went from napping to transition to baby arriving in 6 min - I don't think she'd even dropped before that, she had a perfectly round head. So, then I screamed like I was being ax-murdered. Everyone had told me that after transition, pushing was a relief. What a crock.

 

Fortunately the walls must've been well-insulated because my whole famliy was right on the other side of the wall. They said they never heard a thing.

[leseve]

I was induced and had epidurals with all three and was joking and laughing the whole time. My last was 2 hours from start to finish and I still made sure to get that epidural in...I don't care for pain ;)

[myfunnybunch]

And yes, they've told me that I need to put my energy into pushing instead of screaming and I still don't care.

 

I didn't scream. It was more of a guttural ''Ooooooo." Kind of like when you're lifting something heavy. But the nurse tried to tell me the same thing.

 

Instead of telling her to go away, I thought, "What the heck, I'll try," but it was more work to hold it in than it was to let it out, lol.

 

Cat

[SilverMoon]

Not I. Groan and yell? Primal noises? Definitely. :001_smile:

 

I was loudest with my first. I was at the hossie with the alleged pain management, and pitocin to go with it. That bloody well hurt! I haven't experienced anything like it since. *shudder*

 

Oddly enough, of my natural births, my smallest babe was the most painful. Her arm being wrapped around her neck may have had something to do with that. :tongue_smilie:Much yelling was involved. My bigger ones were easier to push out. My last babe had a 45 minute labor with just groaning and grunting. Well, and bad language. I'm going with more weight means more gravity in my favor, and more baby to, uh, grip. :001_smile:

Edited June 2, 2009 by SilverMoon
Couldn't spell pitocin for Pete's sake...

[HSMom2One]

It was so fast and so intense, no time for any anesthesia and I was tearing badly. I did scream, and the doctor that was on duty (while my doctor was away) actually told me to shut up. Can you believe it? He told me to shut up....really.

 

That was over 20 years ago, and hopefully ob/gyn doctors have better manners now days. :tongue_smilie:

 

Blessings,

Lucinda

[Impish]

Great. Put me with the other odd poster who said this thread made them want another baby :glare:

[Murphy101]

I just wanted to ditto this. I was kind of surprised to hear so many state that it was counterproductive.

 

If I had to concentrate on being quiet then I wouldn't have been able to concentrate on actually having the baby

 

I KNOW it isn't counterproductive for ME. It's a huge release of tension and pain and stress. And anyone who hasn't gone from 0 -10 in less than 10 minutes or gone from 3 to 10 in less than 3 hours with a 10 lb baby and a pelvis dislocated in 3 places or pushed at 10 for 6 hours (yes PUSHED!) can kiss my hiney if they find my loudness bothersome. what something somethings to actually stand there and gripe about another's pain simply because it's not their pain or experience. And yes, I've had no less than THREE epidurals that either didn't work at all or were spotty. It's always bothered me that just because it's labor pain (vs all the many other kinds of pain seen in a hospital on a regular basis, many of which are far less) the woman is made to feel like a wimp or dramatic.:glare:

 

Also, the notion that it only hurts if you are a wimp, or aren't "doing it right", or aren't in touch with your body is just pure blarney. It hurts for lots of people because it hurts. And general rule of thumb is the faster the delivery, the worse the pain. There's no time to transition to graduating higher levels of pain and adjust as you go.

 

It I'd had all my deliveries like I'd had 2 of them, I guess I might be less sympathic. My 2nd and 6th were an absolute breeze the entire time. In fact, with the 2nd I almost didn't go in because I was comparing it to my 1st born and thinking there's no way a few tweaks in my lower back could be anywhere near labor. My dh had notices I kept rubbing my back about every minute and a half and asked what was going on. I said it felt like someone was pinching me. After about 3 hours of that, dh was breaking out in a sweat and insisting I go get checked. Turns out I was at 9! I didn't beleive the nurse until she yelled for my ob and said to push before the poor guy fell out. She asked it I felt any pressure and I said well yeah but nothing bothersome. LOL

[Katrina]

Okay, now I'm curious. Is there proof that screaming takes away energy from pushing?

 

Regarding baby birthing shows, what makes me laugh are women in labor who do their hair and makeup before the birth. LOL! I looked downright frightful.

 

:D

 

I have no clue about the screaming part, but with #2, I was grunting pretty loud with each contraction/push. The nurses told me that when I grunt I'm basically pushing against my diaphram and not my uterus. By not grunting I was able to focus my energy where it needed to be.

Edited June 1, 2009 by Katrina