think why do women scream and shout in labour

[AuntiePickleBottom]

is there any real need.

lol definately very unreasonable!

DS1 very long labour, screamed and swore lots, told the MW I'd burn her house down if she didnt give me more meds etc etc had gas and air and pethidine

DS2 didn't scream exactly but certainly made very loud grunting noises when pushing! very short labour 2nd time though, didnt have time for gas and air, much to my annoyance!

everyones different, screaming/shouting is a tension release, so actually it can be quite good for you.

I must say DS3's birth was bloody fab - yes it hurt like fuck - but I was quite controlled through it (mostly) - and I was trying to do the mooing thing as it was helping- but every other "moo" it would come out as an "ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

my post comes from watching one born every minute not my own labour experience.

I had a back to back birth after 3 days slow labour, bloody immense agony i'd rather have died than continue at one point. So if the likes of me offend you by screaming- kiss my perineum, quite frankly.

Strictly speaking I probably didn't "need" to scream. I'm sure the amount of noise I made had very little bearing on the opening of my cervix, or my DS's descent through my body.

However, giving birth really bloody hurt, and quite frankly I felt like spreading the pain around a little.

M'kay?

It is so primal - during the transitional phase somebody could have offered me a million pounds to stop screaming and I couldn't have done it. It has never occurred to me to question the validity of other women's birthing experiences, op, and you ABVU in doing so

I do remember threatening to kick the living daylights out of the poor Doctor who was about to break my waters.
I had been in labour for about 12 hours.

FO

'Oh goblinchild I feel sorry for your sex life'

It's all good, I'm just not one for shrieking like a disembowelled harpy if I'm enjoying myself.

Goblin - I'm another quiet one here too. Last BF thought it was very strange and kept asking if I'm was enjoying it "Yes now STFU and get back to what you were doing"

Labour one - no screaming ,mother as birth partner so slightly inhibited
Labour two - screamed 'oh fuck' at top of voice ,to which DH said 'theres no need for that' to which i apparently replied in a very quiet ,measured way ' when im finished here i am going to kill you ' ,dont actually remember that bit
Labour three -home birth ,got to 8cms without any pain relief, had massive bleed ,rushed to hospital , where they found obs guy with biggest hands on the planet ,who attempted to open my cervix from 9 to 10 cms with said gigantic hands ,then crash section.
I screamed once during three labours , does it matter ? What does matter ? three healthy babies. I couldnt give a flying fuck whether another woman screams so loud and hard she is hoarse for weeks aslong as the outcome is she has a healthy baby and to be frank neither should you .

Well said, Quintessentialshadows!

I found yelling and making a noise during labour was a fantastic way to release the pain and give me something else to focus on - some women sing to achieve the same effect. If it helps, go for it, I say.

My fave is sophie in Peep Show - that was an excellent depiction of the use of anger in childbirth!

(and whilst we are on the subject why is it child and not babybirth...)

It's not waking the babies either that bothers me about loud sex, When I was in a shared student house, people had a habit of either hammering on the walls or crashing in with a scorecard. On one memorable occasion we quoted poetry as a Greek chorus.
Now my teenagers would have a fit, or die of embarrassment.

IMO if we'd been trained not to express emotion for 20 years or so, we could labour quietly - this used to be the case, cf The Light Years by Elizabeth Jane Howard, American Way of Birth by Jessica Mitford - both describe themselves/their characters being actively unable to express pain vocally due to years and years of training otherwise. Well, I'm pretty glad that has changed tbh, it sounds exactly like that classic kind of nightmare where you are enduring total terror and can't say a thing.

I posted on a thread here before that I am unconvinced that lack of noise achieves anything in childbirth, though a doctor pointed out that pushing requires pressure in the abdomen which can't be held without being silent. Since I didn't have to push (I was trying to hold the bugger in most of the time, while howling) this all seemed a bit pointless to me.

Organised noise IMO is an excellent accompaniment to labour. It's almost like cheering yourself on, while letting your audience companions know in no uncertain terms that you are the one who is going through something unusually tough.

Did squeal quite loudly when after cs , got catheter wrapped round chair leg ,went for a walk and pulled it out

Labour two - screamed 'oh fuck' at top of voice ,to which DH said 'theres no need for that' to which i apparently replied in a very quiet ,measured way ' when im finished here i am going to kill you '

Bumpsoon -

Well during my labour I wrote poetry, updated my facebook page, knitted some ear plugs to drown out the irritating screams of other women in labour and played I Spy with the midwife.

No, not really. I sat on the loo for most of it, in too much pain too move, screamed from beginning to end and it took me days to get over the shock of how painful it was.

Was there a need? I don't think the question makes sense. If you are in a lot of pain, you make a lot of noise. For what other reason would we be screaming like mad women, do you really think it's....put on????

YABVU and have very little compassion for others. I suppose you also think period pains are not too bad either.

Nasty, nasty OP.

I didn't scream with DD, but I did bellow. A lot. I'd been in labour for 24 hours and had to endure another 2.5 hours of being fully dilated and very ready to push because nobody believed me. Turned out DD was breech and I ended up with an emcs. Indescribable pain.

I don't know if I'll ever get over it, but people like you aren't going to help that's for sure.

YAB majorly U

Have you sense of empathy at all OP? Labour is a completely individual experience. So you had relatively easy labours, good for you, but surely you realise that's quite unusual? Or are the rest of us all just liars?

People respond to pain in different ways, and people who may be quiet usually may scream and shout in labour, or the other way around in my case :o

Just G&A by the way.

No, no need at all. It must be play acting by any of us that have done it.

What a bloody stupid question.

Luck for you that yours just slipped out. Mine had to be sucked out and I had so many stitches I couldn't sit down for a week.