To ask if you screamed or stayed silent in labour?

[WibbleWobbleWibble]

The other night I was watching an old episode of call the midwife with my mum and dad. Both of the women giving birth were screaming the place down and it got us chatting.........my brother was born at home and my dad said he never heard a sound from my mum even though he was in the next room (1971 dads were not welcome in the delivery room).
My mum said that she couldn't identify with the screaming woman as she went quiet when she was in labour, I was the same, I went quiet and didn't say a word during both my deliveries.
Judging by TV and movie representations of women giving birth everyone screams! I think just as many women stay quiet as scream, it's whatever works for you ..........

YANBU I didn't scream
YABU I screamed the place down

I made some 'in pain' noises but most of it was focussing on breathing and pushing..i didnt scream...and wasnt nasty to anyone haha

Silent - only gas and air for my three, including a ventouse delivery (ouch - that nipped a bit). No idea how as my pain threshold is usually v low, esp at the dentist.

I screamed my head off. My H seemed to have a death wish at the time as he asked me to stop screaming :)

No screaming but lots of mooing !

I moo-ed like a cow, from somewhere very deep in my throat, every contraction! I found it hilarious in my head but was a bit too busy to laugh. I didn't swear or talk much at all, but I was supposed have an epidural (had a partial in the end) and anaesthetist hadn't appeared yet, I remember ordering everyone very firmly ( ) at one point to "get that fucking man up here". That's it, really.

At an early appointment with my first, a midwife told me that screaming and moaning is a waste of energy.

I don't know if this stuck with me, but for both of my (drug-free) births, I was completely silent. For me, it was a very primitive, solo experience and I just withdrew into myself.

I screamed my head off and was told to pipe down by the midwife. I'm pretty sure I actually ululated at one point , which I couldn't have done before or since!

I’m far more amused than I’d like to admit on how much mooing takes place on labour ward

hate the shit about how women who stay silent and/or don't have pain relief are somehow more worthy of respect than those who scream the place down or want all the drugs.

They don't! They get told they're lucky, it didn't hurt as much, they expect a medal! I don't begrudge anyone their experience, however if you had a 'natural child birth' you recieve the cold "you had a vaginal birth" No. I had a natural birth. Had I have needed intervention I would have taken it. Luckily my friendship group respect each other regardless and there is no bitterness.

Howled and wailed with DD until I got my epidural, then silent until one "Oh Fuck" when she crowned, followed by profuse apologies for the bad language.

With DS, made a noise that sounded like a cat yowling, sounded mad to me even though I was off my head on gas and air. Then I shouted really loudly "ah-ooh-ow, I'm bursting" when his head crowned!

I do think some womens body's don't feel as much pain as other womens bodies.

I think people’s thresholds are in different areas.

I had stitches with no pain relief and I’ve had injuries throughout life that I’ve barely winced over but period pain and labour pain I really struggle with.

I don’t think any women is better than anyone else simply because they didn’t scream or didn’t have pain relief.

I didn’t have pain relief as I was in too much pain and couldn’t deal with the gas and air. I tell everyone I speak to to not do what I did and definitely get pain relief.
If you aren’t in pain you’re going to have a better experience and afterwards will be a lot easier too.

I was in far too much pain to scream so writhed quietly in agony

I was silent as I was going through contractions until I got the final stages and then I groaned and roared like a warrior. Pushing the baby out I couldn't control the sound it was just a deep intense uncontrollable reaction!!

I screamed with the first one. I was fully dilated, it was quite okay till then and I wondered what the fuss was about, a bit painful but nothing awful. Then the midwife decided to break the waters to hurry it up- she said, this baby will be out in 15 minutes. Cue 4 hours of utter agony that sent me insane. I had no drugs at all- 'they won't help at this stage.' It wasn't the contractions that hurt so much- I realized after a while that pushing as hard as you could really did relieve that pain a bit- but after the contraction faded the real pain started, in my lower back. It could not have hurt more if someone had stuck a red hot knife in me and twizzled it about. It lifted my whole body off the bed. The contractions tailed off a bit so they gave me a hormone to make them more powerful. Two more hours of agony. I was trying to crawl away from my own body. After what seemed like a week I realized the midwives didn't really know what was stopping him coming out, they'd gone quiet. I was out of my mind with pain. Eventually some doctor showed up to get my consent for a c- section and read out a consent form. I would have signed that they could shoot me if it stopped the pain.
Then they gave me an epidural. I had to hold on to the bed shaking with the effort to keep still while they injected and counted down from 10...and the pain melted away. It was like drifting off into oblivion. Bliss. So yes, I screamed.

DC2- I made damn sure I had an epidural in very good time. I read the paper, pushed for 10 mins and voila. A week ago I had a hysteroscopy ( camera inspection of uterus). Registrar told me some people find it too painful, I could have gas and air, or even a general. I expected it to be bad. It was nothing, really. A bit urgh. A bit crampy. But nothing, really, and I watched proceedings on the screen.. So yeah- it depends. It's not the same pain for everyone.

I was pretty quiet until the pains reached their peak just before wanting to push, where there is little gap between the pains, then I let the entire town know about it.
On pushing I didn't scream, it was more of a ' nnnnnnnuuuuuuurgh ' noise as I bore down, if that makes sense.

Don’t know about the pain thing. I cry when I stub my toe.

Made all the noises, loudly

23Satansballsacks

Thanks, What a time you had too - ouch !! 🌺🌷

I remember when getting to the final pushes shouting ' nnnnnnnuuuuuuurgh...come on you little bugger! ' 😳

While pushing that is.

I made a lot of noise and I'm normally a don't make a fuss or draw any attention type.

Apparently I mooed with DS1. I was so embarrassed after XH told me that because it's all he talked about after the birth and told everyone. With DS2 I focused on being silent throughout.

After an extremely long Labour, I was begging, very vocally, for a Caesarian. I didn’t get one. The following morning a young male doctor commented on it (‘oh yes, I remember you’ accompanied by a big grin on his face). If I had been holding a weapon, I would taken him out. Unfortunately I was unarmed and he lived to torment many other women with his grin and his annoying comments.

Oh I made a fuss both times, I feel sorry for anyone who was in a room near me and not already in labour, I must have terrified them. 🙈
In between screaming the place down there was a lot of "why are you doing this to me?" and hysterical sobbing, I really don't cope well with that sort of pain (especially since my pain medication failed completely so I had to do it with no pain relief, which is exactly what I didn't want!).

I growled.