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

1971 dads were not welcome in the delivery room

^ I know loads of home births pre 1980s where dads helped to deliver.

I didn't scream ever but certainly made a racket!

Neither, I just vomited continuously through both my labours and yes they were both elephantine babies.

They gave me peth super late so I was stuck in mind spirals during my first labour. Just had a woman from ‘one born…’ repeating if you can scream, you’re not pushing hard enough! going in a loop on my smacked out head so only made a noise at the shoulder bit. Who cares though? It’s the most agonising, painful thing I have ever gone through so moan/shout away!

@Buddywoo, I had the same with my first birth too - the midwife had a go at pushing it back over the baby's head twice - pure agony.

@Ohmnomnom

I screamed! And groaned, mooed, howled, shrieked and farted.

Sorry this has made me cry 🤣

@Sharnydubs

I was totally quiet but only because I was in such agony and traumatised that I sort of went into shock. Everyone thought I was being "brave" but looking back, it is worrying that staff didn't recognise that at one stage I'd completely retreated into myself. I was awake but there are two hours of which I had no recollection, including an incident when a bag of intravenous fluids burst and showered us all. Only found out it happened when my husband mentioned it later.

of solidarity for you. Similar story here, including the periods of no recollection (only it was apparently my vag which burst and showered everyone with blood, unfortunately). There was no way any screaming was going to happen.

DH said that I was pretty much silent and almost unreachable. I was in labour for three days and apparently I didn't speak for the whole time up until saying 'I don't think that I can do this for much longer'.
It's a good job really because they kept sending me out for a walk around the hospital.

Not all labours are the same. Whether you scream or not will depend, partly, on your experience.

First time round, I was induced with syntocinon and the epidural completely failed. (I think it was wrongly sited).

I didn't know pain like that existed. I think most people would scream if they were in that much pain tbh. If someone had given me a rusty knife to cut the baby out of my stomach I wouldn't have hesitated. That's not an exaggeration, it's a description of how extreme the pain was. I was pushed beyond my limits of endurance.

Second time round, natural birth, no induction. Yes it hurt a lot, but I dealt with the pain without feeling any need to scream. Same person, same pain tolerance. Different circumstances. Different levels of pain.

Pretty much silent with the first two (had diamorphine with first, gas and air with second). Screamed into the gas and air mouth piece when pushing no 3 - went from 4cm to baby out in 27 minutes and I have never experienced pain like it.

The way I remember it I was silent but my husband insists I was lowing like a cow.

I screamed and moo’d like a cow! In my defence my labour came in quick and I just had gas and air as pain relief, my waters didn’t break either, the midwife broke them just before DS crowned, so it felt like I was trying to push out a beach ball.

I was in active labour for 9 minutes

I wasn’t particularly a screamer with the first three DCs, but DC4 I reckon they heard me in Hong Kong I was that loud. But he was back to back and I was on synto drip so it was 0-60 in about 5 minutes flat and it was agony

The midwives said to me i was the only person they had ever met who talked non stop for 12 hours whilst in labour the pushing bit i sort of groaned and tried to push the sound down. I was very young when i gave birth only 16 first time.

No screaming on all 4 of mine so much so that when having the last one could not even shout for some one to come help and delivered him all by my self have very quick births a matter of minutes from active labour to birth. Is good for not getting tired but also scared me.

I was silent. Also had to be rushed up to the labour ward and DH helped catch baby because midwife wasn't quite ready.

I thought I was quite quiet apart from the odd moan but nope. According to dh I howled the place down

@JoshLymanIsHotterThanSam

I wasn’t particularly a screamer with the first three DCs, but DC4 I reckon they heard me in Hong Kong I was that loud. But he was back to back and I was on synto drip so it was 0-60 in about 5 minutes flat and it was agony

Oh and DC4 was 9lb 10 to add to the pain

I was pretty much silent throughout. In fact even other people talking really irritated me. My DH was lucky to get out alive really.

I got told I couldn’t be as far progressed as I was because I was being too quiet. I don’t remember screaming or groaning at all. I was really ill with the first one and ended having an emergency section quite early in labour in my second though.

I swore, moaned, groaned, but didn't scream

I think DH screamed more than I did, when he told me to squeeze his hand every time I got a contraction

I was told if I put as much energy into pushing as I was into shouting, baby would be born quicker

I screamed as the consultant cut me for an episiotomy 😑

My DD had a 98th percentile head circumference, and by the time I delivered her I was just about due the next dose of Diamorphine.... I screamed!

I also projectile vomited in Labour until I was given an anti sickness injection, it wasn't pretty.

Very, very quick labour with contractions that felt like they were ripping me inside out and were like no pain I had ever experienced before. Barely made it to labour suite, was plonked straight on my back with legs in stirrups whilst they yelled for help and the room filled with people, suffered a third degree tear that missed out on being a fourth degree by the tiniest of margins, only had time for one or two puffs of gas and air before baby forced his way out, attempting to do it sideways and narrowly avoiding dislocating his shoulder. Bled a LOT. You bet I screamed the place down in panic, shock, fear and most of all pain. A v kind midwife later used the analogy of having run a marathon in the time it takes to do 100m, with no warm up. It's no wonder it was shocking, terrifying, painful. No gradual easing into it.

Anyone who had time for their bodies and minds to gradually adjust to it and who was lucky enough to experience an "easy" birth with no serious tears, pphs, emergency c-sections etc is in no position to be judgemental about another woman screaming or to consider it hysteria hyped up on tv.

Different people have different experiences and cope with it the best they can - the only way they can. There's no gold star for the best birthing style.

I chugged on gas & air but did take it out to scream towards the end when the contractions were unbearable. Also mooed, groaned and farted. X3