Did you scream during labour?

[PSL1990]

I'm wondering how often women scream in labour - did you scream during labour?

Mooed and shouted fuck.

Yes I screamed. I had a very quick labour at home and on the journey to hospital I was trying to resist the urge to push so I didnt give birth in the car. When I reached the hospital there was no time for any pain relief.
Once I was with the midwife I stopped screaming as I knew then that it was okay to put my energy into pushing.

I’m shocked by the number of people who say the midwives told them to be quiet! I definitely made some noise during delivery as my first labour was augmented and no pain medication was available (long story), and my second delivery was too fast and intense for an epidural. Thankfully my midwives were nothing but supportive! In fact, one of them used the different sounds I was making to encourage me along, e.g., “when I hear this, I know that you’re in transition. I know this is really hard but this is where your body is really gearing up for action”. Then “oh good, that type of scream means you’re going to feel the need to push soon and it will all be over in a flash!” — she was right!

Unfortunately my midwife also told me to put my energy into having the gas and air rather than making noises.

The pain never reached 'scream it out' level for all my births.

I'd have made Scientologists happy, I suppose!

I never in mine but when I had my youngest the woman next door did and I ain't kidding it was horrendous!

JeanMichelBisquait your friend is correct - many women of certain ethnic backgrounds do tend to be very noisy during labour . They are happy to tell you that it is expected of them - their mothers tell them to make plenty of noise so their husbands know what they are going through !

I never got as far as labour. But I spent a couple of months on the ante-natal ward with one thin wall between me and the delivery unit.

Women in labour make a lot of noise. They make more at night and it goes on for hours ...

But hearing them say “oh, hello you” is just wonderful.

Never screamed in labour with either dc, I learnt a long time ago that screaming or crying in pain just gets you hurt more plus it screws up your breathing. However when I turned up in labour in the middle of the night because awkward dc2 didn't want to wait for my elective c-section, the screaming when the midwife opened the door of the labour ward was nearly enough to propel me in the opposite direction.

Yes!! With my 2nd. Midwife went to get pethidine and all Of a sudden I knew I was either pooing myself or a baby was coming. Lots of commotion including getting my trousers off, ds was crowning. The scream was such a natural reaction to the pain, it came from the very deepest part of me a full throttle scream! The midwife told me to stop screaming and just push. Luckily he was born very quickly with just gas and air!

Is there a correlation between women screaming in labour and women who make a lot of noise during sex?
I'm very quiet for both. Is it because I'm more inhibited or did it hurt less? I don't think I'm particularly inhibited and it hurt a bloody lot

I don't understand this correlation between ethnic and cultural backgrounds and screaming in labour when so many of us have said we screamed with one labour but not with another? I would say mine was linked with the quality of care, I certainly haven't changed my ethnicity!

No screaming here, more like a low grunt as i was pushing. 

Just remembered, when the midwife came to visit at home after dc2 (home birth, you get a visit later that day to check on you), she said it was a good thing I wasn't on the ward, she said it sounded like Halloween there!

Screamed my head off, mooed like a cow, retched, swore, begged. Didn’t cry because there was no point

And also, do you know what? Screaming fucking helped. It made me feel better, it felt natural, it was what my body wanted to do. They told me to quiet down and I think I might have told them to fuck off

No, I'm also more of a mooer. DH likened it to a "haunted cow".

Although I definitely did some strangled shouting during transition in my first labour (induction drip, no pain relief) but no screaming/shrieking.

I heard a woman screaming when I went in to have DC1 and it terrified me!

My DC2 labour I was the only one in a community birth unit, and I was grateful for the peace and quiet.

I made a conscious decision that I didn’t want to scream and try and create as calm a birth arrival for the baby as possible. I used hypnobirthing to help focus on my breathing instead. It actually helped keep me feeling calm too.

Absolutely and it was totally out of my control. I felt possessed. My body just made these noises and I even scared myself. They just happened and wouldn’t stop. Only during transition and delivery though, not contractions. I breathed through them. Then I lost control. Which is, not nice at all.

-when I first went in to give birth, peaceful and quietly breathing through my pains, the lady next door was screaming like she was being murdered. I asked for the radio turned up and told my husband to kill me if I behaved like her ...

Fast forward a couple of hours and I was doing the same. I burst into tears and shouted “ oh nooo I’m the lady from next doooor. Wah”

I also think I apologised after every scream.

With DC1 no actual screaming, more begging. First the midwife then the consultant to "Get this bloody creature out of me" repeatedly on a loop.
Eventually had an EMCS due to foetal distress and no progress.

Wasn't screaming but defo made noise. Didn't even cry actually somehow? Think it was beyond pain lol x

I moaned. I'm too polite to shout lol.

In the intervening years though I have found my voice and tend to swear.

In severe pain, I revert to moaning.

I screamed :( was told to shush by the midwife but couldn’t.

I was on the drip and epidural didn’t come on time and so delivered the baby with no pain relief...

It was only the last hour or so that I screamed my head off.

I couldn’t get my breathing techniques to help at that stage. I felt embarrassed but needed to do whatever needed to be done to ease the pain

I also committed, cried hysterically and made horse noises... gahhhh such an embarrassing time