10/03/2021
Did anyone sing during their labour? My eldest was 15 recently and I loved music during my labour and I did sing (a LOT) and found it great. Am adding a good chunk of the article here as you need to have an account to read it "Several studies have shown, for instance, that listening to music can boost well-being, reduce stress and anxiety, and even help to relieve pain. Similarly, singing itself has been associated with a reduction in pain, increased feelings of happiness by releasing endorphins, and reduced feelings of worry and sadness.
Dr. Veena Graff, an assistant professor of anesthesiology and critical care at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, said that few studies have looked into the effects of singing on the labor process specifically. But the evidence we do have on the benefits of passively listening to music during pregnancy and delivery — which “significantly reduces stress, pain and anxiety and can improve the overall satisfaction of the birthing experience,” she said — offers clues.
“Mechanistically, the act of singing helps with breathing and is a great distraction method,” Dr. Graff continued, “which in turn can relax a woman while experiencing labor pains.” Dr. Catherine Sonquist Forest, a clinical associate professor of medicine at Stanford Medicine who has taught classes on alternative approaches to anxiety and stress, echoed this idea. Stress can amplify pain, she said, so singing might relieve the stress of a laboring woman by activating the parts of her nervous system that can calm her down. “This reduces their cortisol levels, relaxes them, reduces their heart rate, reduces blood flow and allows their bodies to go with the progression of labor,” she said."https://buff.ly/3cc2oPa?
Turns out, women have been singing, chanting and humming through childbirth for centuries. But can it actually provide relief?
