"How I gave birth" stories are kind of like "big fish" tales. With each retelling, you get more hardcore. First time around, you gave birth drug-free. Second time? Drug-free with one arm tied behind your back. And so on. But did you give birth in absolute silence at home?
This one mom from Jerusalem kept quiet during the whole OMG, ouch labor and delivery process. And then, the woman who happens to practice the Jewish faith also managed to sit, quiet and patient, with her newborn still attached to her via the umbilical cord, until sundown! She didn't even get to coo over that sweet little pumpkin!
The new mom had taken a vow of silence for the Jewish Sabbath day, and she refused to give up ... even when her rabbi called the paramedics. According to a report in The Huffington Post, even the idea of a rabbinical tribunal to relieve her of her vow didn't make the mom budge.
Yikes!
I would have thought that the fact that the rabbi actually called upon the paramedics would have given this mom a break, but I'm not Jewish, and as such can't really comment on how these sort of rules of the faith work. I don't know why or how or any of it. So I'm not going there, OK? It's too easy to criticize when you aren't well versed in someone's culture.
I can comment on what it takes to be 100 percent silent during the birth of a baby and after. I'll tell you right now, I know I couldn't do it! And I don't know many women who could!
We don't scream when we're in labor because we're wusses (contrary to certain male opinions). We do it because it's in our nature: scientists have proven that there is actual pain relief to be had when we swear or shout.
I remember lying in the labor room (at that time my hospital moved you to another room for the actual delivery), listening to women up and down the hallway screaming their lungs out. I wasn't a screamer, but you can bet your sweet bippy that I was making some noises while I produced a human being. My version was repetition of a certain curse word muttered under my breath.
As for after the baby's born, all I wanted to do was talk to my daughter! I was cooing and telling her how beautiful she was, and I probably did not shut up for a good hour or so ...
How about you? How long could you take the silence?
Image via futureshape/Flickr
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Comments 47
I had a c section but so much meds I went to sleep
I think we gave this perception of pain that has to accompany birth but a lot of women I attend don't always view it that way and they don't sound like they are in pain. If you just listened and didn't know it was a birth you could be fooled into thinking it was a porn track sometimes.
Every woman experiences birth differently.
I didn't scream for the first two days, but I had a little chant of, "Ow, ow, ow, fuck make it stop!" going on. I might have done some screaming on day three but I was so exhausted from not being able to sleep for over 50 hours that I was just worn. I got the epidural, took a nap, and FINALLY gave birth later that day. Contractions woke me up at about 9 AM on Wednesday and he finally arrived on Friday at 8:28 PM. Now that #2 is set to make their arrival in December, I'm hoping this one will be a bit faster.
Actually, screaming makes the labor harder because it tenses us up when we should be relaxed. It is better to keep the voice low, which I did. It isn't unusual to be quiet during a child birth, many women do it. I think the belief that all women scream comes from our more fictional media, rather than fact.