When I am teaching childbirth classes and doula trainings, I “sing the praises” of singing or toning in labor!  When a woman  opens her throat and her mouth and vocalizes, sings, chants, tones or hums during labor, it helps to keep her bottom and perineum loose and relaxed.  Ina May Gaskin, the famous midwife and author of several books, including my favorite “Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth,” says in her books;  “loose lips, loose perineum.”  I believe that whole-heartedly.

I just came across a new favorite video of a woman singing her way through transition (8-10 cm) and wanted to post it here, along with an older favorite as well!  I often show these in class and everyone clearly sees the power of the song!

Watch these two clips and enjoy the power of birth as the women sing their birth song!  And if a birth is in your future, consider adding song to your labor toolbox.

(and as a side note, I once had a very talented voice professional as a client, and prenatally, I suspected that vocalizing would be one of the things that would work for her as a coping technique in labor.  Reality: during her unmedicated birth, there was no toning or singing!  But she did state repeatedly in a very loud, vocal manner, “My ass is gonna explode,” as she powered through a very intense transition!  Such a unique birth song!)

Tags: birth, natural birth, singing in labor

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 15th, 2009 at 5:51 pm and is filed under Uncategorized, birth, doula, normal birth. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.