5 SOUNDS THAT CAN MAKE BIRTH AWESOME

Playing the didgeridoo at the first birth I ever attended as a doula.

​A PERSONAL STORY

There are many different factors that play into birth experiences: Your birth location, your support team, your unresolved fears, your preparation, the involvement of your partner, etc.
 
Everyone is different and therefore needs different things, so the decisions that are right for one person are not necessarily right for another person. We all know that, right?
 
All this being said, I do want to share with you some little snippets of my birth story mostly because I learned a lot from it and I think some of the tools I used could be helpful to people birthing in all sorts of different settings. ​
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You don’t need to be having a water birth or a home birth to embrace the power of using your voice or to enjoy the non-touch massage vibrations of the didgeridoo.

 Honestly, there is a lot of my own birth story that I don’t remember. It’s a big, beautiful blur in my memory. But I do remember the sounds very well. The ones I made, the ones my support team created around me, some other ones I’m not sure where they came from. These sounds helped me relax, open up, connect with a force beyond myself, and guide my son out into the world.
 
So here they are, if they sound good, give them a try and see how they work for you!

41 weeks pregnant, a few days before finally giving birth.

1. HORSE LIPS

During my pregnancy I became a huge fan of Ina May Gaskin. One of the things that stuck with me the most from her book “Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth” was the concept of “horse lips” and the relationship between the pelvic floor and the mouth.

“When a person totally relaxes the lips and blows a good amount of air through them at considerable pressure, softly flapping them together in the process, it is reminiscent of the soft, lip-flapping sound that horses make. I find that when women in labor attempt to make this sound (even if they don’t quite succeed), it significantly relaxes their mouth, throat, and, at the same time, their bottom (cervix and perineum).”

During early labor I was unsure about how to handle the sensation of the contractions, which at that moment felt like a sharp pain that shot in every direction directly from the center of my uterus.
Luckily, I had a few days of prodromal labor that allowed me to practice different techniques to cope. Blowing raspberries while visualizing my pelvic floor softening and relaxing really helped during early labor.

2. SINGING

Songs hold so much of our culture, traditions and even history. I love songs that tell stories and for me, songs carry a big emotional weight, always making my senses wake up at the tune of familiar melodies I listened to during particular times of my life.
 
As labor progressed, I changed the horse lips for a song.
I learned this song in a movie called Birth Story: Ina May and the Farm Midwives. Yeah, thanks again Ina May.
Later on I found it again in a book called “Birth Art and the Art of Birthing" by Wennifer Lin (so hard to find, but such a good read!)

"Birth Story: Ina May Gaskin & the Farm Midwives" Official Trailer from Birth Story on Vimeo.

The song goes like this:

 I am feeling very open
Like a flower in the morn
Let my petals open
Let my child be born (Let myself be born)

I think it was when I started singing this song that my labor transformed. I no longer experienced contractions as a sharp pain, I no longer held on to my intellect and rationality. That song was an amazing tool for me that helped me really open, and it also has such a beautiful sound. Even today I still get chills if I sing it or if I hear my friends who were with me during the birth sing it.
It also happened to last about as long as the contractions did, at least at the beginning, which made me feel like I had some sort of control or awareness of when the intensity would give me a break. Later on I had to sing the song two times before the contractions ended, and I knew that could only mean we were moving in the right direction.

3. DIDGERIDOO

The didgeridoo is an ancient Australian instrument. It might be the oldest wind instrument in the world. Its sound is low, deep, and it resonates through your body as a non-touch massage. Interestingly, to play the didgeridoo you need to use your horse lips.
 
During the birth, I just remember the sound was very grounding. It resonated through my whole body while it was happening. My husband played it directly into my belly while I circled my hips and sang my birth song. I felt like the vibrations where helping soften every cell of my body.
 
I started learning the very basics of the didgeridoo months before ever getting pregnant, but my interest in the instrument grew enormously after having experienced its magic during childbirth.

The sound of the didgeridoo can become a good example of the kind of sounds that are the most helpful to make during labor: low-pitched, deep sounds, open throat.

Playing the didgeridoo for one my clients at the hospital.

Playing the didgeridoo at a home birth while being 38 weeks pregnant.

I have played the didgeridoo for a few of my doula clients during labor and they have told me it has helped them get deeper into their trance, relax, or simply have something else to focus on during contractions.

4. OM

Towards the end of my birth, I don’t even know who was doing what sound. I kept singing my birth song all the way until transition, but once I got in the birth tub all I wanted to do was go to bed and be done with the whole thing. I fell asleep for a little while. In my dreams I kept hearing their sounds. My birth team was surrounding me in a circle of beautiful sound. They were Oming and singing my birth song now that I couldn’t sing it anymore. My husband held me, touched me gently, reminding me in whispers of the impermanence of everything in life. This wasn’t going to last forever. I got a lot of strength from the net of sounds and vibrations that were all around me. They made me feel connected to the wonderful loving people who were supporting me. They made me feel connected to everything.

5. ROARING 

I really had no concept of time. Had I been sleeping for an hour? A week? A few minutes? I know I had been dreaming, or at least there had been images in my mind. A waterfall. My friend Katee. A meadow full of wild flowers. I was so tired. I had been somehow waiting for my body to do all the work, hoping I wouldn’t have to be involved. When I started feeling like pushing the energy was so intense I felt nothing could have stopped me from pushing with it. But now… everything was so slow. I didn’t know if the contractions had slowed down, stopped, or were still there but I wasn’t paying attention to them.

And then it hit me: I realized that the only way to meet my baby was going to be by pushing him out with all of my being. I opened my eyes and recovered my alertness.
“Juice!” I exclaimed.
“Where?” someone asked.
“Fridge.” I responded.
Someone brought me a bottle of homemade grape juice a dear friend had brought a few days before.
I drank the whole quart in accelerated gulps, and drawing strength from the sugars. I gathered all I had.
 
I remember reading at some point about a birthing mother roaring like a lioness. I thought of all the female animals giving birth, about all human mothers giving birth. And then I roared while I pushed with a contraction.
I don’t remember it all so clearly, my husband says it was a long roar followed by a pirate kind of sound, AAAAAAAAAARGH!!!
When I think of that moment I think of a body builder lifting a gigantic amount of weight. I just need to make some sound to gather THAT amount of strength. I knew a high-pitched scream would only drain me, that roar was exactly what I needed.
And then my son was born.

CONCLUSION

 No matter where or how you give birth, surrounding yourself by the sounds that comfort YOU (be it rock music, didgeridoo, the fetal monitor, or anything else), has a great effect on helping you relax and get in the zone. 

Using your voice, either literally to make sounds or figuratively to make the decisions that are right for you, will definitely empower you during this crucial time of your life.

If you’re going to be vocal, remember to focus on low-pitched sounds, opening your mouth, and relaxing your jaw.
 
What sounds did you make during labor? Which ones did you find the most helpful?