Did you have a labour playlist??? I had one for each kiddo and my attention span was the same for both… That is, almost non existent! I had great plans for both to listen to this music to either encourage movement and active vibes and others to encourage love and perseverance.
I got thru, I think, two songs on this playlist before shutting it off. I have Aspergers and I get sensory overload extremely easily so music, on top of pain, on top of people asking me questions was just a recipe for disaster.
With that said, I still recommend making a playlist and I would probably make another one if we ever had more kids, knowing full well I wouldn’t use it!
It’s a process to help you prepare for labour. It’s maybe cathartic in a way. Doing this one simple thing to prepare, but it’s one thing that isn’t medical. It’s one thing that honestly doesn’t matter, but it still allows you to connect to the pregnancy, baby, and labour. Because of this, this is something I highly recommend for mamas with past pregnancy/birth trauma.
I still need to write about my pregnancy and birth with A2, and I promise I will!
Touching briefly on it, I dissociated a ton because of my first pregnancy and birth which was extremely traumatising and I’m still not “over it.”
I didn’t give hardly any attention to this pregnancy/baby and I was just scared ALL of the time — no, literally the entire 43 weeks I was scared.
I did eventually start working on little ways to prepare and connect. And making this playlist was one of the easiest, non triggering, things I could do. And it helped. I was able to think about songs that reminded me of baby and how much I wanted them and prayed for them. It let me think of songs I’d want to be “our song.” It reminded me that movement and oxytocin get baby out (says the girl who stayed in the same position the entire time.. oops).
Whether or not the playlist is played during labour and birth is unimportant. It’s the simple act of doing this one safe small step as a way for you to connect and prepare when everything else is scary and unknown.
If you have trauma, or are facing a labour/birth you didn’t want, or if you’re a doula/midwife/birth educator, I definitely recommend doing this.
I wanted to walk thru these songs as some of them might be confusing for a labour playlist!
I Prayed for You— I spent months praying in my own spiritual way to those I believe in for a baby and though I’m not Christian, this song still holds a special place in my heart for my little guy! “Every single day, before I knew your name I couldn’t see your face, but I prayed for you.”
Goodbye, Bloody Valentine, Psycho, How You Like That, Telescope, and Positions all have an upbeat vibe that would encourage movement and smiles which are all good during birth!
Love, Woman, Round and Round, We Got a Love, Patient Love, Amber, Angel, Wildflower, Flightless Bird, That’s Whats Up all are songs that are kind of my everyday chill vibe aesthetic, so I knew they could calm me and ground me. Patient Love is a song I still play often and did before pregnancy. I play it most during high emotions with my oldest. When things are challenging, it’s a repeated reminder to be patient, I figured I’d need that reminder in labour too. Amber and Angel also have beautiful separate meanings too, but this post is long enough!
Make You Feel My Love is the song I thought I’d sing to baby all of the time. It would be our song. My oldest and I have a song (Can’t Help Falling in Love With You) so this kiddo and I needed a song. Surprise, this isn’t our song! I’ve sang it to him a few times but turns out our song is actually “Hey Jude.”
What can I say, my kids like the classics!
Please let me know if you made a playlist or if you plan on making one!! If you feel comfortable, feel free to share your playlist!
I’m going to make more posts on journaling during pregnancy/for trauma, so keep an eye out for that! In the meantime I wanted to give you resources on some of the journaling items I used for the journal entry if you’re interested!