# Did you scream bloody murder while you were in labor? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 8, 2013, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-scream-bloody-murder-while-you-were-in-labor/646515 "2013-01-08T18:29:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-scream-bloody-murder-while-you-were-in-labor/646515/1 "2013-01-08T18:29:48Z")
Inspired by [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=15876065&postcount=24) post in the Annoying Things about TV/Movies thread. I was wondering if people actually do this. IME, giving birth was more of a silently grit your teeth thing. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-scream-bloody-murder-while-you-were-in-labor/646515/2 "2013-01-08T18:35:29Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Inspired by [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=15876065&postcount=24) post in the Annoying Things about TV/Movies thread. > > I was wondering if people actually do this. IME, giving birth was more of a silently grit your teeth thing. My ex-wife didn’t. Squeezed my hand, groaned, made some grunting noises, but certainly didn’t blow my eardrums out. I’m sure some births are louder then others, but if I had to guess, I’d guess that the ones that sound like what that post refers to are in the minority. I will say that in one of the birthing classes we took they did (very quickly) mention how to hold/squeeze your husbands hand. They said on a few occasions they’ve delivered a baby and then had to deal with the husband’s(BF/friend/whatever) broken hand when she squeezes it too hard in the wrong direction. ---
**Author:** ![iftheresaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecae2f/32.png) [@iftheresaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iftheresaway)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-scream-bloody-murder-while-you-were-in-labor/646515/3 "2013-01-08T18:38:17Z")
Only once, during the pushing, but that scream was a particularly impressive Xena-style ululating yell. I was doing it without medication, so that may skew your statistics someone. My personal pet peeve with Hollywood labor is the “my water broke so there’s no time to get to the hospital OMG I’m giving birth in a barn!” scenario. Dude. There’s time. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-scream-bloody-murder-while-you-were-in-labor/646515/4 "2013-01-08T18:40:31Z")
Nope. Not even close. I do have a friend who did scream very loudly like those people on TV when she gave birth to her second child. In fact, the doctors had to ask her to calm down because she was scary patients in other rooms. Several years later, we were at a scrapbooking event and she met a woman who had given birth at the same hospital, the same day. After talking about it a bit, the woman was like, “OMG! You’re that screaming woman!” ---
**Author:** ![Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4bbf92/32.png) [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heart_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-scream-bloody-murder-while-you-were-in-labor/646515/5 "2013-01-08T18:43:08Z")
Nope, no screaming here, either. I’ve had other pain that actually made me scream, so that is a thing I do sometimes, but labor just wasn’t that kind of pain for me. After they put me on Pitocin, I did whimper now and then, but yeah - each contraction pretty much took up all my concentration. I couldn’t really talk or move, and it was all I could do to just breathe and try to keep from clenching. Screaming would have been impossible, I think. And in between contractions, I was totally fine. Of course, after a few hours of that, I had an epidural, and I took a nap and woke up feeling fantastic and chatting away merrily, even while I was pushing. Then again, we did hear someone in another room screaming a little bit at one point. But then again _again_, we found out later that it was a record night for births at that hospital. There were babies popping out every few minutes, apparently, and yet, we only heard one woman screaming. So I’mma say, no, it’s not that typical. > [@iftheresaway](#): > > My personal pet peeve with Hollywood labor is the “my water broke so there’s no time to get to the hospital OMG I’m giving birth in a barn!” scenario. Dude. There’s time. Oh yeah - this too. First of all, I was told only about 10% of women have their water break before they actually give birth. Secondly, mine _did_ break, but it wasn’t a huge gush, and it was actually a couple of hours before my contractions even really started. They put me on Pitocin to induce contractions because there’s an increased risk of infection once your water breaks, so they prefer for you to give birth within 24 hours. And again, that’s _not_ something they could count on happening, so they basically induce me. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-scream-bloody-murder-while-you-were-in-labor/646515/6 "2013-01-08T18:45:27Z")
Yes. My wife kept asking me to please be quiet. Actually, she piped down a good bit after the epidural (that’s the pain shot, right?) and made some pushing and grunting noises. Then when the room was filled with the screams of my brand new little girl, it also was filled with me laughing uproariously and assuring her everything was going to be okay. ---
**Author:** ![BetsQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@BetsQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BetsQ)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-scream-bloody-murder-while-you-were-in-labor/646515/7 "2013-01-08T18:49:39Z")
No screaming here, exactly. I am a little fuzzy on the details, but I believe I did start yelling incoherently about wanting drugs when I hit transition. 🙂 I think it would be hard to scream and push at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![Zjestika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/8edcca/32.png) [@Zjestika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zjestika)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-scream-bloody-murder-while-you-were-in-labor/646515/8 "2013-01-08T18:50:58Z")
For me, until I got my epidural, it was more like sad I-just-can’t-take-it whimpering and crying. Which I think was more scary for my husband than screaming. I don’t know what it was but I did not cope well with the pain. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-scream-bloody-murder-while-you-were-in-labor/646515/9 "2013-01-08T18:55:09Z")
No, it was more like crying. Definitely not screams. But that was from contractions, not the actual passage through the birth canal, which I think is usually the moment of screaming in movies/sitcoms. (I was IN labor, but ultimately ended up with a c-section, so it’s possible I just didn’t get to the screaming part of the process). ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_I\_Am](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@Sam\_I\_Am](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_I_Am)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-scream-bloody-murder-while-you-were-in-labor/646515/10 "2013-01-08T19:35:15Z")
One brief scream, with my first. It was a truly odd experience, the intensity of the transition to pushing caused a vasovagal response. I didn’t completely lose consciousness, but close enough that I had no clue where I was - and who was screaming - until I remembered about the whole childbirth thing and realized it was me screaming, then I shut my mouth and started pushing. I didn’t realize it was a vasovagal episode until I had another one years later. Someone knocked a pitcher of ice water in my lap and the sudden intense cold triggered the same thing. My vision went completely black, briefly, and after I had no clue where I was or what had happened. Edit: it wasn’t “someone” who knocked the pitcher, it was my first born. Apparently that kid has a unique ability to make me scream. ---
**Author:** ![Girl\_From\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3da27b/32.png) [@Girl\_From\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Girl_From_Mars)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-scream-bloody-murder-while-you-were-in-labor/646515/11 "2013-01-08T20:01:09Z")
No, lots of groaning and lowing like a cow, but no screams. That was with both labours, one entirely natural, the other with pitocin induction (needed a shot of pethadine for that, nasty.) ---
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Imp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Imp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Imp)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-scream-bloody-murder-while-you-were-in-labor/646515/12 "2013-01-08T20:11:30Z")
I’m not the most reliable witness, but from what I remember, I was deliberately quiet giving birth to my daughter. I couldn’t stand the sensation of being touched, and the midwife wanted to place her hand on my abdomen to gauge the strength of each contraction, so I was trying not to let on when a contraction hit, so she’d keep her hands off me. Apparently I get rebellious when I’m drugged and in labour 😉 ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-scream-bloody-murder-while-you-were-in-labor/646515/13 "2013-01-08T20:18:12Z")
No screaming here either (four births), and not much noise at all, actually. (Another annoyance in movie/TV childbirth is when women are told to push as soon as contractions begin.) ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-scream-bloody-murder-while-you-were-in-labor/646515/14 "2013-01-08T20:21:22Z")
No. I did a lot of writhing, so much that the nurses (L&D nurses run the ENTIRE show–they let the docs in at the last minute to “catch” the baby!) decided I was an “anxious first-time mother, overreacting” so I got a slug of Vistaril. Once they found out how quickly I was progressing, the nurses’ demeanor changed dramatically. I had nothing else. Contractions began at 8 PM, my daughter (almost nine pounds) was born at quarter to eleven. One of the nurses did attempt an awkward apology of sorts: “You know, when you have accelerated labor, the contractions are a LOT harder!” I was simply too pooped to say, “No shit, Lady!” Second time around with baby number two wasn’t as rapid, but again, I had no medication and I didn’t yell. I got yelled AT by one of the labor nurses for not breathing correctly! _eyeroll_ ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-scream-bloody-murder-while-you-were-in-labor/646515/15 "2013-01-08T20:26:25Z")
No screaming. But when the contractions had been painful long enough for me to be fatigued, I did feel like … perhaps sharing is the right word. So during a contraction I’d say: “ow . . . . . . .ow. . . . . _ow_ . . . _ow_ . . . . _ **ow** _ . . .” With the intensity increasing until the contraction peaked, and then dropping back down as it ebbed. When I say increased intensity, I was never yelling, just talking more emphatically. It kept me from having to answer questions about how things were going. My husband at the time thought it was funny and I was perfectly fine with that. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-scream-bloody-murder-while-you-were-in-labor/646515/16 "2013-01-08T20:31:35Z")
Far from it. With my first, I went from “oh, my water just broke,” at about 1 AM to “Ah, what a lovely little girl!” at about 6 AM. I was thoroughly practiced with the Lamaze method and had contractions which I consciously relaxed through. It was work (they don’t call it “labor” for nothing), put nothing like what you see in movies and TV. The second child was larger, and I recall saying (not screaming) “Ooh, that hurts a bit,” but nothing more. Yes, as Auntie Pam says, one of the important things is NOT to push until the baby is thoroughly in the birth canal. If you push too early, especially when the cervix isn’t fully dilated and effaced, you are only going to cause yourself pain for no reason. ---
**Author:** ![Troppus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a587f6/32.png) [@Troppus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troppus)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-scream-bloody-murder-while-you-were-in-labor/646515/17 "2013-01-08T20:35:59Z")
Nope, not a sound. Labor was more painful than I expected, but I was focused on following directions and getting her out safely. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-scream-bloody-murder-while-you-were-in-labor/646515/18 "2013-01-08T20:45:22Z")
I yelled during my unmedicated delivery with my third baby but I wouldn’t call it “screaming.” I was just loudly expressing my belief that I could not in fact push this baby out of me. 🙂 My medicated labor with my second baby was pretty quiet. And my C-section for my first was pretty low-key also. ---
**Author:** ![RoniaBorkason](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9dc877/32.png) [@RoniaBorkason](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RoniaBorkason)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-scream-bloody-murder-while-you-were-in-labor/646515/19 "2013-01-08T20:50:49Z")
Scream, no. Bellow like a cow, very much. I believe they call that “vocalizing” thru a contraction? ---
**Author:** ![AnaMen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@AnaMen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnaMen)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-scream-bloody-murder-while-you-were-in-labor/646515/20 "2013-01-08T20:53:43Z")
Yes, I screamed plenty… No painkillers and lots of pitocin are probably the reason. Neither was my choice. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-scream-bloody-murder-while-you-were-in-labor/646515.md?page=2)