Birthing to the Beat

Last night during childbirth class our doula showed us a video of women in labor. I'll admit that I found it intense and overwhelming to watch these women at their most vulnerable, trying to cope with the pain.

At one point I was attempting to hide my watering eyes when our doula leaned in and checked to see if I was crying. Nothing gets past her -- which is what you want in a birthing assistant, I suppose.

The thing I and my musician husband found so interesting, though, was the idea that rhythm is an important part of labor. Almost all the women in the video were keeping time in a different way -- one was counting, one was rocking, one was repeating the phrase "I can do it" and one was rhythmically smacking her husband. (My husband joked that if I resort to that he's pushing the doula in front of him. At least I think he was joking.)

I only have eight weeks or so to go...I better dig out that metronome and start practicing.