Labor Playlists?

[bronxmom]

Okay, so this is seriously last-minute but I finally decided it might be worth the effort to put together some playlists (or just one) for labor and birth. Any ideas for good songs? Anyone done this and want to share?

[Aubergine68]

Not in your ddc, hope it's ok to post.

Well, Enya seems obvious...I still remember having an Enya CD playing during intense labor with dd (now 10). The heart monitor was on and her heartbeat actually changed slightly in time with the music, which was really magical and something to hold onto through contractions.

I know moms who've put Johnny Cash "Ring of Fire" on their lists :

For some reason, I just love Louis Armstrong for labor and delivery. Such a happy, comforting voice, and deep enough to hold onto through waves of contrax. I had hospital births and the staff seemed delighted to hear the jazzy stuff too, which provided a wonderful point of connection. A couple of orderlies danced to "Sweet Lorraine" outside the tub room where I was in the water for quite a while.

I have beautiful memories of Armstrong's "I get a kick out of you" and "Moon Song" in my labor with my middle child.

[Starfish11]

We did this about anhour before we left for the hospital. It was so much fun but really had no particular order or structure. I just put songs on my playlist that reminded me of DH or spoke to how excited I was about our baby or songs that get me "pumped" up. I loved it! Evangeline was born to "Could you be loved" by Bob Marley There are other moments that I clearly remember due to their association with a particular song.

I'm not much help I don't think just want to tell you to have fun doing it!

[Funny Face]

I listened to the Across the Universe movie soundtrack in labor and it rocked! I loved the slow songs, the fun songs and even the hard rock ones really made the whole experience!

The bonus is that the soundtrack has a TON of songs on it so you don't have to repeat it too often.

Happy birthing!

[meetoo]

I just listened to my MP3. I think whatever music you like best will work best.

[Phoenix~Mama]

I was going to do this whole tranquil theme with Enya and some other meditation music... then at the birthing class the doula mentioned how some people end up needing pep you up music to get that burst of energy so also think of songs that you like to put on while cleaning or something... lol which I never thought of! So I just threw a bunch of my favorite songs onto my Ipod for now.

[Lauren710]

Personally, I don't really care for ambient/meditation music.. I find songs that I know and listen to regularly to be more calming for me. I just made a playlist with a bunch of songs that I like. I went through my iTunes library and pulled out a variety of stuff, some of it's mellower and some is more upbeat. It ended up being about eight hours' worth of music, so I don't think I'll get bored with anything on it.

LOL.. during the childbirth class we took, the teacher suggested listening to music or "whale sounds" during labor.. DH and I both lost it at that, the teacher was like, "yeah, I don't really get it either, but it works for some people".

[smerkin]

We started working on ours last night and I have a lot of great songs. I found one that is so perfect: "I've got you under my skin" ~Frank Sinatra. Awesome, huh??

[dsaucone]

Let's see. . .
I put a little bit of every style on there, but it's mostly my mid/late 90's rock stuff. I wish I could just get on the internet and listen to pandora radio while I'm there, but I don't have wireless.