Cool Beats and Soothing Sounds to Give Birth By?

May 27, 2009 6:52 PM

Wanted: Beats and Soothing Sounds for Labor. Beats to help us keep the breathing even and soothing sounds to relax. Suggestions?

SO wants to have some beats to help us count breaths something with no words like a repetitive track of African drums or good, steady trance music.

In addition, she would also like music to soothe and keep her relaxed as well.

posted by Any Moose In a Storm to health & fitness (5 comments total)

Binaural Beats. I got midly obsessed with an application for my iPhone that had a variety of them. Not sure what would be best for labour, but they're super relaxing.

If you're looking for something a little bit more musical, you should look for Djembe torrents. Some of them go on for ever and ever-- especially if you can find a live recording of a drum circle.
posted by nitor at 7:01 PM on May 27

For the rhythms, we used a mix of songs from several Dead Can Dance albums. For the relaxation, we used Brian Eno's Music for Airports and Apollo: Atmospheres & Soundtracks.

These worked wonderfully at the time. I can't stand to hear them now because they remind me of pain.
posted by bibliowench at 7:43 PM on May 27

Try a metronome. you can set it to whatever speed beat you want. Its not music, but it might work.

Also try a loud ticking clock. They have been known to relax people. I have a few ( actually cuckoos) in my house and when its quiet, they can be very relaxing. Tick tock.....
posted by Taurid at 8:45 PM on May 27

First Any Moose, congrats! You're in for a wild ride... While we prepared in a similar way as you and the SO, things turned out differently than we expected. As soon as the labour set in, I was basically told to go away, because my hero/wife, was more comfortable taking all the hits just by herself. And while we prepared with the soothing sounds you're probably looking for (by Raymond Scott), I would have put a different soundtrack if I knew then, what I know now. Like kick out the jams, by the MC5.
I just want to prepare you for an unexpected turn of events. But then again, that is the whole fun part of having kids. And we still play the Raymond Scott cd's.
posted by ouke at 11:12 PM on May 27

You might want to try Music to be Born By by Mickey Hart. From the Amazon description:
Originally created for the birth of Mickey Hart's son Taro in 1983, this 70-minute soundscape was intended to transform the coldness of a hospital delivery room into a warm, rhythmic environment which would aid concentration and breathing and shut out external noise during the process of labor and birthing. Hart recorded Taro's heartbeat in utero, then overdubbed that organic rhythm with subtle bass harmonics, drums, and wooden shakuhachi flute in a simple musical pattern repeated with slight variations throughout the recording.

posted by Killick at 7:23 AM on May 28