Spotify's 'birthing playlist' wants to improve your delivery
These days, many parents-to-be head into the birthing process with a birthing plan, a stocked duffle bag filled with essentials and a birthing playlist.
This relatively new concept (after all, when our grandmas gave birth, they probably weren't bringing radios in their hospital bags) prompted Spotify to release a birthing playlist.
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Dr. Jacques Moritz, who says 70% of his patients prepare birthing playlists, tells Daily Dot, "hospitals, particularly delivery rooms, can be noisy and disconcerting – a good playlist helps distract mothers from these sounds and better manage fear and pain, leading to a more positive delivery experience."
He also references how music impacts the "central nervous system's limbic system which manages our memories, emotions, and how we deal with fear and pain," which can be natural physical and emotional reactions during labor.
The playlist runs about two hours, which seems at best a wildly optimistic estimate. The playlist is designed to mimic the labor process, starting with relaxing, soothing music, then escalating to stronger beats (like Pink's "Try") and ending with Bach's "Unaccompanied Cello Suite #1," performed by Yo-Yo Ma.
For better or worse, a song that seems titled with labor in mind did not make the list.
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Topics Family & Parenting
Sarah Spigelman Richter is a contributor to Mashable's Food channel. Sarah covers everything edible, from the food industry to D.I.Y. recipes. She was previously the community manager for Tastemade NYC and her writing has been seen on The Today Show's food blog, Refinery 29, the Food Network, and Gothamist. She has also developed recipes for Tabasco and other nationally recognized brands and has blogged for 5 years at "Fritos and Foie Gras." Sarah is obsessed with "Orphan Black" and chili-cheese Fritos and is still depressed that Loehmann's closed.
