Labour pains are very unbearable for many women and so they impulsively and uncontrollably resort to screaming as a response to the extreme pain that is associated with contractions during labour. 

But does a woman in labour know that if she wants to make some noise during labour to help her feel better, she can moan instead? When she moans instead of screams, she directs the pressure she is exerting downward (to the diaphragm) and helps the labour process to continue. 

In an interview with Dr. Dixie Constantini a Specialist Obstetrician Gynaecologist of the Women’s Health Obstetrics and Gynaecology, she said “it is important to save as much energy as possible for the type of noise that will help with labour progression”. 

She explained that screaming during labour usually made a woman tired even before she got to the point where she had to push and some education which was usually given at Pregnancy Schools should be taken seriously or one could also learn it online if that was preferable.

She said when a woman screamed especially when she was supposed to push, almost all the energy she needed for pushing rather came out as noise “and if you are not left with enough energy to push your baby out it delays the delivery process and you will not be able to push.”

Dr. Constatini said when a woman in labour was screaming it also made it difficult for her to concentrate on the labour process and listen to the instructions of the Midwife helping her.

She was emphatic that, screaming did not make the labour process faster and that labour could sometimes be very long.  

Dr. Constantini said there had been instances where some women thought that they would have short labour because of screaming but that was not true. 

She said with every added child, labour was usually shorter. “So a first time mother usually has longer period of labour than a fourth time mother.” 

The Specialist Obstetrician Gynaecologist further explained that even though it was usually the case, the cervix was a very special part of the womb which did what it liked to do.

“It sometimes dilates very quickly when it likes or stays closed when it doesn’t want to dilate. Thus you might find some first time mothers having very short labour and others not. 

 We cannot control the process of dilation sometimes. Other times we are unable to tell if someone will be able to dilate fully or not. The cervix can be very tricky. “she said.  

She advised that “if you are in extreme pain and epidural anaesthesia isn’t available, you can ask for pain meds that can be injected into your butt or thigh muscle to help with the pain, that’s if those are available as well”. 

“We know it is extremely difficult for most people not to scream, everyone feels pain differently and we do understand this but it is also important to listen to your Midwife or Obgyn” she said.

From Dzifa Tetteh, Kpone