Salt-N-Pepa said it best: "Push it real good"... Here are our picks for mellow, motivational and grand finale tunes for your labour playlist!
You’ve survived the extended morning sickness, your tummy is now the size of a ridiculously large watermelon, and you’ve been eating curry for breakfast in an attempt to bring on labour – yep, bubba is almost ready to put in an appearance! Hurrah! But once you’ve got your hospital bag packed and your birth plan sorted, you might want to think about some tunes to get you through the occasion… The late, but infinitely great, Bob Marley has some wise words we think can be applied to the use of music during childbirth: “One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain”. And while we would, personally, take a side order of pain relief drugs to go with the tunes, he does have a good point. Bringing babies into the world can be a rather long slog, so if a solid music playlist makes the difference, we’re totally on board. To get you started we’ve come up with some calm, and less calm, tunes that may well help get you through your labour of love..
Why you need a labour playlist…
What the text books always seem to forget to mention about labour is that it can be really boring. There will be large stretches of time when the pain is really not so bad, and you’re left twiddling your thumbs and alternating between gazing adoringly at your partner, the man who helped make this miracle happen, and wanting to beat him to death with your birthing ball when he breathes too loudly. Music definitely helps you focus, makes for distraction, and may even spur you on when you’re feeling really quite weary. We say make three separate playlists that will suit your different stages of emotions through the labour process:
Motivational labour playlist
Right. You’re set. It’s happening. And you’re going to need tunes to lift your spirit, some old classics to sing along with, and music to make you want to dance (between contractions):
- Fleetwood Mac: Don’t Stop
- The Rolling Stones: Get Off Of My Cloud
- Foo Fighters: These Days
- Muse: Super Massive Vagabond
- Pink: Try
- Black Eyed Peas: Pump It
- All That She Wants (Is Another Baby) – Ace of Base
- David Bowie: Modern Love
- Duran Duran: Hungry Like The Wolf
- Madonna: Vogue
- Pharrell: Happy
- Guns N’ Roses: Sweet Child O’ Mine
- Avril Lavigne: Sk8er Boi
- Dido: Thank You
- Alanis Morrisette: Ironic
Mellow labour playlist
You need a nap, but it’s just not happening. Instead, breathe deeply, lay back and listen to some classical and mellow sounds to calm your nerves:
- Elton John: Your Song
- Cold Play: Don’t Panic
- Pachabel: Canon in D
- Israel Kamakawiwoʻole: Over the Rainbow / What a Wonderful World
- John Legend: All of Me
- Ludovico Einaudi: Night
- Damien Rice: The Blowers Daughter
- Bob Marley: Is This Love
- Ralph Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on Greensleeves
- Duran Duran: Ordinary World
- Enrique Iglesias: Hero
- Beethoven: Moonlight Sonata
- Lana Del Ray: Young and Beautiful
- Lakme: The Flower Duet
- Norah Jones: Sunrise
Get it out of me NOW labour playlist
You’re tired. You need an equal dose of something to smile about, and some tunes to sum up how you’re feeling. You’ve got this:
- Survivor: Eye of the Tiger
- Europe: The Final Countdown
- Queen: Under Pressure
- Depeche Mode: Enjoy the Silence
- Salt-N-Pepa: Push It
- Elton John: I’m Still Standing
- The Ramones: I Wanna Be Sedated
- Black Eyed Peas: Let’s Get it Started
- The Beatles: Here Comes The Sun
- Lady Gaga: Born This Way
- Eminem: We Made You
- Tears for Fears: Shout
- Gloria Gaynor: I Will Survive
- REO Speedwagon: Can’t Fight This Feeling
- Billy Joel: We Didn’t Start the Fire
Best of luck and don’t forget to “push it real good”…
