Labor and Birth Playlist

Music During Labor and Birth

They say smell is one of the strongest senses tied to memory. I think music is even stronger. 

Think of when a song comes on that you haven't heard in forever, and bam you're right back to jamming at your middle school homecoming dance. 
You know all the words, even though you can't remember geometry; but your jam, it will forever be in your soul. 

I had a specific Pandora station I listened to towards the end of my pregnancy and during my birth. This is now my daughter's station, as she is familiar with all the songs. When we played this familiar music to her in the early postpartum period it soothed her better than any shushing. 

One song in particular we call the baby song - What a Day (2008) by Greg Laswell.
"What a day to welcome a baby to begin breathing." 
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This lyric stuck with me and I knew I needed to hear it while I was in labor. And there was a time during my labor I had this song on repeat. It was my day to welcome my baby to begin breathing. Whenever this song comes up on our Pandora station I am brought right back to a very special time surrounding the introduction of my baby to this world. 

Should you make a labor playlist? It's up to you! You never know what you might want to listen to, and you might not want to listen to anything.

I had an Enya playlist all set up, and I listened to it a bit, but found I actually wanted my normal playlist on with my lyrical songs I could get into. If you have time and enjoy making playlists, go for it! But if it's stressing you out to have one more thing on your "must do" list. Skip it. Your doula probably has a playlist set up anyways ;)

My top baby playlist songs:

• What a Day (2008) - Greg Laswell 
• And Then You - Greg Laswell
• Days Go On - Greg Laswell
• Yesterday was Hard on All of Us - Fink
• Foot in the Door - Fink
• Hanging by a Thread - Aaron Espe
• All I want - Dawn Golden
• Young and Beautiful - Lana Del Rey
• Every Kingdom Album - Ben Howard
• Heartbeats - Jose Gonzalez
• More than Life - Whitley
• Broken Brights - Angus Stone
• For You - Tin Sparrow

Not the most standard labor songs, but these touched my heart and will forever bring me back to the birth of my daughter in our little Colorado apartment during the snow of winter.