Having trouble choosing the right songs for your home birth playlist? Don’t stress momma! It can be hard if you’re not sure where to begin. If you’re like me you want something that will both ease your mind as well as give you positive vibes.
But exactly which songs are best for relaxing your mind and body for a home birth? There are so many to choose from! Where to begin is the question.
It all starts with your preference and taste in music. What soothes one person may not necessarily soothe another person. Nature sounds, slow songs, and inspirational music are all great options to enhance the mood of your home birth and there’s a playlist for each option below.
The songs featured on these three playlists are ones I would have loved to have had during labor and I hope you find them super helpful as well.
Music is Powerful!!
Science suggests that listening to music improves your mental well-being and even boosts your physical health in unbelievable ways. (Source)
On top of that, music is uplifting, stimulating, and pleasurable. It’s no wonder women choose to listen to music during labor – especially natural labor.
Here are a few other reasons to listen to music:
- It makes you happy thanks to the release of dopamine (which is a “feel-good” chemical in the brain) that occurs when you listen to music.
- Lowers stress levels. Listening to music during stressful situations [like surgery or childbirth] lowers levels of cortisol which is considered the “stress hormone”. (Source)
- Reduces depression when you use music therapy (explained below). (Source)
- Promotes peaceful sleep. Most of us, at some point or another, have used music to help us fall asleep. But did you know certain types of relaxing music also improves sleep quality? So if you have trouble sleeping, try listening to a little soothing music before reaching for the ZzzQuil. (Source)
- Strengthens learning and memory which makes it extremely useful during homework time! According to studies, the best music to use for this purpose is emotional music. (Source)
Music is so powerful that it has its own clinical practice — music therapy.
Music therapy is an established health profession that uses music interventions to achieve individual therapeutic goals — whether they be physical, emotional, cognitive, or social needs.
One of the best things about music therapy is that you get the help you need without the use of medication. It’s completely natural!
Benefits of music during a home birth
It might seem too good to be true but music helps the labor process along in some pretty amazing ways.
Adding a couple of labor playlists to your birth plan can make all the difference in your birthing experience.
Music not only empowers you, but also relieves pain, helps you relax, and plays a major part in making your home birth an all-around great experience. (Source)
You should start working on your playlist now so that when the time comes, you’re ready!
Just in case you aren’t sure if you need a labor playlist, listening to music during labor helps by…
- Distracting you from pain. This is one of the main benefits — natural pain relief. It’s especially beneficial when you are planning a completely natural childbirth.
For pain relief, choose songs that you love — songs that make you happy and make you want to dance. These songs will distract you from the pain best.
(For more natural pain relief options read this article — 8 Proven Pain Management Tips for a Home Birth.)
- Soothing your mind and easing stress. Needless to say, soothing music works best for calming you down. It’s best to use this type of music in early labor when there’s no pushing and you just need to relax.
- Helping you focus, which allows you to fix your mind on something and keep it there. When you let your mind wander, it’s easy to let fear and negativity set in which messes up the whole vibe of the experience.
- Increasing your satisfaction with childbirth. (Source)
- Providing an overall safe and easy method to increase post-partum well-being.
How to choose the perfect songs for your home birth playlist
Choosing the songs for your labor playlist starts with figuring out which type of music suits your plans best. To do this, you will need to ask yourself a series of questions.
1) How do you want the mood of your labor to be?
For example, do you want the overall vibe of your labor to be happy, calm, humorous, exciting?
This is an important step to figuring out the best music.
- If you want the mood to be light and playful, humorous music is a good fit for your home birth.
- If you’re shooting for calm and meditative, ambient music is the answer.
- If you’re thinking more along the lines of happy, uplifting and motivational music is what you want to choose.
- If your only concern is the pain, your favorite music (no matter the type) works perfectly.
2) What’s your favorite genre of music?
Another question to ask yourself when choosing the perfect labor music is what type of music do you enjoy listening to.
Do you like Classical, R&B, Country, Hip-hop, Rock, or all of the above?
You should also consider music that you may not necessarily like but may be relaxing for you such as classical music.
Try to always keep an open mind when it comes to your music selection because sometimes you have to use different music to achieve different results.
3) Music with lyrics? Or sound only?
If your overall goal is to feel at peace and be in the moment completely, ambient music will benefit you most.
Ambient music uses gentle, soothing sounds that emphasize tone and atmosphere over rhythm.
On the other hand, if you want to feel energized and alive with less pain, your favorite upbeat music will do just fine.
4) Do you want to section the music off?
Some mommas would rather have their music in sections, for example, calming music for early active labor and upbeat songs in late active labor.
Of course, we can’t possibly time it just right because Nature has a way of doing things in its own time.
Sidenote: Another option is to have a personal DJ (dad, doula, etc.) to make sure you have the right songs playing at the right time.
Keep in mind, you need at least 8-12 hours of labor music. If your labor lasts longer than that, you can always restart your playlist.
Slow Jams for a Calm Home Birth
Every momma about to go through this awesome life-changing experience needs as much motivation and inspiration as she can get. The songs on this playlist both motivate, inspire, as well as bring you peace.
You can listen to this playlist for free here or you can download the songs individually for free if you have an Amazon Prime Account.
If you don’t have one don’t worry — you can sign up for a free trial here.
If you do have an amazon prime account, simply click the songs you want below to listen.
1) Christina Perri- A Thousand Years
2) Nora Jones- Come Away with Me
4) Small Town Pistols- Can’t Wait to Meet You
5) Carrie Underwood- What I Never Knew I Always Wanted
6) Adele- Make You Feel My Love
7) Tori Kelly- I Was Made For Loving You (feat. Ed Sheeran)
9) Celine Dion- A Mother’s Prayer
10) Lee Ann Womack- I Hope You Dance
Soothing Ambient Home Birth Playlist
Some people would rather hear soothing sounds during labor and they work just as well. These songs help calm your mind, bring you inner peace, and help you relax your body (which is the key to easier labor and birth.)
Here are some soothing sounds that will take you to a peaceful place — perfect for your home birth playlist.
(Easily Listen to this playlist on Spotify by clicking this link.)
1) The Rainforest Collective- Zen Nature Sounds
2) Sounds of Nature- Light Rain on Tin Roof
3) Nature Sounds- Forest Noise
4) Calm Sounds- Strong Wind Through Orchard Trees
5) Baby Music Center- Blissful and Natural Birth
6) Baby Music Center- Positive Energy Flow
7) Baby Music Center- Feel Safe and Strong
8) Baby Music Center- Breathing Practice
9) Relaxing Nature Sounds- No Stress, No Anger
10) Relaxing Nature Sounds- Pure Visualization
The best thing about this playlist is that if you find one sound you love more than the rest, all you have to do is put it on repeat and you can listen to it the whole time, or you can indulge in a variety of soothing sounds — it’s your decision.
Ease The Pain Home Birth Playlist
As I mentioned above, the best songs to use for pain relief are songs that make you want to sing and dance — that make you feel like celebrating. These are the songs that will take your mind off the pain of labor.
Here is what my pain playlist looks like. (Click here to listen to the playlist now or click the songs individually to listen on Amazon.)
5) One Republic- Counting Stars
7) Meghan Trainor- Lips Are Movin’
9) Clean Bandit- Rather Be (feat. Jess Glynne)
10) Jessie J.- Bang Bang (feat Ariana Grande & Nicki Minaj)
11) Pitbull- Timber (feat. Ke$ha)
12) Rhianna- We Found Love (feat. Calvin Harris)
15) Justin Timberlake- Cry Me a River
What’s your style?
So, which is your style? Or do you prefer a healthy mixture? Either way, I hope you like my suggestions and found the perfect sound vibrations for you!
If my suggestions weren’t your taste, you can create a custom playlist for free at Spotify.com
Be sure to pin this article to keep these playlists within arm’s reach.
PS. Do you have any music suggestions to add? Let me know in the comments below! I’d love to hear what songs other mommas have chosen!
