Scientology's silent birth!!

mysweetpeasWil&Wes wrote: Have you heard of this??? I was watching one of those entertainment shows after Oprah today and they were talking about if Katie Holmes converts to scientology, she will be required to have what is called a "silent birth". They described it as this: the laboring mother can not have drugs and she must reamain silent (no screaming) throughout the whole birthing process. And then afterward, there must be seven days (more or less, I can't remember exactly) of complete silence around the newborn. No one can talk, nothing!!

Now I'm not trying to start a debate here, but what do you all think? I find that absolutely unheard of? IMO there is no harm done to a newborn from a women screaming during childbirth!! It is completely natural to me! What is the purpose of keeping silent? I can understand no talking afterward, but during??? There is something beautiful and peaceful at thinking a child comes into this world in complete silence...but I find it totally unhealthy to expect that from the birthing mother! Just my opinion...

They said that Kelly Preston and John Travolta used this method.

luvbug00 replied: I just heard this too. But they said kelly preston didn't make it she ended up having Ella Blue in the car because she wanted an epidural. I think it's odd in a way and no talking for a week? that's be odd for the babay too after hearing mom on the inside for 9 months...poor squirrl...

amynicole21 replied: Very, very weird. I hadn't heard that. Who makes up these rules?

gr33n3y3z replied:
LOL
I agree

Maddie&EthansMom replied: Amy...I have NO idea who makes up the rules.

I was just talking to Scotty about this last night. I hadn't heard this at the time, but I 'assumed' she would have to go natural and keep quiet. VERY strange. VERY! I wonder what he will do if she starts making noises.

jenn3 replied:
LOL! I also agree

aspenblue1 replied: That is weird.

ammommy replied:
L Ron Hubbord

Kaitlin'smom replied: the whole scientology "religion" is weird

and no talking to the baby or around the baby for a week? I dont think so

MyBrownEyedBoy replied: Is she converting? I thought she was Catholic.

mckayleesmom replied: Ok...the day that I can grab my husbands junk and squeeze without him making a sound...is the day I would not make any noi se giving birth.....I think that religion was made up by crackheads

amymom replied: Ok here are some quotes from L. Ron Hubbard:



Ok what is a Thetan? and no talking to protect the sanity of the mother?! yeah that's sane alright. sorry
Then....leave the baby alone for a day or so. Hey I wouldn't let them take my DD to measure her, made my husband follow her...and I knew the peds that were taking her. My son was in my hospital room for four days straight. Leave them alone yeah right?!?!?!? Ok I will stop reading L. Ron Hubbard now.

Our Lil' Family replied: I think I saw the same thing but Kelly Preston said that you could talk a minute or so after the baby was born. John Travolta said the same was their belief for car accidents too, anything where pain was involved.

Personally I deal with pain better when silent as well, had I had a normal labor experience (emergency c-section after 1 hr of labor) I would have preferred it as quiet as possible too.

punkeemunkee'smom replied:
Brianne-you always have such a unique take on things! I agree though-what is no talking around the baby supposed to accomplish? It has already been proven that repeatative sounds they hear in the womb,i.e. music and the sound of mommy and daddy's voices,are very comforting to a new born! I was shocked when I heard that one premis of the religion is that aliens landed here years ago and we have their DNA in us... Sorry not to offend but...????

mom21kid2dogs replied: I was laughing this AM when I read the news story re: the pregnancy. What an interesting "religion"! Lots of rules about meds and sanity but none for premarital sex, apparently. Guess L Ron better write another book.

punkeemunkee'smom replied:
They have "no beliefs" concerning a child born out of wedlock but they do have an upper class,if you will, that the women are not allowed to give birth or they are excommunicated.

jcc64 replied: These rule are all centered around silencing and shaming women- no medical intervention for PPD, no sounds during childbirth??? I find these "theories" bizarre and ridiculous, as are some of scientology's most visible followers. I think Tom Cruise should be forced to crap out a watermelon with that famous smile on his face, and not talk for a year afterward. That's my new idea for scientology.

redchief replied:
L. Ron Hubbard and Xenu, the evil alien that infected all humans with things bad and ugly. *sic*

3_call_me_mama replied: I had never even really heard of this religion before i went to AZ to visit my brother. I find it fascinating in what peopel are willign to do for their beliefs. I saw a scientology builgind (not sure if they are called churches or not) in AZ when I visited my brother a coupel years ago, i thought it was some kind of joke. I didn't think it really exsisted.

MyBrownEyedBoy replied:
I really like this idea!!

A&A'smommy replied: I think its freakin stupid!!! Sorry but i do!!

mammag replied: Oh that is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. It all makes sense now, why Tom Cruise is such a nut.....you have to be to believe in this nonsense.

I would think that silence around the baby for the first 7 days or whatever would be a bad thing. Is that not how newborns learn who is who in their world? by connecting voices with scents and later faces? From Kids Health.....

ediep replied:
yea, I agree

I used to really like Tom Cruse as an actor, but after that crazy Oprah interview then what he said about Brooke Shields......I have ZERO respect for him. He is a nut!!

Hillbilly Housewife replied: I dunn about this scientology thing.... but the only thing I agree, is that for ME, being quiet when laboring and birthing is easier on me. It seems like I panicked and was a little un-controlled during the process with my first, until my OB had to tell me to shut up and concentrate... then things went a little smoother. Combined with the in and out of the nurses who kept harrassing me in my bed... lol I sure wish things had gone a little quieter.

With my second, I moaned and groaned, sure, but no real loud noises... and the birth was much easier for me. I also got nasty with one of the nurses, and told her not to come in my room again. It was all around more quiet... and better for me.

With this birth, I've told my doctor I want only him in the room, and *possibly* a nurse. And I don't want a nurse sticking her fingers up there every 20 mintues to check me... *I* will let *her* know when I am ready. I won't have any qualms about telling someone to shut up, either. I didn't do well with everyone squealing at the other births.... won't do it this time either.

But that's just my preference, not a religion... I'm calmer if around me is calm.

A&A'smommy replied:
see that makes sense but the you HAVE to be quiet thing is just weird!!

punkeemunkee'smom replied:

I can understand that! When I was in labor I did not want anyone but Dh there. I wanted us to do it as alone as possible...but we laughed and talked and then I moaned and cried I labored for 14 hours and it was intense but when people would come in it kinda made me so I can understand a calm birthroom but to exclude voices is strange to me and I think harmful to a brandnew baby!

Maddie&EthansMom replied: Check this out to learn more about the THETAN I had to learn more so I went to Scientology. org. I thought everything on there was wacko. We had a scientology church back home and I never knew what it was. Priscilla Presley is a scientologist, too.

I agree with the others...I think not speaking to the newborn for 7 days could cause harm. I like the quote that mammaq put up.

And Edie I was the exact same way. I thought Tom was a good actor and paid no attention to him really until the Oprah interview.Brooke Shields thing and now I can't stand mention of his name even.

DansMom replied: I heard about this on the way in to work and was both appalled and bemused. I had a natural childbirth, and maintaining silence during those contractions would quite literally not have been possible. Definitely not normal biologically for me. Totally bizarre. And lack of stimulation for the infant for days afterward seems counter to everything I know and believe. I like Jeanne's watermelon idea. Poor Katie.

ammommy replied: I have a silly question. Is the Church of Christ, Scientist the same as Scientology?

luvbug00 replied:


I tried to look it up too but all I get are sites calling it a cult. Yeeech!!

DansMom replied: The other thing that's bugging me about this: I have a friend who was committed to hypnobirthing, and it was partly her husband's idea, something he felt strongly about, so she really wanted it to work. There's nothing wrong with hypnobirthing when it works, but it didn't work for her. She felt excruciating realistic pain, and eventually asked for meds, and then felt like she had failed not only the script but let her husband down. It's not like he didn't support her during the birth and her change of heart, it's just that the expectations really set her up for disappointment. The effort to follow a script during the birth experience, especially one that is deeply believed in by a husband, is a recipe for a ruined experience and feelings of failure. How is that good for a new life coming into this world?

jcc64 replied: The way one reacts to the overwhelming physical and emotional experiences of birth are utterly unpredictable. When you are subjected to that amount of pain (I'm talking no drugs here), your reactions will be primal and subconscious, for the most part. To mandate any kind of protocol before the fact, whether it's a rigid birth plan that the husband thinks sounds good, or a quasi-religious proclaimations from Scientology (correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't it's founder, L. Ron Hubbard, a science fiction writer before he became an expert in obstetrics and psychiatry?) is asinine. No one can know for sure how she is going to respond to that level of pain, and I say, whatever you have to do to get through it with a healthy kid and your sanity still intact is the right way. Period.

toady_buckshot_noodle replied: I hope ol' Tom gets HUGE kidney stones! They say that a man passing a stone is similar to a woman giving birth. I hope he screams like a baby and then get kicked out of his so called religion. It sounds like a cult to me. Poor Katie and her poor family! Imagine how they must feel!

msoulz replied: Who makes up these rules?


I am CERTAIN it is not a woman making up that rule!!!

redchief replied:
That's because it IS a cult.

redchief replied: I followed the Thetan link, which sounds like one of Hubbard's nutbag science fiction characters and read this: "In Scientology, it has been found that a thetan can leave the body and exist independent of the flesh.

Oh lord!!! Does that mean we have exteriorized thetan's running around all over the place?

My2Beauties replied: is all I have to say! If my DH every came up with some crazy concept like this or read into bullcrap like this, I'd tell him to leave the room and I'll have the baby all by myself, screaming and yelling the whole way What an absurd religion, I agree sounds like a cult to me, and a very demeaning to women cult at that!

amymom replied: I know of someone who is a 'cult-buster' so to speak. And the biggest problem they have is Scientologists. From whaat I've heard she has received death treats from them.

holley79 replied: Wel I have never given birth but if everything rings true as to what I have heard. Give me drugs and my DH ear plugs. LOL

I don't think the no talking after birth is good. That's when families bond with baby and stimulates their little minds. IMO

~Roo'sMama~ replied:
ITA. If you like to be quiet while you're giving birth, fine, no problem because it's what works best for you. But to have to be silent is nuts. And there is NO WAY I could have kept myself from talking to my baby for a whole week after he was born!! Or left him alone for a day. The first week of holding him, talking to him and singing to him was the most special time of my life thus far. And beneficial to him too I think.

The thought of any baby having to live in a silent world for a week just makes me want to cry.

Mommy2BAK replied: poor women. I don't know anything about scientology, but that right there does it for me

massagemommy replied: I don't feel sorry for Katie Holmes. She's a big girl; she got herself involved with a nut (gotta be for publicity) just like the Preston/Travolta freakshow. She can give birth any darn way she pleases -- anybody who's managed her career like she has has the gumption to pick and choose her culty garbage. I do feel sorry for their baby, though.

CCTandME replied: Yikes! I feel sorry for her, too. I think she was totally blinded by "love". The image of Tom Cruise. She probably thought he'd help her career. Now she seems brainwashed. Also, he doesn't call her Katie, HE prefers Kate. Like the rest of you HE makes me sick. The more he opens his mouth, the more I cringe.

As far as silent birth, HA! Yeah , um, ok. I was kinda silent with my first 2. Thanks to the EPIDURAL. Not so quiet with the 3rd. No time for my epi. Those sounds just flew out of me. For me, recovery was easier from my Epidural then without. Although, I am glad I felt the "experience".

3'smom replied: Haven't read the other posts yet but you know a man made up these rules!