What are you going to sing at your birth? When my sister gave birth to her first daughter, she sang songs from Broadway musicals through the contractions. The nurses on staff that night probably still talk about her strong voice.

When our babies are fussing and restless, we sing them lullabies. Both parents sing songs from their youth or lullabies they learned from their parents.

When babies become toddlers, one of their favorite things to do is dance to music and as they become verbal they start to sing. Toddlers often sing when they are moving -- in the car, on the swing, on a walk. It's a natural expression of their exuberance for life.

Most of us love to sing even when we can barely carry a tune. We sing privately in the car or in the shower. It's something we do instinctively starting when we are very young. Babies in utero are believed to hear music and songs and to show a preference for those familiar to them when they are born. So sing to your belly or your partner's belly- your baby is listening.

Danae Shanti Croy, a professional voice coach and performer, feels that singing is a lot like giving birth. "I still experience that scary moment of delivery every time I open my mouth to sing," she said. "There's this wonderful, loving self inside trying to come out through song."

For Croy, singing, like birth, is a natural thing. But also like giving birth, not always easy to do. "I sing," she said. "I teach people to trust that they can sing. I give vocal coaching to singer hopefuls. They give birth to singers."

In my own births, I don't sing but I do vocalize. I roar with contractions and use the sound of my breath as a focal point. I am not just screaming in pain. As any labor sitter or nurse will tell their laboring moms, keep it low. The voice works with you when the sound is low, coming from your belly and chest and not your throat.

When my mother gave birth to me, she was told to keep quiet and be a good girl. I wonder how much harder that made her labor. In the births I have attended including my own, connecting to the animal sounds within made the births more powerful and more real. They also helped cope with the pain. By sounding and breathing intentionally, the tightening that comes with fear and pain is reduced. Perhaps that helps women who have home births give birth without pain medication -- they are comfortable enough in their homes to "sing" through their births.

Many religions use the voice to give prayers. The Tibetan monks and The Gregorian monks are two well-known groups. Other cultures sing to welcome a new child into their community.

Some women prefer silence during labor so they can hear their own inner songs and their own breath. Others listen to ocean sounds or meditative music. I recommend listening to the music you think you want in birth. Allow it to take you into its power. Listen as if listening to a prayer.

Singing and birth are related as Croy pointed out. "Trying to run from our dream to sing is like trying to run from birth. We've carried the seed to term. Our baby is coming and so is our song."

Can you imagine maternity wards bursting with song?

Copyright © 2005 Anna Stewart. All rights reserved worldwide.