Silent birth

Silent birth, sometimes known as quiet birth, is a birthing procedure advised by L. Ron Hubbard and advocated by Scientologists in which "everyone attending the birth should refrain from spoken words as much as possible" and where "... chatty doctors and nurses, shouts to 'PUSH, PUSH' and loud or laughing remarks to 'encourage' are avoided".^[1] According to Scientology doctrine, this is because "any words spoken are recorded in the reactive mind and can have an aberrative effect on the mother and the child."^[1] Hubbard asserted that not maintaining verbal silence during childbirth could adversely affect the child later in life. Church members believe that noises, sounds and words while a child is being born can possibly cause trauma, which in turn causes the production of engrams, thus necessitating silent birth. Scientologists believe that it is also a way to assist a newborn in his or her development spiritually.^[2]

The concept of silent birth is a mandatory practice in Scientology doctrine. It is based upon the principle that expectant mothers must be provided the utmost care and respect and Hubbard's words: "Everyone must learn to say nothing within the expectant mother's hearing using labor and delivery. Particularly during birth, absolute silence must be maintained and the more gentle the delivery, the better." Silent birth is meant to make the transition to physical separation from the mother less painful for the child. The church does not take a position against using medication during birth or the practice of birth by caesarean section.^[3] There have been no attempts to medically or scientifically prove there is a benefit to silent birth,^[4] and the church does not claim that silent birth is a medically proven approach; it instead characterizes it as a practice conducted for religious and philosophical reasons.^[3]

^ ^a ^b Church of Scientology (2006). "Scientology Newsroom". Archived from the original on August 13, 2006. Retrieved August 7, 2006.
^ Ashcraft-Eason, Lillian; Martin, Darnise C.; Olademo, Overonke (2010). Women and New African Religions. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9780275991562.
^ ^a ^b Pande, Navodita (May 1, 2016). "Silent Birth (Scientology)". In Sange, Mary Zeiss; Oyster, Carol K. (eds.). The Multimedia Encyclopedia of Women in Today's World. SAGE Publications, Inc. doi:10.4135/9781452270388.n385. ISBN 9781452270388.
^ Cite error: The named reference WebMD was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[CoSFAQ-1] Church of Scientology (2006). "Scientology Newsroom". Archived from the original on August 13, 2006. Retrieved August 7, 2006.

[2] Ashcraft-Eason, Lillian; Martin, Darnise C.; Olademo, Overonke (2010). Women and New African Religions. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9780275991562.

[Pande-3] Pande, Navodita (May 1, 2016). "Silent Birth (Scientology)". In Sange, Mary Zeiss; Oyster, Carol K. (eds.). The Multimedia Encyclopedia of Women in Today's World. SAGE Publications, Inc. doi:10.4135/9781452270388.n385. ISBN 9781452270388.

[WebMD-4] Cite error: The named reference WebMD was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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