One New York City doctor has created the perfect playlist for expecting mothers.
Dr. Jacques Moritz, an attending obstetrician and gynecologist at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, teamed up with Spotify to create the ultimate playlist for when an expectant mother goes into labor. The "Birthing Playlist" was designed specifically to accompany women through childbirth, according to Moritz. The playlist helps mothers block the distractions in a delivery room.
"Hospitals, particularly delivery rooms, can be noisy and disconcerting," Moritz said in a press release. "A good playlist helps distract mothers from these sounds and better manage fear and pain, leading to a more positive delivery experience.”
Moritz also explained why listening to music is beneficial for women who are in labor, saying that it helps provide "comfort and strength" during the delivery process.
"Music strongly influences our central nervous system's limbic system which manages our memories, emotions, and how we deal with fear and pain,” Moritz said. “It makes sense that women would turn to music during childbirth as a source of comfort and strength."
The "Birthing Playlist" features 30 tracks and starts with songs that are "slow and mellow" before transitioning into songs with a "stronger beat for when it’s time to push," Moritz said. The playlist ends with Bach’s "Unaccompanied Cello Suite #1" performed by the legendary Yo-Yo Ma "for the moment women first meet their newborns," she said.
If you'd rather make your own "push playlist," Moritz recommends choosing songs with strong instrumentals, and says that the playlist should ideally be five to 10 hours long.
Here is the entire "Birthing Playlist" track list, which you can listen to on Spotify here:
1. Pearl Jam - Just Breathe
2. James Bay - Let It Go
3. Regina Spektor - Don’t Leave Me
4. Sigur Rós - Festival
5. Death Cab for Cutie - Transatlanticism
6. The Lumineers - Ho Hey
7. Norah Jones - Sunrise
8. Craft Spells - After the Moment
9. Xavier Rudd - Follow the Sun
10. Lucinda Williams - Fruits of My Labor
11. John Lennon - Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)
12. Colbie Caillat - Capri
13. D’Angelo - Really Love
14. Milton Nascimento - Nos Bailes Da Vida
15. Coldplay - Don’t Panic
16. Fleet Foxes - Your Protector
17. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Maps
18. Kygo Maty Noyes - Stay
19. P!nk - Try
20. Muse - Starlight
21. John Legend - All of Me - Tiesto’s Birthday Remix
22. David Bowie, Queen - Under Pressure
23. U2 - With or Without You
24. Wilco - Impossible Germany
25. Arcade Fire - Wake Up
26. R.E.M. - Nightswimming
27. Patty Griffin - Heavenly Day
28. Iron & Wine - Naked As We Came
29. Beyoncé - Blue
30. Johann Sebastian Bach, Yo-Yo Ma - Unaccompanied Cello Suite No. 1
