Scientology: Silent Birth

As many of you know, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes recently had a daughter that they named Suri and the her birth was a “silent birth”. A silent birth is just as it sounds: no talking, no noises, no words of encouragement to the mother. According to the founder of Scientology, L. Ron Hubbard, words spoken during this already traumatic and painful event can effect the infant later in life. The idea is that words said during the birth enter the child’s reactive mind and can subsequently cause negative associations and effects later in life. Followers think it can cause “psychic” damage, which takes years of therapy to overcome. A few words here and there may not be detrimental, but keeping any and all conversation to a minimum is a key point to having a silent birth. Ideally, the silent birth should take place in a dim room that’s atmosphere is totally quiet and the birth should be as gentle and painless as possible. Scientology does not restrict painkillers in silent birth and really doesn’t have a stance on that issue, but say it is preferrable and better for the child not to use pain allieviating drugs.

I don’t know any woman who has given birth to a child that is strong enough for a silent birth. No yelling at the father that this is all his fault? Biting back on outbursts when a painful contraction comes on? Childbirth is bound to be painful and scary. That’s just the nature of it. It doesn’t make much sense to me that the mother, whose can be in quite intense pain, should have to bite her lip until it bleeds in order not to bellow in pain, just for the sake of a silent birth. L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology have absolutely no proof that a doctor telling the mother to push is going to cause them to have psychological issues stemming from that word, or any word spoken during the birth. Or, let’s take another tack: how about the psychological ramifications on the mother? She is not supposed to be told she’s “doing great”, get instructions from hospital personnel and she must suppress her natural urge to cry out in pain and express herself.

L. Ron Hubbard said that infants “be wrapped somewhat tightly in a warm blanket, very soft, and then left alone for a day or so.” Yep, that’s the proper way to care for a newborn baby – just leave it alone in absolute quiet. Why anyone would follow these practices is beyond me. A baby, especially a newborn, needs love and attention. How about the long-term affects of a newborn baby in a frightening new environment simply left alone and feeling abandoned and confused? What about bonding between the mother and infant. Scientology stresses newborns cannot be poked or prodded for medical tests or spoken to for seven days. I don’t feel it’s a very good idea not to give a newborn a physical exam or to have no verbal interaction with it.

“Maintain silence in the presence of birth to save both the sanity of the mother and child.” – L. Ron Hubbard. I think it’s a strong woman who can make it through childbirth without uttering a word or groaning in pain, but it’s seems like pointless suffering to me. Obviously, L. Ron Hubbard has no compassion for women.