 Is there such a thing as acceptable behaviour during childbirth?
Hollywood 's favourite couple, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, are expecting a baby, and it's been reported that since her fiancé is a Scientologist, Katie Holmes will have a silent birth.
Scientologists believe that making noise during the birth causes distress to the child. It's perhaps surprising that something as natural and uncontrollable as childbirth should be subject to acceptable forms of behaviour, but rituals and habits do vary across cultures and historical periods.
But why do different communities encourage women to behave in a certain way? And whose interests does it serve: the mother, the baby, or a culture which may be deeply ambivalent about such a primeval event?
Jenni discusses de rigeur birthing behaviour.
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