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". 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." Hubbard believed that breaking the silence during childbirth with words 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.

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 rule against medication and caesarean section births. There have been no attempts to prove this medically or scientifically and the church does not claim silent birth as a medical approach but a religious and philosophical one.