MOST POPULAR SONGS TO GIVE BIRTH TO

3, 2, 1 PUSH… THESE ARE THE MOST POPULAR SONGS TO GIVE BIRTH TO.

British mums reveal their top birthing soundtracks and some of the results are surprising!

Picture this… your waters have broken. You’ve raced to the hospital and are in the delivery suite, ready to face the stressful and gruelling hours ahead. You need to dig deep to motivate yourself to get over the final hurdle before you get to meet your little bundle of joy. You put your birthing playlist on… but what’s on it?

Well new Spotify research undertaken by parenting expert, Kiddies Kingdom, studied a multitude of songs across a range of birthing playlists including those titled “Pregnant and Feeling Good”, “Birth and Labour” and “Labour and Delivery” to reveal the top 10 songs people listen to when faced with hours of tears, screams and contractions.

The data shows that it’s “Thinking Out Loud” by Ed Sheeran that comes out on top. The song, released in 2014, is a gentle ballad often chosen for first dances at weddings, so it is perhaps unsurprising that it’s also popular with welcoming a child into the world. With Ed’s wife Cherry Seaborn recently giving birth to their first-born daughter Lyra, we wonder if she was listening too?

MOST POPULAR SONGS TO GIVE BIRTH TO

TOP 10 SONGS DURING LABOUR

1. Thinking Out Loud, Ed Sheeran
2. Blinding Lights, The Weekend
3. Say You Won’t Let Go, James Arthur
4. All of Me, John Legend
5. Take Me to Church, Hozier
6. Let Her Go, Passenger
7. Stay With Me, Sam Smith
8. Wake Me Up, Avicii
9. Riptide, Vance Joy
10. Hello, Adele

Interestingly, women seem to like to listen to the sound of a man’s voice whilst in the delivery room with 9 out of the top 10 being male solo artists. Ed Sheeran comes out on top though closely followed by The Weekend, James Arthur and John Legend.

English singer-songwriter, Adele, is the only female artist to appear in the list, scraping in at number 10 with her smash hit, Hello, which was released in 2015.

ARTISTS MOST LISTENED TO DURING LABOUR

Despite male artists dominating the top individual songs, female artists come out on top as the most popular repeat choices, with Adele, Beyonce and Enya included several times throughout various playlists.

1. Adele
2. Beyonce
3. Enya
4. Christina Aguilera
5. Whitney Houston

MOST HUMOROUS SONGS LISTENED TO DURING LABOUR

Whilst the data reveals that most women opt for soothing pop songs when they’re waiting for their little one to arrive, more humorous tunes feature further down the top songs list including “Stayin’ Alive” by Bee Gees, “Push It” by Salt-N-Pepa and “I’m Coming Out” by Diana Ross.

• Let it Go, James Bay
• Wrecking Ball, Miley Cyrus
• I’m Coming Out, Diana Ross
• Push It, Salt-N-Pepa
• I Won’t Give Up, Jason Mraz
• Stayin’ Alive, Bee Gees
• Survivor, Destiny’s Child
• Just Breathe, Pearl Jam

The average length of labour for a first child is between 8-12 hours (150 songs) and often quicker for a 2^nd or 3^rd at around five hours (75 songs)¹. However, this is not reflected in women’s music prep with the average birthing playlist totalling only 3 hours 39 minutes, implying they may be left short of songs.

Mohammed Patel, Managing Director at Kiddies Kingdom, who carried out the study said: “we work with expectant parents from early pregnancy right through to birth and early years…This got us thinking what else (other than essential products) parents needed to consider before having a baby and we highlighted music and entertainment as a key part of staying positive throughout labour.”

“The results are great. In particular, the dominance of male voices in the top 10 list suggests that women may feel more at ease by having a man in the room than they might realise, something that many nervous Dads out there will be pleased to know!”

To help make sure you are fully equipped ahead of the big day, Kiddies Kingdom has combined all the top songs into the ultimate birthing soundtrack. You can download the full playlist here.

Check out how to know if you are in labour here.