Letting out your emotions at birth – Why that cry the moment after birth is so important

Well this has been one very super busy and exciting week for my family !! On Feb 3rd my fabulous sister in law Kate and my brother Brett gave birth to my  adorable nephew Oliver William bregman

And just a few days later on Feb 8th  ( this am ) my sister Alli and her husband Justin gave birth to my gorgeous niece Fiona or Emerson ( they are still trying to figure out the name )

I am one proud auntie !!!!

My brother and his family are in Philadelphia and my sister is living abroad in of all places Abu Dhabi . I wasn’t with them as I am in LA and on call for a birth here at the moment , but I was my sisters semi virtual doula on and off for the past 24 hours …

I just got off the phone with her and I felt compelled to write a post on how normal and important it is to cry at birth . After laboring for 24 hours and pushing for 3 of them when my niece was born my sister let out a cry , a VERY normal reaction at birth . There are so many emotions a woman goes thru during the birth process ( excitement , fear , exhaustion , joy , sadness , worry , doubt , happiness , love , anticipation , confusion  ……. ) that crying is a natural release of energy   !! The reason I am saying this is because they told her not to cry so she doesn’t get depressed .. I was like huh ???? What kind of backwards ass thinking is this ????  Of course I went TOTALLY bananas and told her, ” Please cry and let that emotion out !!!  Holding it in will give you depression not releasing the tears of joy , relief in seeing your baby for the first time and knowing she is healthy , exhaustion , hormones …. it all need to come out “. I had her walk me through the birth and what it was like to see her baby and she started to cry , I assured her it was ok to just allow this pure emotion to come out … I had her tell me what it was like when she saw her husband Justin holding their daughter ( I know thats a tear jerker every time seeing your partner with your child for the first time ) and she really started crying … THANK GOD !!! Please people don’t hold in your emotions in at birth , its not healthy ….  Let them out …  Heck , even I cry at birth and I see babies born all the time !!

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