Giving birth to Kenny G: the playlists that help mothers through childbirth

Many women prepare music to aid them through labour, and Hong Kong doctors agree it helps. Spotify has 90,000 ‘push playlists’, now including a doctor-approved ‘ideal birthing playlist’

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Prepare at least five hours of music, and 10 if you are giving birth for the first time, obstetrician Dr Jacques Moritz advises. Photo: Corbis

Published: 6:02pm, 17 Apr 2016Updated: 6:01pm, 17 Apr 2016

If you’d seen Katherine Kee right after delivering her first child, you would never have guessed she’d just been through 33 hours of labour. The mother of a five-month-old baby says she “still felt quite good and not totally exhausted” after the prolonged labour. Her secret: a 10-hour-long music playlist that included tunes from Kenny G, David Foster, Kevin Kern, Andrea Bocelli, piano instrumentals and some yoga kirtans.

“I could get through each contraction a lot easier and calmer,” says Kee, a yoga instructor, who also used hypnobirthing techniques. “I focused on the breathing and the music and managed my fears.”

Music has long been used during labour; singing was used during childbirth since way back in history, notes Tina Cassidy, author of the 2006 book Birth: The Surprising History of How We Are Born.

But recently the topic has hit some fresh notes: popular digital music service Spotify has teamed up with a leading obstetrician from New York to create what they call the “ideal birthing playlist”. The playlist – which includes tracks from John Legend, Pink, Regina Spektor, D’Angelo, John Lennon, and others – is said to have been “scientifically designed” by Dr Jacques Moritz and “delivery room tested and approved” to accompany women from the start of contractions to the moment they first meet their newborn.

There are more than 90,000 “Push Playlists” on Spotify, and Moritz reports that 70 per cent of his patients prepare playlists specifically for going into labour.

Spotify’s large selection of music and ease of access makes building a playlist easy.

Experts in Hong Kong say it’s quite common for women in this city to prepare playlists for childbirth.

“Every woman has her own way of coping with the discomfort and the stress during labour,” says Dr Patrick Chan Sai-lok, a specialist in reproductive medicine at Matilda International Hospital. “Most will have some kind of distraction, either listening to music or watching their favourite TV show or movie.”