Tom Cruise's pregnant fiancée Katie Holmes will be reminded to keep her vow of silence during birth — by signs plastered around their home. The couple — following the Scientology tradition of a silent birth — had the posters delivered to their Beverly Hills mansion.The 6ft placards will be placed so Katie can see them in labour.
One reads: "Be silent and make all physical movements slow and understandable."
Dawson's Creek actress Katie, 26, must "keep mum" and will not even be allowed painkillers when she has the couple's first child due any day. Friends — believed to be Scientology elders — were pictured carrying the huge white boards through the gates.
The "birthing boards" will also tell staff and visitors to stay silent.
Followers believe it is traumatic for babies to hear their mother scream or groan when giving birth. They think it can cause "psychic" damage, which takes years of therapy to overcome. The cult's creator, sci-fi writer L. Ron Hubbard, once said: "Maintain silence in the presence of birth to save both the sanity of the mother and child."
The doctrine stresses newborns cannot be poked or prodded for medical tests or spoken to for seven days.
Katie began dating Tom, 43, last year. She was well-known for her Catholic beliefs but quickly fell pregnant and is yet to wed. [The Sun]
HOLY CRAP, more ridiculous nonsense: Not only do the tenets of Scientology dictate that followers such as Katie Holmes go through the birthing process in silence (without her friends and family present), but it has been said that she is not even allowed to hold her newborn for the first 24 hours of its life.
"Scientology's strict rules dictate that mothers shouldn't coddle their kids or even treat them with conventional medicine when they're sick. "It's a lot for an expectant mother to be worrying about," says a friend of Katie.
Star magazine talks about how children of Scientologist parents are raised; "The tyke will be minded by a Scientologist nanny, and contact with non-Scientologist family members will be limited. This could be heart-breaking for Katie's Catholic parents, Martin and Kathleen. If they express skepticism about their daughter's new religion, they may be cut off from the child via formal "disconnection." [Celebrity Baby Blog]
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8 comments:
this proves she's been brainwashed. any woman who would willingly allow this to take place during the birth of her child isn't right in the head. this practice totally negates that fact that very real pain is involved in labor -- stifling a woman's need to release the pain is not on misogynistic, but fucking batshit insane. i'm getting my feminist stance all up in a knot just reading this bullshit.
God, I'm sick of these two. And by "sick," I mean I can't get enough.
LOFL. Classic.
I gotta say, I agree with them on this one. Screaming does not release the pain, it actually intensifies it. It is merely a natural reaction to bring help when in a dangerous situation. Being as silent as possible and making only deliberate moves to stimulate birth is a very good idea for both parties to minimize pain and trauma.
Johnny
As far as the silent thing... well, I've been through childbirth twice, and I can't possibly imagine being able to stay quiet, especially with no painkillers. I never did scream or anything, but there was certainly moaning.
"The doctrine stresses newborns cannot be poked or prodded for medical tests or spoken to for seven days."
Well they better hope that child is really healthy. Completely irresponsible.
"she is not even allowed to hold her newborn for the first 24 hours of its life."
This, along with the not being spoken to for seven days, the poor kid is going to fail to thrive.
Just to clarify, I meant I agree with them that it should be relatively quiet, not the whole "don't talk to the baby, don't hold the baby" crap or that the mother should be mute during it.
You women are so lucky to be able to birth!
Johnny
The whole bit about not being able to hold your baby or tend to him/her during the first week of life is the most retarded thing I've ever heard. So much of a baby's mentality gets set into motion during the first few hours and days of life. I cannot even believe that people become Scientologists and follow this bogus religion.
All religions bite.
Johnny
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