What do you do when you're going through the most memorable, and possibly painful, time in your life? You create a playlist.
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There are few things more stressful in life than giving birth, and searches for "giving birth songs" have increased by 23 per cent during the past 12 months.
Soon-to-be parents are searching for ways to make this big day easier and more memorable, and research shows they're creating playlists on Spotify.
Coming in at number one on the 'Top 20 most popular songs to give birth to' list, is Only Love by English singer-songwriter Ben Howard.
This was followed by Jack Johnson's Better Together, and Here Comes the Sun by The Beatles.
At number four is Sunrise by Nora Jones, and rounding out the top five is Follow The Sun by Xavier Rudd.
The Beatles scored two songs in the top 20, with their second entry Blackbird at number 16.
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Other multiple appearance artists in the ranking included Ed Sheeran's Perfect (#6) and Thinking out Loud (#10); Fleetwood Mac's Landslide (#7) and Dreams (#12); and Coldplay's The Scientist (#15) and Yellow (#17).
While calm and easy listening songs dominated the list, Push It by Salt-N-Pepa (#14) definitely brought up the tempo a notch.
Tracy Chapman's Fast Car, which came in at number 13, left us scratching our heads. Fast car to where? The finish of this whole childbirth thing?
The mum-to-be didn't request any songs, however did say not to include any cliche songs like Push It because she didn't think it would be helpful.
- Kristen Osborne
Queensland resident Kristen Osborne recently created a playlist for when her wife gave birth.
"The mum-to-be didn't request any songs, however did say not to include any cliche songs like Push It because she didn't think it would be helpful. She wanted more relaxing and fun songs that meant something to her," she said.
Seven songs on Mrs Osborne's playlist also featured on the top 20 and they all had special meanings and memories for the mum-to-be.
Top 20 most popular songs to give birth to
- Only Love, Ben Howard
- Better Together, Jack Johnson
- Here Comes The Sun, The Beatles
- Sunrise, Nora Jones
- Follow The Sun, Xavier Rudd
- Perfect, Ed Sheeran
- Landslide, Fleetwood Mac
- All of Me, John Legend
- Ocean Eyes, Billie Eilish
- Thinking Out Loud, Ed Sheeran
- Your Song, Elton John
- Dreams, Fleetwood Mac
- Fast Car, Tracy Chapman
- Push It, Salt-N-Pepa
- The Scientist, Coldplay
- Blackbird, The Beatles
- Yellow, Coldplay
- I Won't Give Up, Jason Mraz
- Shallow, Lady Gaga
- Heartbeats, Jose Gonzalez
The top 20 list was compiled by life insurance broker Reassured. A company spokesperson said music is one of the best ways to stay calm.
"More relaxing music calms the mind and helps you mentally prepare yourself for what comes next, something that's very important during childbirth," the spokesperson said.
Nadine Morton
I report on crime, emergency services and police matters. Email me on nadine.morton@austcommunitymedia.com.au
