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Silent birth: Maybe not so crazy?

Kelly Preston is about to have her baby, which means that "silent birth" is back in the headlines. Preston and her husband, John Travolta, are longtime believers in Scientology, which encourages the practice -- you may remember hearing about silent birth when Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise, also a Scientologist, had their daughter back in 2006.At the time it sounded completely bonkers -- what kind of

Kelly Preston is about to have her baby, which means that "silent birth" is back in the headlines. Preston and her husband, John Travolta, are longtime believers in Scientology, which encourages the practice -- you may remember hearing about silent birth when Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise, also a Scientologist, had their daughter back in 2006.

At the time it sounded completely bonkers -- what kind of sadist would tell a laboring woman to be quiet? But it turns out, according to a Scientology press release, silent birth isn't about preventing the mother from making noise. It's about getting everyone else in the delivery room to shut up.

I never thought I'd be saying this about Scientology, but that doesn't sound completely crazy. Plenty of women have suffered through an overly excited L&D nurse or foot-in-mouth husband along with their labor pains. Maybe a little peace and quiet wouldn't be so bad?

What do you think about silent birth? Vote, and have your say in the comments.