Tom Cruise Preps Family With Birthing Seminar

With all of the talk surrounding the birth of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes’ first child, especially from a Scientology point of view, the current buzz on the arrival of their newborn centers on the practice of silent birth and the birthing seminars Tom has set up to educate friends and family on what to expect when the big day happens.

In an effort to inform family and those close to Katie Holmes on how to handle a Scientologist birth, Tom Cruise has been conducting seminars. CNN has posted excerpts of an up-coming article in the May edition of GQ magazine, where Tom Cruise is quoted as saying, ”We've been doing seminars with the family just to educate them,” the Mission Impossible 3 star continues, ”It's just kind of becoming a fun game of learning. We've also been studying what happens after the birth and how to take care of the baby.”

During the past couple of weeks, confusion over the Scientology practice of silent birth has been making headlines, most recently brought into the spotlight with news of Katie Holmes’ pregnancy. In a recent interview with ABC’s Diane Sawyer, Tom Cruise reveals, ”It's basically just respecting the mother, you know, and helping to be quiet — not the mother. The mother makes as much noise … you know, she's going through it.” When the topic of drugs for the mother came up, Cruise elaborated, ” She does what she's gotta do, OK? …We're there you know, with doctors…Whatever the woman wants. I'm not gonna tell Kate …you know, if she needs an epidural, she's gonna get her epidural.”

As far as Katie Holmes’ conversion to Scientology (See Cruise Says Katie Holmes Now a Scientologist) and all of the Easter weekend gossip about her Catholic parents being upset over her conversion, Cruise dismissed the tabloid type hype and revealed that her parents are absolutely fine with her decision.

27 year old Katie Holmes, star of such movies as Batman Begins, Thank You For Smoking and the TV series Dawson's Creek, has been taking time out of the public eye to have her first child. Tom Cruise, 43, who has been the star of many previous Hollywood blockbusters, including War of the Worlds, Minority Report, Collateral, Jerry Maguire and Vanilla Sky, has recently been doing press for his upcoming movie, Mission: Impossible 3, which is set to release May 5th.

The rumor mill has been working overtime, churning out stories about Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. Rumors have been floated about the baby's sex, the baby's name, the attempts to induce labor, and the date of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes' wedding. Cruise has announced to the world that he and fiancée Katie Holmes will wait until after she has given birth, and after the release of Mission: Impossible 3 to tie the knot.

[Additional Sources: ABC News, CNN, GQ]

- Mark Paridy