LOS ANGELES – Tom Cruise has been practically shouting from the rooftops about his love for his pregnant fiancee, Katie Holmes. But when their much-anticipated baby is born, the superstar dad probably won’t say a word.

Cruise, a longtime Scientologist who introduced Holmes to the faith, is likely to follow Scientology’s practice of quiet birth. Followers believe the absence of talk and other noise in the delivery room is more healthful for mother and baby.

With the little one expected soon, tabloids and gossip Web sites have been rife with chatter about silent birth, spawning much speculation about what it is and isn’t.

Some are sure it means the mother can’t make a peep during childbirth – forget the popular image of a chaotic hospital-room scene with a laboring woman spewing invectives.

Others have claimed silence must be maintained for a full week after the baby is born and that Scientology opposes medical exams for newborns.

According to the tenets of Scientology, known as “Dianetics,” words – even loving ones – spoken during birth and other painful times are recorded by the “reactive mind,” or subconscious. Those memories, adherents feel, can eventually trigger problems for mother and child.

What the doctrine doesn’t say is that laboring moms can’t make some minimal noise during delivery.

“We’re not going for absolute silence,” said self-professed “Scientology mom” Michelle Seward. “If a sound is made, that’s OK.”