Does childbirth labor really hurt?

Question

This is my first full term pregnancy and I 've been told by some that it's very painful. Others have said that the contractions hurt worse.

Answer 1

Can I say YES as loud as my screams were? No!

Believe me after having 1 natural, I didn't do it again. Please have an epideral. It doesn't hurt the baby, it removes your pain which creates stress on the baby. NO pain equals happy baby and mom.

God bless you in your delivery.

Answer 2

I"ve been through childbirth several times. I can honestly say it's not "pleasant", but childbirth is also not in my top 5 painful things I've endured (passing a kidney stone was FAR worse!).

Natural labor (meaning not induced labor by Pitocin) was a lot easier than the contractions I had while being induced. Avoid being induced at all costs because it hurts more and you have a shorter break between contractions to recover.
With my last child, I didn't have any drugs but I labored the whole time in a warm tub of water. I promise the water worked a heck of a lot better than the epidural I had with the previous birth. Water worked great. The contractions only felt like mild menstral cramps when I was in the tub of water.

Are you asking if crowning hurts more than contractions? For me, the contractions were more painful put the pushing/crowning seems to require a lot more work.

But to honestly answer your question...who knows. It all depends on many factors, including your attitude and expectations, your threshold for pain, your body's "readiness" for labor, the length of your labor (quick vs prolonged or exhaustion), etc. EVERY person is different and every labor is different. You could have 3 different kids with 3 totally different labor/childbirth experiences.
But your body is designed to handle it just fine. Trust in your body and the birth process. Don't enter into it scared. Fear always makes any experience seem worse. You and your child will be fine!
Good luck!

Answer 3

Does Childbirth Hurt

Answer 4

Well I had natural childbirth, but not by choice. My labor lasted 45 minutes. One pain, once it started it didn't stop til it was over. Not very many people go that fast especially with their first but I did. The experience itself, the 9 months of carrying the baby, the birth, and the raising of the baby is so much more than just the worry of pain that the pain doesn't really matter. The experience is well worth anything. The love is like no other to be felt. If you do have this blessing in your life, count yourself very lucky. Not all women are blessed to go through birth.

Answer 5

Depends on your pain thesehold.

also, drugs have various effects,epidural you wont feel a thing, gas and air works on some women not me though made me sick.

My son was late so i had to be induced that bit they applied a gel(down there in the nether regoins) and my contractions started coming thick and fast, they did hurt but it not too bad, i did have a monitor measuring them so the higher the number the stronger the contraction. They only last about a minute.
Anyway, the midwifes had to break my waters without drugs which does really hurt(believe me i had to be pinned down and they attempted three times), but i hadnt dialated so I was told i'd be having a caesarean so i opted for the epidural. This gave me so much relief.
However, if you do want an epidural think of afterwards i couldnt get out of bed for a day, and when it came for walking i could barely move for a couple of days, i wasnt even bothered by the stitches!

If baths relax you try a water birth, I really wanted one but I had no choice in the matter my son really didnt want to come out.

But nevermind all the pain when you first see your child youll think like wow i made that, youll never ever forget the first moment you laid eyes on them.

Goodluck!

Answer 6

You don't have to be in pain if you don't want to do it that way. You can have an epidural. Thait is an injection in the spine which stops all paid signals from below the injection from reaching the brain. You can actually have a totally pain free birth this way and be fully conscious the whole time.

People have vastly differing tollerances of pain and you don't need to put yourself through it. Some poeple prefer a 'natural birth' but you don't have to worry about other people, do what you prefer.

Answer 7

I've had this experience four times, and I can say all of them were different. There are parts of it not worse than menstruation, but at the end it's getting more painful. Like with all pains, it all depends on how you can bear pain in general and on that particular day. You can prepare for it though. Sleep as much as you can, because at the end you never know when it begins, and if you are tired, your pain tolerance gets lower. Eat healthy food, it's your interest as well as your child's. And use relaxation techniques to meditate over the meaning of pain. Then during meditation convince your body - with the most plausible words you can - that your pain tolerance is increasing and you're having a wonderful, easy labour that 's not giving you and your child more pain that is necessary. "Everything's going to be allright. Providence helps us."
Just keep thinking of your baby, and breathe as taught (or learn the breathing techniques a.s.a.p.)
There is a wonderful line in a Hungarian poem by Attila József, and it goes something like this:
"The child suffers, too, when the woman is in labour - Double pain can be relieved by humility". Humility towards something much mightier than us humans - and this is what women (must)understand when giving birth.

Answer 8

Yes. It does hurt. But the pushing out isn't hard, it's the contractions. But once the baby is out, it's gonna feel like you never went through anything. It's weird. But it's definitely worth it. Hopefully you won't have a long labor.
Congratulations and Good Luck!

Answer 9

There is a reason Nature designed women to not precisely remember the pain of labor/childbirth...if they did, the world's population would be MUCH smaller...

So try to take some comfort in knowing that, no matter how much it hurts, you won't remember it clearly afterward...

Answer 10

My first labor wasn't so bad i didn't need an epidural or anything! It was 12 hours. But the second one made up for the first one and 2 more.!!!! As soon as I saw her I forgot all about the pain though. Trust me you never know what i will be like no matter what people tell you it will be like nothing you ever experienced.