I know this is going to sound like a stupid question but is childbirth really as bad as some make out?

Answer 1

I guess it depends on the person. I was totally prepared for hell but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It hurt but I would do it again tomorrow because a baby changes your life in such a wonderful way. You know how good it feels to fall in love, well you love your baby more thatn you can ever understand

Answer 2

You have to remember that everyone is different and have different levels of pain.A woman who has a low tolerance of pain (during a normal labor) will tell you that it was terrible for her because the pain was just unbearable.
Some women have very high pain tolerances like I do and labor isn't bad because we're not focused on how much it hurts.Truthfully if you think about it thats always the main focus when you hear any women discuss labor they tell you about the pain.
I think the only thing I can say from my labor was it wasn't painful but when I lost my plug and my water broke; I wanted a shower so badly.And it sucks because unless yu're going for a water birth you can't take a shower and especially not a bath.
Labor I think is what you make of it if you go in there and focus solely on the pain and discomfort you're experiencing then you won't have a good experience.I had a great labor and I can't wait to do it again.I told my husband that while pushing my daughter's head out 3 yrs ago today:) Oh and I went all natural without drugs but again high pain tolerance made that all possible hehehe...

Hope this helps:)

M.Gard

Answer 3

It depends on the training you have gone through. Going in scared makes it worse, every time. Fear tenses you up, tension leads to pain. Drugs can make it better (or worse, they made me nauseated), but they can also cause a snowball effect of interventions that may not have been necessary otherwise.

It can also vary on your level of pain tolerance, with or without drugs. I watched a water birth video on YouTube. The lady was sitting in the birth pool, her husband had been rubbing her back a few minutes before, and then she's in the pool alone, and suddenly says "He's out, he's out" and the midwife came and helped bring the baby out of the water. THAT's the kind of birth I'd love to have - she made it look so effortless.

Women who are mentally prepared for a drugged childbirth and do not get that birth, whether the drugs didn't take effect quickly enough, or if she didn't have an opportunity to get the drugs, tend to feel like natural childbirth is absolutely horrible - but they weren't prepared for natural childbirth.

Natural childbirth, however, is NOT a terrible, horrible birth experience. It depends on how well you are prepared and how much support you have.

I've gotten to a point where I really distrust the medical profession where childbirth is concerned, in low-risk instances, anyway. They are there for the emergencies, but the emergencies are not the norm - that's why they are emergencies.

My water broke early with my first and I "had" to be induced. Induced labors are also more difficult, btw. Instead of having time to let the contractions naturally progress into full blown labor, it hits all at once, and then you're going through hard contractions the full time, instead of having them build up to that level. I was also scared, and as I said, that leads to more pain. Overall, it was still a good experience. I hated the narcotics I agreed to take. I HATED the induction, especially later finding out the drug they used (cytotec) is not FDA-authorized for any use during pregnancy (although it is also used to induce abortions, nice huh?)

My second birth was fully natural. I didn't have money to go through the Bradley classes again so I re-read a lot of books - I was only giving birth 15 months later, so I didn't need a lot to refresh my memory. I stayed home until I felt like I really needed to get to the hospital. Within an hour and a half, I had my baby. I was able to read my body and know where I was at in labor, and I had a birth much closer to what I wanted. My second birth was entirely drug-free.

The worst part for both of my births, no joke, was the stupid hep-lock. I refuse to have one next time. It takes all of my concentration off of having my baby and throws it onto the pain in my wrist. If they tell me that the doctor refuses to work with a mother who doesn't have a hep-lock in, I'll tell my husband to get me my clothes and I'll see how far they let me get out the door, in labor, before changing their minds.

I'm sorry that you had to hear horror stories. Not everyone has a bad experience. I consider both of mine to be good experiences, despite not being my dream births.

Answer 4

Its not a stupid question. The first thing to remember is that everyone's pain tolerance is different. I have had two children and no pain meds with either one and I did NOT have an epidural. They were both vaginal, and 100% natural. Only my second labor was induced. In my opinion, no childbirth really isn't that bad. I was in labor for about 7 1/2 hrs with the first and 7 hours with my second baby. The best thing about labor is that you know once the baby is born, all the pain goes away. You are not in constant pain with labor... its like a cramp, it comes, then goes away. Then with the next contraction, you have pain, then goes away again. If you can not handle a lot of pain, there are lots of options such as an epidural. I wanted to try natural with my first, wanted to try the no pain meds option. I was open minded, if I needed them I would ask for them but want to try to go without. My dr respected that. Because I was able to do it with no pain meds the first time, my mind was set, I was going to do it without the pain meds the second time.

Answer 5

It depends on your pain medication or lack of... and every labor is different. It will be different from your first baby to your second baby. It depends on the baby's position and presentation.

Some women say it wasn't bad at all. Some say it was so bad they'll never have another. To be honest, it was the worst possible pain I could have ever imagined but you find a way to deal with it because you know it's worth it....it's weird. And once you are able to push... the pushing actually makes the pain ease up a bit and you'll want to push!

Answer 6

It varies. Some women have the child instantly without the feel of contractions. Some women go through contractions for over 24 hours.

There is dehydration, positioning, how the birth goes, what needs to be done during the birth,...

... a clue with alot of women is they are in so much pain they cannot feel when the doctor increases the size of the "exit" or preforms a C-Section without any meds.

Answer 7

it realy depends on your pain tolerace level and your perseption of if it will hurt or not.
if you go into it knowing that the pain will only last as long as it takes you to deliver and that it will go away after you have the baby you will beable to get thru it fine.
if you go into it thinking that its going to be the worse pain in your life then you'll have issues.
also what type of labor you have will also effect the way you tolerate the pain. back labor can be more painfull than other labor.

with all 3 of my deliverys I went natural (i didnt even have a IV) I delivered my first son within 30 minutes of getting to the hospital. and my second took about 6 hours once i got to the hospital and my third took about 8 hours or so. (i had them real close together so with each it took longer cause my body was tired)(it was like having triplets)

but still with each i really didnt "feel" that bad I knew once they were here and i was holding them it would all be worth it.

visit my web site for my delivery storys.
http://naightengale.tripod.com/

Answer 8

Yes sometimes. My first was horrible and I couldn't even get an epidural. I was in labor for 18 hours and I dealt with the pain until 10 hours into it, then I started asking for an epidural but there had been an emergency and all the anesthesiologists were in surgery and were not available until an hour before I delivered.
My second was a piece of cake, My water broke and I went to the hospital, my doctor called for my epidural before I even felt one contraction, so my second was pain free and I slept through my labor!!!

Answer 9

I have had 3 kids. 2 with an epidural and my last one naturally cause the epidural didn't work. Its hurt really bad but once it is all over with you forget all about the pain that you went through and you are just happy to be holding your baby.

Answer 10

No it is not. I expected the worst of what everyone was telling me and it was not nearly as bad as all that. I had an epideral which made things a little easier. I just listened to what the doctor and nurses instructed me to do and all went well. The pain was bad, I won't lie, but not as bad as one might think.