Is Natural Birth Pain REALLY that BAD?

Question

im getting contractions now.. i know that i am in early labor.. however although my contractions hurt i can bare with them. and i have been since 4 in the morning. i just want to know if giving birth without an epidural really that painfull

Answer 1

I went thru 2 all natural births and it really was not all that painful. Uncomfortable - yes.........unbearable, no. You'll be fine without the epidural.

Answer 2

For me, the choice of having an epidural or not came down to how I thought I could handle the delivery.

With my first, it was 1:00am, I was tired, the contractions hurt so that I knew I wasn’t going to sleep until it was all over, and the nurses assured me that I would not be having the baby until dinner time the next day I thought my god! There’s no way I’m going to be able to push a baby out if I don’t get some sleep. So, I got the epidural, got some sleep and thank god because it took 2 hours pushing in round one and then another hour of pushing in round 2 to get him out. I needed to be rested for that and I believe that it would have been a c-section if I was too tired.

With the second I got one but I feel that I could have done it without but again, I was really tired.

Answer 3

The first baby usually tents to have a longer labor. Yes it hurts, the more you understand about whats happening the better off you are. Hopfully you took the classes when you were about 8 months along. The more scared you are the worse the pain gets. As soon as the babies born you forget all about the pain, and just remember it hurt, otherwise women wouldnt have more babies. Having an epidural has its problems also, it makes the baby sleeping after birth, etc. Also you can have a life time of problems from it, sitting up to early,headaches etc. Try to relax the best you can play games, stay at home as long as you can if you go to the hospital to soon you get bored, not a lot to do, and there full of sick people. Take a warm bath to help relax, inless your waters broke. When your contractions come about 5 mins or less apart go to the hospital.Epidurals them selfs are uncomforable, and its harder to push the baby out with one. If they need the baby out right away you wont beable to help. When your dialated to a 5 have them break your water that speeds up the birth.

Answer 4

No reason to go to the hospital right now. Until your contractions stop you from talking and walking and become unbearable then you need to go to the hospital. The entire time I was pregnant I was so scared of the labor and delivery part. But I read up on all of it and expected the worst pain of my life, but in reality it was NO WHERE near as bad as I thought it'd be. It was my first baby and I was only in labor for a few hours. I spend most of my time at home being in a comfortable place. I was having contractions, but I figured it had to get worse than what it was. I was even gonna go to work, but my boyfriend talked me into goin to the hospital. When I got to the hospital I was 8 cm!!! A short time later I was 9.5cm and they broke my water. Waited a bit to see if the DR was gonna make it on time, then I was 10cm and started pushing. For a 1st labor it went REALLY REALLY fast and it was VERY VERY EASY!!!!! Just relax, take a nap or a bath. You'll know when it's time to go to the hospital. Good Luck! you'll be fine!! you'll forget the pain once it's all over. The only think you'll be worrying about is that new little baby in your arms. The most wonderful feeling in the world!!

Answer 5

My honest answer is YES, ( notice it is in caps) but I made it through and so can you if you want to!
Having gone through both one fully natural birth and one birth using an epidural for pain., I can tell you that I felt better afterwards with the natural birth. As soon as the birthing process was over I felt no more pain and felt great actually. You won't really know if you can handle it until you are in the process and se how long it takes, etc.- and everybody's pain threshold if different- Just an fui- it was the birth itself that was most painful - not the contractions... you can laways decide to have pain control on standby and only use it if you want it...

Answer 6

Your uterus is a muscle that sits in the lower abdomen and is about the size of your fist. When you become pregnant the baby with the placenta starts to gradually grow slowly stretching it out. Your doctor probably measures you from the tip of you pubic bone to the top of the fundus or the up most limits to see how the baby is progressing. As the contractions start the "neck" or cervix softens and a cascade of contractions start at the upper most region to push the baby out. The size of the baby, its position, your general health, and how active you've been during pregnancy all come into play. This is why health care professionals stress prenatal classes so very strongly for both the mother and the father. A really good birthing coach who can anticipate your needs makes all the difference. You can opt to receive pain madication during labor after deciding to do it naturally but there is a point of no return. This is when the baby is coming and there is no time to give you anything. So talk things over with your doctor and with the nurses when you get to the hospital. Be open and frank, let them know that you are afraid, it's their job to help you through this. Congratulations and good luck.

Answer 7

I went to the doctor's with my fiance the other day and his nurse was about 6 months along. Since I'm 7 months along, we began to chit chat. She told me that with her previous pregnancy, she had a natural birth and that it wasn't as horrific as some people think. She listened to CD's to keep her mind off of the pain and just tried not to think about it too much. I'm considering a natural birth now since I haven't had a terrible pregnancy (no morning sickness and only minor back/leg aches) and I can usually focus on other things when something is bothering me. I think it all depends on the person, but you can try for a natural birth and then request an epidural later if you'd like!

Answer 8

The epidural was the best invention ever! My babies were only 6lbs12oz and 5lbs11oz and there is no way I could have done it without the epidural! It may be bearable now but just wait if the epidural wears off around 8 cm!

Answer 9

It depends on the person and how much pain you can take. With my 1st son I was induced. My nurse asked me many times was I was feeling anything because I was having big contraction but wasn't reacting. That labor took 13 hours.

Then with my second I went into labor on my own and didn't know it. I slept through it till the morning. I went to the hospital that morning because I was feeling what I thought was mild contractions but they were coming every minute. My son was born two hours later.

I say try natural birth because you can always change your mind and get some meds later. Congrats and Good Luck to you

Answer 10

It really really is painful, I'm not going to kid you. I had my son completely naturally (I was 17), I didn't have gas & air, epidural anything... I vaguely remember begging for anything, including asprin!!

That said, I'm now 32 weeks pregnant with number 2, and I'm the world's biggest coward! I run and scream like a baby when I see a wasp! So... If I could do it and I'm preparing to do it again, anyone can!!

Honestly, it is sort of like a trauma, which you forget the moment that baby is placed on your chest - if we could all exactly remember how painful it is, I doubt there'd be many families with more than 1 kid!!

Good luck, you'll be fine! I hope it all goes great for you. I'm not having any painkiller with this one either, I'm terrified that if I have an epidural, I won't be able to push (happened to my mum)!

:-)

Answer 11

YES IT IS THE WORST PAIN EVER but it's totally worth it! you get to feel everything! you can move around unrestrained! after the baby is born you can walk to the bathroom immediately! no side effects at all! and as soon as the baby slips out i SWEAR TO YOU there is no pain. no headaches or back pain from epidural, you are DONE. granted my labor was 3 hours total and i swear all the pain was condensed into that short period, so i swear mine was the worst ever.