Does anything...and I mean anything at all hurt more than child birth?

I would call labour intense, at times VERY intense, but not really painful.

We can all add our 2 cents worth here but nothing is going to take away the "fear of the unknown". Until you experience childbirth yourself, your "curiosity" won't be cured.

Try and go in with an open mind. Don't think one or the other.

Have a good support team who know what your ideals are for the birth.

I always give my clients a copy of "A Labour of Love" to listen to in the last week of their pregnancies. They then go on to listen to the CD during the labour. The breathing exercises on the CD give them a focus point.

Don't put to much pressure on yourself. Be open. Literally!

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Bring it on... I'm ready :lol:

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Ren that so made me smile- I remember being at that point in pregnancy where you know it's goin to happen so soon and youa re just thinking "Yep! I'm ready! I'm tough! Bring it ooonnn!"

And that's when you know you're body is really starting to kick into gear.

You go girls ;) Knowledge is power.

Nope. I wouldn't say so.

But when it was all over I forgot about how painful it was. I've heard that this is a trick of the brain so that you'll go back and have more. All to preserve the human species.

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I always give my clients a copy of "A Labour of Love" to listen to in the last week of their pregnancies. They then go on to listen to the CD during the labour. The breathing exercises on the CD give them a focus point.

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That is the CD I was talking about, I loved it!

Um, yeah, pneumonia! I've had it twice, and it is heaps worse than childbirth. Yes, childbirth is painful, but managing it the right way, and going into it with a positive frame of mind, makes it a lovely experience :D I totally enjoyed it, and can't wait to go back again! And no, mine was not an easy, uncomplicated birth. But I still loved it!

Something to remember with birth is that for much of it the pain comes and goes. So you are not in constant pain for hours on end. Just thought I'd mention that, don't know if anyone else has!

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That is the CD I was talking about, I loved it!

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Its great isn't it!!!

I highly reccomend it!

Even though my post had MY opinion and MY expereince, which I thought the was the post was asking for peoples opinions and expereinces, I have offended someone. Apparently I wasn't meant to feel the way I did when I gave birth and if for some freakish reason I did feel that way I certainly wasn't meant to tell anyone or write it down. I'm very sorry if I upset or offended anyone else.

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No I don't think there is nothing thing more painful than childbirth. I thought I was going to die, I was in so much pain.

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I totally take into consideration that everyone is entitled to their own opinion. And I value that your experience of childbirth is what it was. But thats is exactly it. YOUR birth expereince was your own. I honestly don't think there is a need to relate the pain of dying to the birth of ones child.

As I mentioned in my last post, everyone has a different experience and feels labour differently. But to post a reply to a woman who obviously has some anxieties about her upcoming labour that you "thought you were going to die". C'mon!

Its these types of comments which can send women down the road to a cascade of intervention.

I think when your precious little one hurts themselves or is upset and really cries and you can see the tears rolling down their sweet little face... that hurts more.

Don't worry Ali - mother nature has a funny way of making you forget. I was all ready to do it again 24 hours later. :D

LOL Celsie, I was ready to do it again 5 minutes later - I told the midwives and my ob so and they all thought I was hilarious. I was serious!

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LOL Celsie, I was ready to do it again 5 minutes later - I told the midwives and my ob so and they all thought I was hilarious. I was serious!

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Mother Nature must have REALLY worked her wonders with you. I wasn't THAT keen. :lol:

Yeah, it was just the happy hormones :lol: Gotta love them, it's like being on drugs (not that I would know LOL).

I didn't give birth, but for me, having both your feet broken then the next day your "little" sister sitting on those feet because they were up on the sofa... that hurt more than anything that happened to me before or since. I found contractions and pushing didn't hurt whatsoever. It's like that bit in your period, just before it starts, when you have those warning pains in your birth canal - that's what pushing felt like to me. So not 100% comfortable but nothing I'd call painful.

I was expecting excruiating pain but it wasn't!!
Seriously I had a drug free birth and I can't even handle a blood test!

Your body tells you what to do when it is ready...
When it came time to have stitches I had double the local anesthetic I was supposed to have cos I could be in control(I was able to feel pain and had the time to think abouut it) and my head was in a completely different space than what it was during labour and birth.

That sounds so stupid but when you are going thru childbrth you trust your body so much that you don't question the pain..you just do it!!

It doesn't tickle but it is pain that makes you proud to be a woman!

I have had 2 drug free labours and while i have to admit that the 2nd was more painful (she was posterior) I would not for a second say that my labours 'hurt' or were 'painful' they were uncomfortable for sure but not painful. That is just me though but like others have said in here, I dont like to assiciate the word pain wiht birthing a child. I do believe however that pain is affected by your mental state at the time and if you arent able to 'relax' into whats happening and you try to fight it, i imagine it will be painful.

My daughter is 4 weeks old so things are still fresh in my mind....
childbirth to me is absolutely the most painful thing I have ever gone through...can't describe the pain....loved the Epidural...

would i do it again...YES

I think it's ok for people to say how painful childbirth was. Yes it's a miracle, but I dont' think we need to all feel that it was a good pain. I certainly didn't, it was in no way a pain I enjoyed. I enjoyed the end result, but not the process. Sorry. I do think the pain is quite quickly forgotten thus we go back for more, and that's nature's way of getting us to have more kids! But I don't want to gloss over something that every time, I dread and do not enjoy. Doesn't mean I dont' want the end result, or love it any less..

I just want to say something. I wish someone said it to me before I had my first.
OK, it does hurt. Especially if you aren't prepared.
You need to remember to relax. Its hard, but you have to let your body do what it needs to do.
I was scared when I had DD1 & started trying to fight the pain. It slowed my labour right down til it almost stopped after 5 minute part contractions.
They gave me pethidine & in the end I did get through it without a ceaser. They were talking about it.

After I had DD1 my view on birth was feeling like you are being torn apart inside.

Now I've had 2 more my oppinion has completely changed. With DD2 I worked with my body. It was still painful (for me), but I got through it alot easier.
DD2's birth is the one I feel was the most amazing. It was drug free. I had 20 hours of pre labour, which I walked around town with, then about 9 hours of actual labour.
I hung at home til I thought I needed something for the pain, but when I found out I was already 7cm, I was so proud of myself that I didn't have anything for the pain except one breath of gas when I had to stop pushing for a bit.

DS's labour I feel was too fast & intense. It was over in 5 hours from start to finish. No prelabour, no warning. At all.
I did demand pethidine in transition, which I got, but it didn't start working til after he was born. It wasn't too hard on my body or anything, it was the mental part of it.
I don't know why, but my brain just couldn't comprehend that it was all over already.

It is hard work, but you have to tell yourself you can do it. Its hard, but make sure you relax through the contractions. In my mind with DD2 I was actually telling the bottom half of my body to relax.
When you get there & it does hurt, don't be scared of the pain. It IS normal.
Don't fight it. Let you body do what it was made to do.

Please don't be scared. You can do it. Just remember that.

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Alibaby - what i reckon, is that if it was that bad, noone would ever go back for more than 1 child ;)

I reckon it's gonna hurt like hell :lol: but it's gonna be sooo worth it!! Bring it on... I'm ready :lol:

Pain with purpose!

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That's the spirit :clap: Great attitude!

I went thru labour and delivery (30hrs from start to finish) 2 weeks ago.
Yes, it hurt - but I wouldnt really say it was pain, if that makes sence?
It was intense. The contractions grip your body, but you gets breaks in between and you know it will end. For me it was not an enjoyable experience and I was not one of the post delivery elated women that you sometimes hear stories of or see photos of (the imediate photo of when they handed him up to me I look horrified :lol: )

Basically it was alot of hard work, hence it being called labour. The actual delivery part was most difficult because the pressure to push for me was so strong, but the actual pushing was HARD! Painful, no not really, not for me anyway, it was more the hard work to push that I struggled with. I wasnt prepared for how hard pushing could be and by that stage I was exhausted.



I would imagine that it would be far worse to suffer burns or such than to have a baby. I think there are probably a few things that would be much worse 'pain' wise.

Actually I can think of another.

Attempted manual removal of placenta with external uterine massage. Hurt a hell of a lot more than birthing the baby 10 mins before.

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Jumping a horse with a broken collarbone was worse. Every jump was agony.Bx

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Oh no poor horse!! Why would make you do such a thing to an injured animal Bec?! :lol:

Heehee!

Seriously though, I think there are many things that hurt more than childbirth. I had a tonsilectomy (sp) when I was 15 and the recovery from that, and the infection I got after sneezing and ripping open the wound (ouch) hurt waaay more than cb.

My gall stone/bladder attacks were worse. I had to have my gall bladder removed due to it being FULL of stones.... after 3 years of agony with Dr's trying to convince me it was heartburn before having an ultrasound done & finding out the truth! :wall:

I have also been suffering similar attacks recently... almost exactly the same actually but not sure what it is due to my gall bladder already having been removed LOL

I agree that childbirth is a different kind of pain... one that many woman around the world keep coming back for!! (so it cant be all that bad hey!)

Good luck & please dont get yourself all worked up thinking about the "pain" of childbirth.... its a beautiful experience, try to relax as much as possible & enjoy bringing your new baby into the world, we are very privalidged (sp?) to be able to do so!

The one thing about labour is, that although it hurts like mighty hell for some and not too badly for others, there are a lot of pain relief methods out there.

I broke my arm when I was pregnant, and I wouldn't say it hurt more than labour, it was just sudden and intense, and I couldn't take any drugs for it. So I'd say some things are bad. But no matter how bad things can hurt, there is always some form of pain relief (except in some circumstances, it cannot be given).

im with ozzie and lulu: Dentist and Heartbrake...... Labour just wasnt painful to me tho....

To be honest I've not experienced anything that hurt as much physically, but all the time I was hurting I kept in the front of my mind, the pain was there for a reason. I wasn't in pain because something bad had happened or that I'd had a horrible accident. In fact it meant each and every painful contraction was bringing both my precious children closer to being in my arms.
I would however say that yes there is lot's of things that hurt more - they are the emotional pains that you can't control.
The pain of childbirth is all part of the miracle and wonderment.
Good luck for your birth, I hope it is all you hope it will be.

I didn't want the pain of birth the way my mother described it. I absolutely did not want that to be part of my experience. Wanting a different experience wasn't enough, so I did a lot of homework and preparation, did my Hypnobirthing course and can tell you that the only thing I would call 'pain' was what I felt when I had to get in the damn car, after labouring at home, to breathe DS out. The car trip was horrendous, so it's homebirth for me, next time! I also had excructiating SPD pain through pregnancy, and that was painful.
Like Spring Angel, I would call the birthing process intense. With my preparations and visualisations (knowing what muscles were going to be doing what) I was able to embrace what was to come and I ended up 'humming' through the whole thing. It was really great.
Having a small shard of broken glass tuck in the part of your foot next to the ball of your foot is painful. Having a 'doctor' in a first aid station on a Greek Island attempt to inject a local anaesthetic into said ball of foot was far more painful than anything I think I've ever experienced...so painful I asked him to stop and just dig in there for the glass with his little blade!
The pain from having bruised and messed up the cartilage of my front ribcage, pain that lasted for many weeks, after a big horse riding accident (and even breathing was a calculated exercise) was what I'd actually call painful.
And, yes, recovery from wisdom tooth extraction is up there at the top of the painful list!
Birth was 'zen', just as I wanted and planned it. If you don't want it to be 'painful' then ask how you can avoid a painful birth ;) You'll get loads more useful information that way.
Oh, and I also had a drug-free waterbirth. Water is a great way to birth, especially if you're anticipating 'pain'.
Don't take for granted that if you go without epidural you're gonna have an excruciating experience. It's just not true, as a rule.
You are allowed to plan for the birth you want - the right midwives will support this wholeheartedly and point you in the right direction for preparation.
If you are planning a hospital birth, you especially need to work for the birth you want - it's not just going to happen. If you decide to 'let the doctors make the decisions' and you'll 'go with their flow', you're asking for your birth experience to be hijacked. (yes, I know this doesn't happen for everybody - just a hell of a lot of people, a lot of whom I know personally, before I am shot down here!).
Trust me, the preparation beforehand is great insurance - you'll be glad you did it :) Don't be afraid to ask what your body is going to do during birth (and your uterus - birth classes run by hospies don't tend to go into enough detail about what the uterus is doing during labour, and why it's doing it).
Just remember, it CAN be done without the cliche'd 'pain', ok? If you want the pain, different story (though if you knew it could be done without stress and without pain, why would you not find out how? I've never understood that!).
HTH

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I also had excructiating SPD pain through pregnancy, and that was painful.

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Oh, I had SPD this time round aswell... MUCH more painful than giving birth!!! The SPD is what may stop me having any more children... definately not the labour & birth!

I can honestly say that "feeling" my babies being born (the last moments as they enter the world IYKWIM) was AMAZING. The best feeling knowing that your child has just been born from your body, feeling your child that has been growing inside you for 9 months leave to now come into your arms... its hard to explain & I may sound strange but it was one of "those" moments of my life.

Hmmmm, I dont think that came across as I wanted.....

I dont think childbirth is painful. Sure it hurt but not to the extent that it affects my life or recollection of the birth experience. But I credit my mental preparation to it I guess, I knew technically it was going to hurt etc but I just reminded myself that it was normal, it is a beautiful process and that I would forget the 'pain' within seconds of his delivery!
I was induced, no pain relief for both births and in my second I was chatting away having a joke with my midwife til it was time to push him out! I had moments of panic because I guess we are programmed to feel like we SHOULD find it excruciating but in the end it wasnt. I find it more annoying than painful lol

But different people have different pain threshholds. I thought for sure I would find it excruciating but I guess I didnt really know what my threshhold was until I gave birth.

ETA - doesnt help when film and tv make all their birthing scenes like something out of a horror movie - screaming, blood everywhere, people speaking in harsh tones, the mother looking like she wants to crawl in a hole and die. So totally didnt happen that way for me, it was quite peaceful. I had a friend (not had children yet) watch my second birth and she was so amazed that it didnt happen the way she thought it does - similar to what I described above. She said I looked like I was hurting but that I smiled in between contractions, "it was a beautiful thing to see a woman doing what we're made to do". She still tells me how happy she was to see that it doesnt have to be scary even if its 'painful'! Im glad I could show her that if it helps her birthing experiences be a nice memory too!

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My gall stone/bladder attacks were worse. I had to have my gall bladder removed due to it being FULL of stones.... after 3 years of agony with Dr's trying to convince me it was heartburn before having an ultrasound done & finding out the truth! :wall:

I have also been suffering similar attacks recently... almost exactly the same actually but not sure what it is due to my gall bladder already having been removed LOL

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Danielle, I had this after mine was removed - I needed a stent put into my bile duct to keep it open so the stones my body continues to produce don't rub on the walls causing pain. It is a relatively non-invasive procedure and can be done as a day case. Your GP can refer you to a gastroenterologist who can fix this for you.

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Danielle, I had this after mine was removed - I needed a stent put into my bile duct to keep it open so the stones my body continues to produce don't rub on the walls causing pain. It is a relatively non-invasive procedure and can be done as a day case. Your GP can refer you to a gastroenterologist who can fix this for you.

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:hug: THANK YOU!!!! Hopefully I won't have to worry about getting another attack soon! :)

Fantastically interesting question, I'm enjoying reading people's frank description of the relativity of their pain/sensation in childbirth.

I'm loving ppl saying "gallstones is worse than childbirth". I'm currently having gallstone attacks (yes I need morphine to cope with them) and I'm aware that I'm at the very extreme end of the spectrum BUT childbirth was worse for me than my gallstones. I'd rate the severe pain from gallstones as an 8-9 but childbirth took me into the 10 zone.

However from all my reading and listening to women's experiences, I'm aware that this is not normal at all and probably a poor reflection on the hospital I was in at the time. Or maybe I'm just wired differently to other women.

ETA: In defence of whatever it was that HP's mum wrote, pain that is 10/10 is probably just about as extreme as it gets. It was painful enough to cause me to leave my body and go to the jumping off place, to look my death in the eye. I had to fight to stay here, to stay alive. I'm sorry if that is scary to whoever reads it but both HP's Mum and myself are still here so and in the end that's what matters. In contrast, my neighbour across the road was the one-in-a-million woman who felt exactly ZERO pain during any of her 3 births, only went to the hospital with her first because she was feeling a 'heavy' sensation. It was the baby descending through the birth canal, it crowned just after she waddled through the door. I'm sure that's not normal either. But I'd like to think that BB is a place where every woman's experience is honoured and validated, no matter how extreme or strange it might seem to everyone else.

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I'm enjoying reading people's frank description of the relativity of their pain/sensation in childbirth.

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Me too! I think it is so interesting to know how different people view the idea of pain and what it is to them as it is so true that everyone rates pain differently and we all have different pain thresholds.

I cant believe some of the terrible accidents or medical problems some people have gone through! It really does show how amazingly strong we are as women!

I dont think men would be able to cope with the different types of pain that different ladies on BB have experienced. My DP whinges and carries on when he has a cold!!!!!

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I dont think men would be able to cope with the different types of pain that different ladies on BB have experienced.

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Yep, I totally agree!

Having never had broken bones or any serious injuries or chronic illnesses before I had my kids - yes, childbirth was the most painful thing my body has ever experienced.

Yet after a 20 hour labour with our first one, I told my DH less than an hour after she was born that I wanted another one asap. Such is the power of happy birthing hormones! :lol:

I get asked about the pain factor alot from the mum's I work with...there are some doulas and midwives that like to minimise references to pain and give it other names - while I understand that intellectually and appreciate that there are women for whom this approach works, I don't talk about pain in that way. Primarily I guess because that wasn't my own experience of it, my labours hurt! I guess I don't feel that you can prepare for something unless you know what it is, so I tend not to sugar coat it. But in saying that birthing is painful, the pain is also transformative and it has a purpose - we come through it transformed from women into mothers. It also plays an important role in keeping mother and baby safe during birthing and in triggering responses and events that are important in the process. So for that reason we can embrace it and know that it's not something to fear. It is most definitely not the same as having your leg chopped off.

I'll quote that old chestnut, too, as an addendum to my previous post:
Fear=Tension=Pain
without a doubt! That was one thing missing from my birth experience, fear, which meant the others weren't present in that terrible trifecta :)

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I'll quote that old chestnut, too, as an addendum to my previous post:
Fear=Tension=Pain
without a doubt! That was one thing missing from my birth experience, fear, which meant the others weren't present in that terrible trifecta :)

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Ditto ditto ditto :)

Well I am going to give my experience of labour but it is different for everyone and I don't think you can necessarily prepare yourself from someone else's experiences. My labor experience of pain was very negative but I am going to post it because people who have these experiences are as normal as those who have great labor experiences. I had a posterior baby and a bad reaction to the induction drug causing tonic contractions. I also have had bad experiences in my life which likely impacted on my birthing experience. I controlled the pain of my contractions through breathing and eventually gas. When I went to the bathroom and had to come off gas the pain was incredible. I was honestly traumatised by the amount of pain and the birthing experience and thought I was going to die. My lifeline was my partner who I eventually got into a headlock lol. But somehow I got through it and although I am glad I wont be doing it again, I am doubly glad for having my most amazing little son who has just captured my heart and made what I went through worth it. I had lots of support (my mil is a midwife plus my DH), prepared myself as much as I could physically and mentally, and was actually looking forward to the birth at the time. I think you can get overly scared by the prospect of birthing and all you can do is be as educated as you can. I personally suspect the last few tiring weeks of being stretched and huge are so we get over being pregnant look forward to the birth. LOL

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I'll quote that old chestnut, too, as an addendum to my previous post:
Fear=Tension=Pain
without a doubt! That was one thing missing from my birth experience, fear, which meant the others weren't present in that terrible trifecta :)

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Ditto ditto ditto ;) I can honestly say that I had not one iota of fear in me going into my labour - and I really think it made a difference.

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But I'd like to think that BB is a place where every woman's experience is honoured and validated, no matter how extreme or strange it might seem to everyone else.

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I second that, we all have different birthing experiences, some are just horrific and some are blissful. Each experience is as valid as the next and BB is often the one place where we feel free to be open and honest. It may scare some people but it's OUR truth. Please lets all accept each other as we are, scarey stories, sad stories, wonderful experiences and ugly truths.

We are who we are - wonderful, strong and HONEST women...