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

I thank God all the time for the easy births I've had. I don't have what I'd call "pain" until the last few contractions, but I'm so out of it on endorphins by that stage it's more than manageable. I really dislike the intensity of those last ones, and that feeling of the baby coming down the birth canal before it is born, but I figure that's nature's way of giving me the motivation to push it out ;)

The body, in the right circumstances, can also produce its own painkillers to at least help with that, and I'm a great believer in doing whatever I can to encourage that production. That means a lot of visualisation, a lot of movement, a lot of relaxation, and a lot of preparation beforehand.

Yes, actually, I have been misunderstood! By saying that preparing makes birth less fearful and possibly less painful, I am NOT then saying that a birth that was painful or that went in a different direction happened because there was no preparation. It's false logic to draw that conclusion from what I'm saying.
I am saying that you are far more likely to have a better birth if you DO prepare in this way when in a medicalised environment. In no way is this insurance against things going against the plan. I DO think preparation helps you deal with unplanned events far better, as well. I've not ever heard one person say that HypnoBirthing made their birth experience worse, for example. In cases where things had to become medicalised, I've only ever read and heard people say that without the HB or Calmbirthing course, it would have been a lot worse. So, by extension, I'm saying that general preparation can only make a bad situation better for you.
Yes, I still wish more women had the birthing experience I had. It was ace and I'm not afraid to say so. My birth experience has given a lot of women hope for first or subsequent births.
Preparation is still the key, in today's medicalised and scare-mongering birth world, to having a better birth experience, even if that birth still involves a measure of pain or medical intervention.
For me, it meant not having 'pain' - and I wasn't banking on not having pain, so that was a bonus for me.
ETA: Marydean - exactly! We do what we do based on the best information we have at the time - the information you had going in would have 'insulated' you from a worse outcome than if you had done no preparation at all and had to educate yourself from scratch in order to heal, would that be representative of where you're at?

Haven't read all the responses but I can tell you a 9cm cyst on your ovary is right up there, 10 outta 10 kinda pain. And it went on for 6 months because I was prg and couldn't have it removed. Can't tell you how many times I went to A&E. The pain following that surgery was also baaaaad.

I'd have a baby over those two experiences in a heartbeat.

I just wanted to throw in here- there is no shame in pain. Experiencing pain during birth is seen as the norm across many cultures, ages and demographics, and some see it as a rite of passage.

For Ali, and all the other girls who will soon give birth, even if you have done all the prep in the world, you may still feel pain and you may still need intervention. Doesn't mean you've failed, or you didn't try hard enough or breath deep enough.

For many many women, birth is just painful. That is a very common thing and not neccessarily something that will make you feel disappointed, incomplete, sad or traumitised. Pain- or lack of it- doesn't neccessarily mean your birth experience is any worse or better than anyone else's. Just different, in the same way all our birth experiences are different.

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For many many women, birth is just painful. That is a very common thing and not neccessarily something that will make you feel disappointed, incomplete, sad or traumitised. Pain- or lack of it- doesn't neccessarily mean your birth experience is any worse or better than anyone else's.

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Exactly, that's why I thought I'd mention that I wasn't going into birth thinking I'd insured against pain. It just happened that way. My GF's home waterbirth was painful, in her own words, and she loved it and still wants more women to have a wonderful experience like her own. That's how I feel about mine - empowered (pain or no pain, it was extremely empowering), not that it gets a better mark for pain free-ness. I want women to have empowered births, not a blueprint version of my own physical experience.
It's like vocalising during birth. I didn't really do any and some women do heaps - and it tends not to do with the pain, it's just a 'thing', another 'thing' that makes a birth individual and reflective of the woman doing it :)

Mmmm, this is a bit late, but I found child birth painful - but not unbearable (natural water birth).
I have been in worse pain. Having my wisdom teeth smashed and pulled without a working anaesthetic was worse. Actually, the injections after birth for the local anaesthetic to stitch me up (had a small labial tear) were worse than childbirth itself.

During childbirth, I always knew that this pain was not gonna last, so I knew, I was gonna get relief from it sooner or later. I never felt that something was wrong. I never felt that I couldn't take it. Not once did I even think I needed pain relief. I knew there was a reason for this pin. To me it felt more like when you really really push yourself during exercise. Not a pain associated with an injury, but a pain associated with an extreme load on your muscles, with pushing your boundaries.
It's hard to describe, but I didn't see it as pain. It was more like trying to find the strength within you. yes, I did sometimes wonder how would I get through another contraction. But my thoughts were more around finding a better position or something like that, rather than about how can I stop this pain.

I cannot wait to do it all over again!!!

Sasa

My xh would be adamant that a broken shin was more painful than ANYTHING in the whole world. He didnt get any brownie points from me for that.

I reckon my gallstone attack was worse than a 50hour labour and c section combined!!!

I'd love to hear what Ali has to say on this one, after the fact... Ali? Any thoughts hun?

I have been meaning to come back to this thread to let you know what I thought about it.

I think I was very fortunate to have a fantastic birth experience. Yes it did hurt but nothing that would stop me having another child. I think this thread really helped me in that I had an open mind and knew that it couldn't be too bad if people went back for seconds or thirds or even more!

The contractions were painful and the crowning, well that stung but what hurt more than labour for me was the stitches. The ob went to stitch where there wasnt local that had set in and DP said that i screamed louder then than any other time. She almost got kicked across the room.

I actually felt labour to be very empowering.

Here is my birth story if you want to read more https://www.bellybelly.com.au/forums...baby-girl.html

Thank you to everyone who contributed to this thread. I hope that it does help others who are curious about the amazing gift of giving birth.

LOL - interesting thread.

After birth I developed a haematoma as a result of an episiotomy which cut into a blood vessel. My poor perenium swelled to the size of a golfball!! I would have to say that I actually preferred the pain of the contractions as opposed to this pain!! It felt like somebody had shot me in the perenium and just left me bleeding on the bed.
The contractions are really hard-core but at least they are purposeful pain that comes and goes - pain for a purpose. The staff all paid attention to my contraction pain but know-one seemed to listen or believe me when I told them how much my poor crotch was hurting afterward!
I never expected to be in so much pain after labour - at a time when I was supposed to be enjoying my baby. Hopefully it wont happen next time (waterbirth here we come!!!:dance:)

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My poor perenium swelled to the size of a golfball!!

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Ouch....

Toothache, dismenorrhoea, gastro, Dengue Fever, typhoid fever, biking up steep hills and running on the flat for more than 10 minutes all hurt more than childbirth for me. I'd rather give birth than run 5 miles. Like running, tramping and biking etc, birth was a 'good' pain, just exertion, not a traumatic pain like when you know something's really wrong, like with gastro or Dengue Fever. I've never broken a leg, but spraining my ankle badly (on several occasions) was pretty bad. Completely unlike labour pain, which usually isn't pathological.

I acknowledge that labour pain, for some women, really is intense and severe. It's a very personal thing. I've seen women with a posterior labour that goes on for 50 hours cope quite nicely with the pain as being quite manageable. With an 11 pound baby! For me, labour pain wasn't the worst thing that I'd been through. But for some women, it is the hardest thing they've done. Whatever our birth experience, it deserves acknowledgement and honour. It's always unique. It's been great lately talking to a couple of homebirth mothers who candidly said, "It hurt like hell!!! But - I did it."

I have had two c/s, one emergency, one "elective". I stopped analgesia 24hrs post surgery. I have a high pain tolerance!

I snapped my ACL (knee) ligament in February. That hurt as much, if not more, than the c/s recovery.

I've now had a knee reconstruction. That's right up there too.

As is having a large (4.5 by 4.5 by 5cm) ovarian cyst... swelling... and then removed.

I think it's different for different people.

Hmm.......now I've experienced it I can say it's the worst pain I've ever felt. But I've never really hurt myself, lol. I ended up with a c/section after about 35hrs and once the anesthetic wore off I only ever had panadol and neurofen. I kept asking if they were giving me something else and isn't it supposed to hurt more than this? lol. I thought that all of a sudden it was going to start hurting a lot but it never really did. Of course it hurt but not like you would expect having been cut open!! For me the labour was far far worse.

I can honestly say that with one it is the worst physical pain I have ever felt... But I will qualify that with, I have never been in any serious accidents, broken any major bones or had any major lacerations or puncture wounds - nor have I suffered any serious burns. After childbirth, I have broken 3 toes and one finger. After that, I had concrete burn on my arm almost 20 years ago.

Its safe to say that I am a respectfully cautious individual who - other than getting pregnant - has done very little else to cause myself physical pain. So I am not a good judge to the saying - "Child birth is the worst pain a woman can experience".

What I will add in closing is - with Samuel, I was having additional localised stabbing pain during contractions that never occured with any of the others - so of the 5, his was the most painful. I have always figured that if this was an additional pain unrelated to normal contractions - then I would have to disagree with the original premise.

labour sucks. It hurts like it will never end, I felt like I was getting ripped open from the inside. I have had both posterior and normal, from 8lbs to 11 and they all hurt. People say you forget the pain but that is crap, I haven't forgotten!
But in the end you get a baby so it's all worth it :)

It''s amazing how different everyone's experiences are...