How would you describe the feeling of a contraction?

hrmmm contractions. gives me shivers just thinking about them.

The feeling.. well... it is hard to describe. Yeh i would say early labour was period type pain with some belly tightnings but further on.. oh man.. lets just say at that stage i wish they would just shoot me lol. I think they call that the tranistion stage.

But long story short its sorta like, having a tummy ache.. them real bad ones that u have to run to the loo for, mixed with the worst period pain ever and the feeling like your getting ripped apart.

Didnt mean to scare u or get too dramatic.. thats just how they felt to me.

The one you experienced does sound like early stages of labour! cant wait to here the BA.

With DD1 my labour pains where more like BH but they were slightly more intense and they never came regularly unti the end which was after 7 hours !!!! So I really didn't know if I was in proper labour initially. My midwife told me that if I had 3 good contractions over a 20min period then I was on my way. As the labour progressed the contractions were in my back and down my legs and it did feel like I need to poo.

With DD2 my labour pains were regular like clock work and they were very intense as per the second half of my first labour.

Goodluck sweets...Get your DH to come home and dtd now...(sorry this was a discussion from another thread)

I find it difficult to describe the feeling in so many words. Hoobley hit the nail with "Powerful". They stop you in your tracks. Can't walk through them, have to stop. I remember asking for any form of movement while I was having a contracction would have got you killed if I could have moved, lol.

To start with mine felt like period cramps and my tummy got really tight. Unlike period pain which is fairly constant, this only lasted a few seconds and then stopped and gradually intensified to the point that I couldn't talk.
Good luck with everything.
PS: I'm not sure if I would have known I was in labour straight away if my waters hadn't broken before I had contractions though.

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Muscles contract and relax all the time in our body, these ones we're just not used to the feeling and are often led to believe will be excruciatingly painful when in fact its not like that for everyone.

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I don't generally experience pain in labour until transition. Strong sensations yes, but not pain.

I was induced with DD and I hear the contractions are much more 'intense' with an induced labour, but by God, most of what you girls describe sounds like bliss!!
For me, it quite honestly felt like someone beating the back of my pelvis with a baseball bat while trying to s*** a brick the size of a 2L Coke bottle. I felt the pain all the way from just under my boobs, to halfway to my knees. There was no, 'Oh hey, I think that's a contraction!' with me, it was 'We're going to hook you up to the drip and break your waters' to '****JESUSCHRISTONABICYCLEKILLMEKILLMEKILLMEKILLME ITHUUUUURRRRRRTTTTSSSSSSSS!!!!' in the space of about three minutes.
And, because that sounds really wussy, I have a really high pain threshold.
It was horrible. I definitely want my next one to be a natural labour rather than induced, because the intensity was just horrific.

ow

ooowwwwwwwww

oooooowwwwwwwwwww umm can i have somthing please

oowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww can i have somthing NOW!!!!!!!!!!

oooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww GIVE ME SOMTHNG RIGHT NOW OR I WILL KILL YOU!!

but then after................... ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh all worth it

Donna - mine felt that way too with my first baby. I would have thanked them for shooting me. But the second and third have been easier, probably partly because I know what to expect and am better prepared mentally, and partly because second and third babies just are a little easier, usually. Hopefully your upcoming birth will be much more manageable for you. :hug:

Early labour though, is milder, like heavy period pain, and I think that's what the OP was wondering about - how to recognize labour when it starts. You might have missed out on that early stage, being induced, and gone straight to the hard stuff.

As far as women not feeling pain during labour, I think that's wonderful for them, and I imagine that through hypnobirthing classes more of us could learn to "escape" the pain naturally. But I think it's a little misleading to say that if we don't feel other muscles contracting with pain, then labour really shouldn't be painful. Contractions have woken many of us up out of our sleep because they hurt. We weren't tensed up, or afraid - we were asleep. And it hurt. Labour does hurt for most women, and I think that is quite normal. I don't think that we need to be afraid of it, or tell the scariest stories we can to new mothers, or anything like that, but I wonder if we give new mothers-to-be false expectations when we suggest that labour contractions should be like any other muscle contracting. Just a thought. Don't want to start a big debate or anything. :)

At the start it was kinda like period pain, but not a dull ache thats there for a few minutes.
As is went on for me it was just like sharp period pain.
The actual way I would describe is like my cervix being pried open. Intense.
Very painful, but I made it through twice naturally.
Well with DS I begged for pethidine in transition, but didn't get it til 10 minutes before he was born, so it didn't kick in til after.

I had two totally different experiences...the first time around I didn't realise I was having contractions...I just thought it was pre-labour cramps...after about 3 hours it was getting worse & worse so I called the hospital (between contractions) and they said it did sound like labour. At first it just felt like period pain cramps then it got worse and worse, so much so I couldn't even speak...got to the hospital 6 hours later and I was fully dilated and ready to push. ;)

The second time around, I just KNEW it was labour right from the start...after the first contraction (which was like a very strong period pain) I knew it wouldn't be long...this time they started strong from the first one and only got worse at transition. That labour was less than 5 hours from start to finish! :)

My bh are like i've eaten too much and my stomach is full/strecthed. A consient pain rather like tightening rather than sharp.


The day before my waters broke i told mum i felt like i was getting my period. That low down feeling, not pain exactly but pressure. My actual contractions were induced so it's hard to say what they would have felt like normal. But i felt like i wanted to do a big poo but it was ready yet.