Hi Firstkid

Sorry I didn't mean to say that holding an ice cube was comparable to contraction pain (I'm sure as you said that the latter is much, much more painful) just that perhaps it could be an indication of the variability in people's pain thresholds and perhaps those who can hold on to the ice cube for longer find labour 'easier' than those who can't. For instance, my brother-in-law could only hold on for 20 seconds whereas his wife did well over a minute.

For me it was quite useful (even if not totally realistic) as it gave me a chance to see how I would react and what worked best at getting my mind off it. At 15 seconds I was ready to give up but made myself relax and think about something else and after that it was much more bearable so I was quite chuffed in the end. I think it was good 'practice' as it's hard in everyday life to actually put yourself in painful situations just to see how you're going to react.