No what they said is dumb. It is true that it is not possible to really grasp the ridiculous pain of labour until you are in it - but personally I think it is very sad to go for something with more risk to avoid labour pain.

Having said that, having had a very intense labour and having had such painful 2nd degree tears that took 5 months to stop hurting like all hell - I was envious of the women in my room who had had caesar's because I couldn't walk either as I was so swollen down there and had a catheter in for a couple of days and after the first day of post-abdominal surgery they were all in better shape than me BUT I still wouldn't choose surgery over a vb unless it was medically advisable. 8 lbs isn't that big anyway - plus weight doesn't matter so much as the size of the head anyway - they sound very ignorant. Just because you haven't had a baby yet doesn't mean you don't know your stuff.