I think it's really now you deal with the pain as to how bad it is. For eg. My first labour was induced at 41 weeks and only went for 5 hours, yet i thought it was the most horrible pain i ever have experienced. I had gas and pethadine. But with my second labour, i went spontaniously at 39 weeks. Bub was posterior(his back on mine) so i had intense back pain the whole way through. My labour also stopped and started for 2 days. So i had contractions plus back pain that whole time. Yet i never had any drugs because i knew this time i could do it and i accepted the pain and not fought it. Although i did end up having an epidural, not because of the pain as such but because i was just SO tired and i had to have the drip put in because labour kept stopping. So, i think, it's all to do with just going with the flow, letting your body take over and just know that you have the power to do this, and everything will be fine.