How painful is childbirth?

Here is a question for all the mothers out there, how painful is childbirth really? I've been doing some research some say that the pain is unbearable, some say that it isn't as bad as others make it sound. I am still young but I am looking forward to become a mother in my late 20s/early 30s and I can't wait. But when mothers describe the pain or seeing them in labour make me not want to have one. My question is out of 10 how would you rate the pain. It would be great if you can share all your experience from the time your water breaks and the actual labour. I always find the experience to be very interesting but scary.

I think each person knows if they have a low or a high threshold for pain. So maybe you can sort of guess if childbirth will be particulary painful for you, or if you can handle it? I know I personally have a low threshold for pain, and I don´t do well with pain at all. I´m rarely ever sick, have never broken a bone etc, so I don´t exactly have a lot of experience with pain either.

I bet you´ll get many different answers to your question, as everybody´s perception of pain is different. Also I hear that worried, anxious mothers-to-be describe childbirth as more painful than women who are informed about everything and see it as a wonderful, natural process. And of course, the 1st time tends to be the most painful

Tbh, the whole process of natural childbirth scares me! I wished nature would have thought of something else to get them out there lol

I like to think that it's something women have been doing for thousands of years, and while it is incredibly painful, you'd be joining one of billions of women who's experienced this before you.

I'm not a mother, so I can't judge the level of pain, but my guess is within the swearing and thrashing and blaming the father range, undoubtedly. I plan on doing that at least! LOL

well i'm an expecting mother now..(i'm 6 mths preg) so i cant tell you a first hand story yet lol...but i've been reading in baby books that it depends on how well you percieve pain..and how you're expectin it to be..people that dont expect any pain at all, usually end up in a longer labor than people who are mentally prepared & are expecting some pain..so i guess like andi said, it just depends on the person & their pain tolerance level..

Personally.. I don't know how women do it.. After seeing my wife go through it twice I'd rate it a 12 or 13!! Thank god guys don't give birth.. They would be a lot more caeful if they did! Lol. I would have opted for massive quantities of drugs...

The pain is not bad thanks to adrenaline and the want and joy to see the baby. I have had one natural, the rest under medication. With an epidural, you feel pressuree down there, but no pain, the contractions feel like period cramps, the baby moving down, makes you feel like you have to poop, bbut I promise you that if you are having a baby you want, you will be so excited that you wont feel 20% of the pain.

i just want to add the actual pain of child birth is almost completely forgotten the moment you see your little one.... nothing takes away from the first time you hold your baby, not even the pain of childbirth.

was it painful? yeah, but do i REALLY remember what it felt like? nope...

I know. I mean there is pain, but not the bawling and screaming, exorcist rubbish they show in movies. It's like Aprill described, pressure and a period cramp every so often. But you're supposed to push thru that so the concentration to push kinda masks the "pain." But when the baby pops out, it's like "Poof!" nothing. No pain, just immense JOY!

I don't have children, but I just wanted to say that, when I have a child someday, I imagine it will be pretty painful. However I have a high pain tolerance, so I would guess it honestly depends on the person. I have a sister in law, who had her first child and said it was the worst pain of her life she will never have another baby. I work with a woman who had her first child, and said it was not bad at all. Just like getting a tattoo or a piercing, people always ask "Did that hurt?" Or "How bad did that hurt?" thats a poor example, but my point here is how can you answer that? It's also a mental thing. If you think it's going to hurt, then it's going to hurt.

There are reasons why you can't really truly recall pain and that there is an 'amnesia' after birth where you can't really remember much of the events during only before and after. Its Mother Nature's way of prepetuating because if you really remember, you won't have another. Anyways, everyone is different. Some have really long labour pains and others are fast. It is hereditary so ask your mom how long she was in labour with you

If you want a good labour story, here's mine. (First baby - 9lb 10oz boy) I had light labour pains and contractions from 1pm to 6:30. At 7pm, I insisted we go to the hospital. I was 5cm dialated. They set me up in a room and ask me if I wanted a shower to easy my lower back pain. I said ok. 10 min in the shower - my water broke in the shower. I went from 5 to 10cm dialated and it was time to push Contractions are like having stomach cramps and the need to do #2. 1.5 hrs of pushing and out come baby boy. He was born at 9:19pm

Baby #2 - doc says since baby #1 was quick, when I started contractions, go directly to the hospital. I was having labour pains at 6am - only slight cramping. 9:45 we left for the hospital. I had gone from slight contractions to full on contractions walking from the parking lot to the entrance. I needed to push when they were trying to register me - 10am. I got a room at 10:05am. 8lb 15oz baby girl born at 10:20am after 5 pushes.

It was really quick and all is forgotten when they hand that baby to you.

According to Family Guy, it's having your lower lip stretched out over your head. But no one can prove that, right?

It feels like you ate some cross-contaminated food and need to go do #2 alot!

lol@ going number two a lot. I also hear you can go number 2 during it, is that one true?

nah, after 5 babies I never pooped once! And you will have a catheter for your urine

If you ask my wife, she may let you know EXACTLY how much pain it is. She delivered all THREE of our kids with NO pain medication whatsoever.

They are the same muscles so it feels the same. Your body actually tries to empty itself before you go into labour. You get diarrhea as a sign you are approaching labour. I've had natural births for both so no catheters, no spinals, no nothing except some laughing gas that was taking away from me because I was losing focus

...they don't actually tell you know that you are pooping but I did notice I did with my baby girl. Its kinda yucky and yucky to say but they don't make anything of it and there's just a huge mess down there anyways so noone really cares.

While i have never had a child i had asked my mom about this a while ago. My family has a history of HORRIBLE periods, with dabilitating cramps, nausea vomiting and the works. That being said, my mom told me that even though labor is painful, it was not nearly as bad as the cramps during her period.

I am not sure if that is actually true, or if that is just due to the fact that after you give birth your body releases a hormone to help you kinda forget the trauma of child-birth

I've had 2 children, and the first one was significantly more painful. I moaned and groaned with the second one mainly to get some extra back and neck rubs, and that child weighed 2 pounds more than the first one!

My first one... the contractions were pretty bad once they got started. I had a very quick and intense labor, especially for a first birth. They would rise up and hold and then fall away, only to start tightening again before I could get a breath in. They were relentless and that was the worst part - no rest. They gave me an oxygen mask but I had to push it off because I couldn't get deep enough breaths with it. I could not speak through the contractions - they feel like an extremely intense gas buildup - but I didn't scream or yell. It's not really my personality, though. I would say that was the most pain I'd felt in my life... a 9, maybe. But I knew what it was for, so it was ok. I closed my eyes and hummed with each breath through them... it was what helped me the most, hearing the steady tone of my voice rather than the clattering and other people talking. It helped me focus. I felt very alone during that time, realizing that I was the only one who could finish the job, no matter what.

The first birth is also the hardest because you have to learn to push the baby out. It was something that took practice to do effectively. By that time I had an epidural, so it didn't hurt nearly as much. Epidurals are like heaven, by the way. Like getting your tormented lower half dowsed with a cool waterfall... and then nothing. Still, pushing seemed so hard, like I wasn't getting anywhere. I felt very tired and scared that my pelvis might crack or something from the pressure. But when my husband said 'You're almost there', I knew I was only seconds away, because I knew he meant it literally, not like the doctor who'd been saying it for the past 2 hours. And then I was a mother. The pain/pressure dissipates immediately. It's surreal.

The thing I was NOT prepared for was the huge jello-like blood clots that get pushed out of you for the next few hours!! (Contractions continue for some time after the baby comes out). They were like... the size of my fist...I thought I was dying lol~!!

The second baby, I knew what I was doing. I knew when to ask for the epidural. I knew how to push. I wasn't as scared. It was so much easier, I would say pain was a.. gosh... a 3... less painful than having indigestion. Really.

Maybe TMI! But that's my experience in a nutshell! The pain was short lived, and very much worth it to have met the 2 most delightful people in my life.

I had three kids without medication. Labor hurts a lot, but you can get through it if you prepare ahead of time by knowing techniques. Also, labor support (doula) is wonderful, as they are trained in natural pain management and will remember/know stuff you don't (who can remember a damn thing in labor? lol). For me, labor hurt worse than pushing the kid out. I did poop with one kid, my first. He was posterior the entire time, and I think his head pressing along my bowels as he went out did it.

Lots of things can influence how much pain you have. With kid #1 I had all back pain for 48 hours. It hurt. With kid #2 she started pushing on my uterus before it was pushing time (babies have a natural instinct to push their feet against the uterus to help them get out of the womb) , and oh my GOD did that hurt! Last kid was the easiest. My body was already all kinds of broken by then lol.

I experienced two long hospital labors, and one short home birth labor. The shorter labor was more work in a shorter time, but I don't know if I would say it was easier. In a way, it was harder because I got fewer break between contractions.

Hey I have 2 babies in natural birth ..

and If it is the first "giving birth" then it should last longer and be more painfull

the pain was unbarable for me, but a lot say it was "ok"

so i guess its indevidual .

My second "giving birth" was easier though .. the first was 16 houres and the second around 4 houres . same pain ..but didnt take the epidural in my secind because it was a fast delivary anyway.

GOOD LUCK HONEY

just think about it this way ..

ur not the first or the last one .

so ....

easy .. all will be forgotten for the most addorable and precious kids .