To think labour can’t be THAT bad?

[Bumpingbumping]

Potentially being extremely naive, and of course this is excluding exceptional circumstances/emergency situations.

But aibu to think labour can’t be as horrific as people make out? I’ll be giving birth in 10 days time following an induction and everybody keeps asking me if I’m terrified and telling me how awful it will be.

Surely if it was THAT bad people just wouldn’t do it? Or would opt for a c section?

Again, feel free to hit me with the facts because I’m possibly being naive. But does anyone have any nice birth stories? Particularly following an induction?

Relatively short and easy births here, but still the WORST EVER PAIN IN MY LIFE. Weirdly could not really recall how it felt after a short while!

Come back and let us know in ten days 🤷‍♀️ can't say I fancy the sound of it tbh.

Everyone is different and everyone has different labour experiences, with varying amounts of pain and interventions.

You say it can't be that bad, it really is for many, and isn't for others. It's a lottery.

Mine was horrifically painful for the first 24 hours, they don't supply pain relief in early labour and I was vomiting in agony and threw up the paracetamol they gave me. Mine ended with emcs under GA.

And yet here I am, 29 wks pg, about to go through it again. I have no idea if it will be like last time, or better or worse. I wish you luck with yours and hope it's one of the easy ones

@Pinkblueberry that’s so funny as I am the opposite ... my labour was short to but the contractions I can take the sensation my hips were exploding and the burning I felt while pushing were the bits I struggled with ... I never had an urge to push though to be honest apart from
When I got the head out then I was struginn to not push until they said I could

Also only gas and air ... but op I would do it again it was only 8 months ago and the result is totally worth it !

But again a simple uncomplicated birth.

But I found gallstone pain to be worse than the contractions themselves.

My hips crunch when I walk now and so does my back which hurts neither were in great nick before I got pregnant so I guess that’s poss why I find that part the hardest but it’s different for everyone x x

Aaah its not that bad I was so nervous and ended up with not an ideal birth. I had an induction, laboured and then emcs... and it was all fine!! Think about your pain relief options beforehand so you know what to ask for and when x And practise your breathing techniques to keep yerself calm!! Sneak in some nice sugary sweets to keep ya going! The baba makes it all worthwhile x

It was a billion times worse than I ever imagined, could not cope and screamed for an epidural until I got one (which was BRILLIANT) but he was worth every second so doesn't matter in the slightest.

ok so nothing anyone tells you will really help you to appreciate what your labour will be like.

during mine (it was intervention inc drug free)i honestly wanted to die. i was asking them to cut him out, give me the drugs etc etc

it is a distant memory now! really and truly, I'm having another in jan though and i am NOT looking forward to it, but i also know i can totally do it and then i'll never have to do it again. it's a wonderful thing and it's a terrible thing. yes it's horrible but it's also so amazing and it's such an experience.. nothing in my life has ever compared to giving birth and that first week... not that i can remember it! it's strange but it's so worth doing. but it's bloody horrible too. good luck!

My first I had an induction (waters broke naturally but then contractions stopped). All very calm and civilised, with an epidural (this is AWESOME by the way), not bad at all!

Second (second trimester loss, sorry) very painful. I remember thinking "it sounds like there is a cow lowing" and then realising it was me. I managed as far as I could with gas and air after that I was allowed a morphine pump which did the job.

Third labour, came on VERY suddenly. A lovely epidural was in my birth plan but my daughter could not wait and was born in the assessment room. Husband only just got there in time (had gone to drop eldest with a friend). OMFG the last stages of contractions were horrendous. Like being crushed in a vice from the inside out. I leapt off the bed, paced and howled like a caged wild animal. I screamed and swore at the lovely midwife who was trying to help me. Luckily a few mins later "superbaby" (arm first) launched into the world.

I agree with pp that the worst bit isn't the baby coming out of the old fandango- it's the contractions. (Did I mention the epidural is REALLY GOOD)?

I'd rather have the labour several times over than the nine months of pregnancy . And one of my births was traumatic - but it did not last forever and there was a lovely ending.

Expecting to get absolutely flamed for this comment, but everyone I know thats had a horrible/traumatic labour, did little to nothing to prepare for it

I had an infection from my induction and was in agony for over 24 hours. By the time I was in labour I had no energy at all to push and my baby was stuck with her head half way out and it was too late for a c-section.
She had a purple head for almost a month.

I'd probably have another child if I could just do the labour and not the pregnancy . I thought I'd be a stylish pregnant woman wafting about in lovely maternity wear. I was puffy, sticky and grouchy.

Back to back baby was agony I didn't know possible.

You do forget it and it is worth it but you sound incredibly arrogant. The rest of the world (since time began) is wrong and blowing it out of proportion

It's fine!

But please do come back on this thread and tell us how it was.... I think you will be surprised that it's nothing like you expect.

I guess the pain thing is just part of the experience.

It's a mental process too.

Anyway, do come back!!!

everyone I know thats had a horrible/traumatic labour, did little to nothing to prepare for it

That's an incredible thing to write.as if women just need to read and research more to avoid birth trauma?!

Expecting to get absolutely flamed for this comment, but everyone I know thats had a horrible/traumatic labour, did little to nothing to prepare for it

What an incredibly twattish remark. Implying it's a mother's fault when they have an horrific labour is at best ignorant, at worst cruel.

It took me a long time to come to terms with my 'failed labour' and not seeing my baby born because I had to have a GA after 36 hours. The doctors and midwives told me there was nothing I could have done to change the outcome. You can fuck right off.

I had an induction, ended up on the hormone drip. Managed on gas and air. The pain is unreal, but it was so bad from so early on I didn’t really notice it getting any worse (if that makes sense). No vomiting or anything for me. Had an episiotomy and some stitches but didn’t find them to be any bother to be honest (it wasn’t a huge cut). I was actually really pleased with my labour

Ahahahahaha if your periods are like your spine has been transmogrified into a white-hot corkscrew that an evil giant is trying to tear out of your anus while your entire being becomes molten lava and you threaten to jump out of the window
This is literally the most accurate description of labour pain I have ever read.

Pain is to be expected though. As long as you remember that it's normal and stay calm. The anticipation of the pain is so much worse than when it's actually happening.

The thing is everybody has a different pain threshold. Mine is very high and went through two vbacs (vaginal birth after c section) pretty smoothly. Had a bit of gas and air but mostly did it with breathing techniques.
The worst bit for me was the recovery of my middle child, her heart rate dropped so they did an episiotomy. Recovering from that was awful.... In my opinion post birth recovery ranged from easiest... planned c section (daughter has spina bifida So section was to protect her)
Next easiest..... 10lb baby, fourth degree tare from shoulder dystocia. Bloody good surgeon
Hardest by far 6lb 5oz baby, episiotomy sewn up I'm delivery room could barely sit down for 5weeks.
My advice is don't be a hero! Take the drugs if you want/need them. No one is going to give you a medal for doing it without drugs!!!

Just a heads up; drip induced labour can be much more painful and intense than regular labour. You are in for a right treat!

I have a high pain threshold. I broke my ankle badly and never had a paracetamol. I had sepsis and didnt realise, the treatment for which included being cut open one the ward without the local anaesthetic kicking in.

I was relaxed about labour, looking forward to it even for the experience... reader I was crying to my mum at 2cm dilated and begged the maternity unit to let me come in... then I had pethadine and all was well till it wore off. Long story short I ended up with a hormone drip, epidural and emergency c section for failure to progress.

I was up within 12 hours and walking round town on day 5, recovery from section was a cinch... labour was bloody awful. If I have another itll be a planned section.

On the other hand one of my friends has had 3 natural births and found them "liberating". Just how it goes I guess.

You'll be fine, its temporary and worth it but dont be too strict on you birth plan and accept pain relief if you need it.

Good luck!

Last person I heard saying those words had a 3 day labour ending up with all the pain relief they were allowed and a forceps delivery. They changed their mind.

They also got very indignant at the idea that baby might not arrive exactly on the due date because "they knew their dates exactly." Baby was 10 days late.

Apparently they'd practiced their breathing so it couldn't possibly be at all painful as they knew what they were doing and anyone who said otherwise was just jealous because they didn't know what they were doing as well as they did.

The story afterwards is that the midwives lined up to tell them they were the best patients ever and beg them to make sure they let them know if they had a second as they were desperate to deal with them next time.
Let's say I know a couple of local midwives and that wasn't quite their recollection...

The actual contractions and pain beforehand is like a pain I didn’t know could be and it was the worst thing of all time. The pushing bit was just an absolute pleasure and bizarrely I cant wait to do it all again although I know I’ll be asking myself through screams why I did it to myself a second time 😁

The truth is that for everyone it’s different though. Some people’s are really fine it sounds like and you might be one of those!

The first thing I said after giving birth was "that wasn't as bad as I thought it would be" I had induction first time but just the pessary not the drip and it was quick and not too bad. The head crowning is horrendous bit it lasts less than 10 seconds, the rest is very doable. I have 3 kids. You can absolutely do this!

Hahaha. I remember thinking that it couldn’t possibly be that bad and that I would be fine as I have a reasonably high pain threshold.

But I was wrong. So very, very wrong. It was much, much worse than I had anticipated, I was scared and felt completely out of control. I wish people had been more honest with me about what to expect.

My induction contractions with DC1 were worse than my natural contractions with DC2 as well.

It is worth it though.

It is ignorant and naive to dismiss childbirth as not that bad if you've never been through it. Even if you have, you still can't speak for other mothers because every experience is different. Don't forget how high mortality rates for mothers and babies were before modern medicine.

My personal experiences were fine. Contractions went on for days and weren't particularly painful but I ended up with two emcs. I imagine my contractions weren't very effective so didn't hurt. I'm pretty sure ds1, ds2 or I would have died without intervention. Then again, that could be said of DM when she had me and my siblings by emcs.

My advice is do whatever it takes to get the baby out. Don't worry if it doesn't go to plan.