Labour pain is like...

[MadAboutQuavers]

A plea for unbridled honesty from all you MN mums...

I'm due to give birth to first DC in 6 weeks' time. Like a lot of mums-to-be, the prospect of enduring labour pain very soon is scaring the blardy hell out of me, and like all first-time mums-to-be, the fear of the "unknown" is doubling it.

Obviously, I know that labour is not going to be "ooh, now that's a bit uncomfy" in terms of how painful it is . I am, if all goes to plan (ahem!), hoping to have several remedies to help me cope with the pain (TENS, epidural, etc.), but I wondered if any mums can put into words what the pain ACTUALLY feels like?

I know everyone has their own different experience, but is there anything you could say that could describe the pain to someone who has no clue?

Not that I'm expecting this to prepare me or anything....

[Marylou242]

Here's my experience:

Early labour was the most uncomfortable. 5 days of on and off contractions which were tiring but not really painful. The most painful bit for me was when the plug came out, that felt like bad period pain for a few hours, very low down.

A TENS machine helped a lot, as did breathing in and out as slowly as possible for as long as the contraction lasts. Hypnobirthing helped me to learn breathing and relaxation techniques. It helped me to stay calm and not be frightened (it's not just for earth mothers either - I'm not one)

The later stages were just like massive pressure really, hard work but not painful, combined with the tingling of the TENS machine pads!

Didn't feel the crowning as I had local anaesthetic. To be honest, I found the local anaesthetic injection about the most painful part of the whole thing.