What would YOU say was the most painful stage of labour?

[Dozeyland]

in regards to dilation, the babys delivery, contractions etc etc

pushing and crowning - by far the worst bit for me!

Dilation, couldn't sit or lie or stand in any way to ease the pain. Pushing was easier and didn't know what the midwife was going on about when she said not to be afraid of pushing through the burning (I wasn't pushing harder because I couldn't!)

Have plenty of gas and air and it will all be a blur! I can't really remember, crowning wasn't painful as I'd had local anaesthetic and an episiotomy. The contractions got very strong towards the end but I only had a maximum of 1.5 minutes between contractions the whole time - which thankfully was only 3 hours (1st baby!).

Contractions at the beginning felt very painful as they started really close together, but transition was the worst bit for me.

I found the contractions the most painful part, probably from around 4-5 cm onwards. The pushing part I quite liked in an odd way, the saying of "push the pain away" is certainly true. I was a bit naughty in my last labour and discovered about 5cm that if I did little gentle pushes during contractions it eased the pain a lot, so I did just that for about 2 hours until I was fully dilated. Whilst trying to pretend that I wasn't. Each time the midwife came in the room I had to go back to "breathing through" the contractions with the G&A with a tiny sneaky little push on my breaths out and I found it a lot more painful without the pushing.

Crowning. I cn remember laUghing at the ridiculousness of expecting that to come out of there! It's the only bit I can still remember vividly.

The part when they tell you that you are still only 2cm dilated...

I guess it also depends on the pain relief you take. I had a little gas and air towards the end and found crowning and waiting for the last contraction to get the baby out by far the most painful part.

Transition was particularly horrendous and I was in the midwife's face, screaming at the top of my lungs, 'I WANT MY SECTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!'

She grabbed my shoulders and said, 'You are going to HAVE to take control, and CALM DOWN.' Ds was born twenty minutes later.

I can't complain really, I was only in labour 1.5 hours.

I had an epidural with ds1 so didn't feel a thing from 5cm, with ds2 I said to dh I didn't expect him being born to be more painful than contractions by his shoulders being born was by far the most painful part and waiting between him crowning and another contraction to push his body out! He was 9lb 2 though, may have made a difference.

None of the labour was anything like as painful as I'd expected. The worst and most awfully depressing, bruised feeling and bone grinding pain was two days later when I was kept awake all night by my rib cage and pelvis contracting - I could feel the bones moving! Then about three days afterwards my perenium began to feel tender and bruised (despite having no tearing) and I was pretty miserable with feeling like I'd been beaten up for a few days - mostly due to my stomach muscles and internal organs rearranging themselves. Labour was fine though - some of the contractions made me feel sick, but they felt very like period pain and my baby's head crowning wasn't as bad as I've felt on some terribly damaging bike saddles I've tried (also only lasts a few seconds as opposed to being in agony for hours on a bike...)

Oh Dozyland - you poor thing, reading all these answers before you give birth.

It's not that bad for everyone - honestly. My first was fast and furious and I felt like I was being thrown around a ship in rough seas, but it wasn't for long. With the other two I've had trapped wind that has caused greater pains, do don't panic!

O.M.Fucking God...transition.I felt I was dying with pain and had a panic attack when I realised that I couldn't just go home now!!!! With all my 3 kids labour has gone through the same pattern;a kind of 'climbing up a mountain' section,a 'rippling through water' section and 'coming out of a forest' section.Fucking hell,I've just read that back and it sounds so new age shite,but it's true!! Hawkmoth,you are so right the first shit is certainly the most painful and so to the afterpains...I thought I was having twins and one was stuck inside!!!!

Labour was a piece of cake 5 1/2 hrs from when waters broke, no drugs just gas and air when pushing.
My pain was after when I got 2 infections, one in my stitches and one in my vulva, it was like walking around with a golf ball in my knickers!!!!
TMI I know but even now it makes me want to cry the pain that I felt.

Transition without a doubt. This is the only bit of my second labour in which I felt genuine earth-shattering body swallowing pain. I hypnobirthed my way through the rest, but this bit was full on and I BEGGED for an epidural (which I didn't get as by then I was 10cm and pushing involuntarily).

My first labour I was completely drugged up and unable to feel anything due to massive epidural. This was WAY worse than feeling contractions etc...