What does labour feel like?

[NewMummy5July2011]

Hi
I'm 31 weeks with my first and now that my NCT classes have begun, I'm really starting to think more about the labour. I'm half terrified/half excited!

I am intersted in reading more about birth experiences generally, and finding out more what labour actually feels like. I really am hoping to give birth naturally (Tens and Gas and Air) but of course realise the pain may get too much and am open to more drug relief such as an epidural.

Can anyone explain what it felt like? The worst pain of your life or is it not as bad as that? I suppose I have moments of sheer panic where I think I won't be able to cope, and others where I feel very positive about the whole thing.

Any advice or thoughts would be really great.

Thank you. x

My first labour wasn't good, wanted to do it naturally and ended up with an epidural!!! However, I was scared and blindly went alon with advice from others, all the while ignoring that wee voice inside my head! Plus I had the biggest battle-axe of a midwife! Labour number 2 and 3 so much better, was not anything I couldn't cope with, difficult at times and near the end, just before the pushing bit, didn't think I was able to cope, but did! Labour number 4 due to happen at xmas time an intend to have this one in the comfort of my own home ( although still trying to persuade DH that it is a good idea) and am looking forward to it! I have been lucky in that adrenaline has taken over during the pushing bit, and did not find that part particularly painful, was like having a really really really really really big poop from your front bum LOL!

It is different for everyone and even for each baby (my first was all in my back, vomiting and slow; my second was all in the front, sharp debilitating pain but vvv quick). However, the best thing is to try and not get tense abt it, which may be easier said than done. Just remember that you get your lovely baby at the end of it and also that most people go on to have more than one child so it is definitely bearable.

My labour started with my waters breaking and then contractions at 3-4mins apart immediately. From the very first few contractions I remember thinking to myself oh shit this is going to hurt.

The contractions I would describe as extremely bad period pains that were the sort of pain that makes you want to throw up. My baby was back to back so after about 5 hours or so they became one on top of the other and continued like that until the pushing stage (a further 4 hours later). As I approached transition it was like I was going onto a different plain of consciousness with each peak of contraction.

The pushing stage was IMMENSE (2.5 hours). I mean I couldnt BELIEVE my body was pushing SO HARD on its own. He was turning whilst moving down the canal due to being back to back which is why the pushing stage was so long for me.

The crowning bit was very painful but to be honest I was so all encompassed in pain that I couldnt really tell what bit was hurting any more. He also had his head tilted back which made the circumference of his head bigger.

I did it all on gas and air. And I'd do it again

Same as BooBearBoo - my waters broke and immediately strong contractions every 3-4 mins. I had hoped for a natural birth but at that stage the intensity completely took me off gaurd and I was sure I would be having an epidural. However once I got to hospital and on gas and air, plus the birthing pool, I regained control and calmed down. I had expected the usual first labour involving several days of far apart contractions, so it coming so hard and fast was a shocker.

Anyway first internal was a few hours after waters went and was already 8cm dilated, then about 8hrs in tolal after the waters broke I started pushing and like others have said it is actually totally out of your control - your body just starts to push.

At the point of crowning the feeling of stretching was unbelievable and I actually felt myself tear, but I honestly say it was a relief because it eased the stretching feeling.

After 15 mins of pushing my DD swam into the world a very relaxed little baby, staring up at me from under the water.

Only complication was that my placenta then got stuck, so 5 hrs after DD was born I was given a spinal block (typical after getting through labour with only gas & air) in order that I could have a surgical removal of the placenta.

All in all I would descibe it as a positive experience. I actually found the early months of motherhood much harder and would often tell people that I would happily have traded another day of giving birth if I could have skipped the early baby months. Also, I was told by my NCT teacher that people who have experienced intense pain previously for whatever reason tend to handle labour well as they already have coping mechanisms. I had gallstones when younger which gave me excrutiating pain, and I have to say they were much worse than labour in my opinion.

Expecting No.2 now, so definitely wasn't put off :) Hope it all goes well for you NewMummy.

Fantastic thread! Thanks Ladies for your contributions and honesty. It helps enormously! FTM 28wks and counting.

Nothing I learned in my NCT classes made sense until AFTER I gave birth - when I finally understood the difference between all the stages etc.

The best thing about giving birth is that you don't necessarily remember all the grim details afterwards. I gave birth with no pain relief and today would say it was painful but not that bad - my husband however says I was screaming a lot and just don't remember.... I spent much of it in a bath which I do remember really did help. Before I gave birth I was terrified, however two of my friends told me that giving birth was the most empowering thing they ever did - that once they had given birth, they knew they were capable of anything. I remind myself of that once in a while!

I thought I'd be terrible in CB due to a low pain threshold but had two lovely births naturally with gas and air (which was brill). Both my babies were big also - 9lb and 10.7lb but they say bigger babies are easier to deliver as gravity helps so they tend not to get stuck needing intervention.

However a lot depends on it, position of the baby, what you do in labour, how relaxed you are. As you read these threads you can see that contraction pain differs from one woman to the next. I thoroughly enjoyed mine and can't wait to do it all again. Give me labour and birth over pregnancy any day.

Just focus on relaxing and breathing big time don't get hysterical as you'll feel the pain so much more.

You can do it :)

I had my first last year and was prepared for a long drawn out affair. My waters broke just after 9pm (with a bang!) and I started having contractions almost immediately and with very little reprieve. Panicked as realised my pain threshold wasn't as high as I had thought!

By 10.45pm there was no let up so the hospital reluctantly told me to come in. Husband had a great time joking with the nurses whilst I clung to the bed thinking all the wailing you see with TV births was completely justified. When the midwife examined me I will always remember the look of shock on her face. I was 9cm dilated. I could have cried with relief!

They started filling the water pool up but they had only just started to run the water when i felt huge pains in my back passage (really it was all in that area for me). My DS heart rate dropped so was taken swiftly to the consultant led suite and had my first bit of gas and air- heaven! However I inhaled for far too long and was completely zonked. The pain for me was pretty intense but my contractions felt like they were almost continuous. I had a surgical cut and ventouse delivery as DS was still in trouble but was still topping up the gas and air like no tomorrow and was so out of it, i had no sensation of my DS being born and went into shock when he was placed on me. Under 4 hours from start to finish....!

Best of luck with your labour!

A couple of previous posters have described the way I felt perfectly - contractions were sharp cramps like bad diarrohea; pushing was exactly like the feeling when you're sick.

I didn't get the 'ring of fire' sensation I'd been expecting (had a small tear but didn't feel it) and just had an overwhelming urgent sense that I had to push NOW, and that my body was pushing whether I wanted to or not.

I really felt the muscles pushing DD out, it was a weird/amazing experience.

The worst bit for me was 3+ days of slow labour at home, the contractions didn't really get much worse over the time but just more regular/frequent. Worse thing was that I couldn't sleep at all or lie down in bed, was sort of stuck in a weird position on the sofa.

I had lots of baths and used my TENS machine from the start and was 4cm when I got to hospital. Used G&A at 8cm and kept the TENS on throughout, thought it was really helpful.

My first answer would also be 'not as bad as I thought I would be'. I started in the night at home and wasn't sure it was actual labour at first. Then used TENS and it was only when I timed my contractions and realised they were already only 4 mins apart, that I rang the labour ward and said 'errmmm...I'm fine, but do you think I ought to come in'. At that stage I was thoroughly expecting to go in and be sent home, and I think DH and were in a bit of denial. I made him a sandwich and he hung up some washing before we left, we had no sense of urgency!

We arrived and I was delighted to discover I was already 7cm. I then had 4 hours in the pool which really helped with staying relaxed, using just G&A, and then I got a bit panicky as it did get more intense, so I got out, and by that point I had started saying I needed more pain relief, but then I was pushing and DD arrived half an hour later. I would say I was in 'proper' labour for 5 hours, of which only about one hour was really bad.

D

For me it is just intense squeezing sensation. I don't find contractions painful unless on my back. I usualy spend labour walking or on a birthing ball.

you'll know when your in labour it hurts like hell my first was 4 weeks early and i ws in labour for 26 hours with him and established labour for 12. My waters had to be broken to try and speed things up as i wasn't getting anywhere, didn't really work but first labours are supposed to be long. The problem with asking other people if labour hurts is everyone has a different experience if you are lucky and give birth in a couple of hours then no the pains not that bad however if like me your stuck in labour and not getting anywhere then yes its awful i remember at 9 in the evening whilst waiting for an epidural (by this point id been awake and in labour since 2am the previous morning) someone to kill me and i actually meant it. You just have to get through it and once you've got that baby in your arms its worth it and your ready to do it again. I'm 36 weeks with my second. He'll come when he's ready to, don't worry about your waters having to break and mucus plugs and all that i didn't have any warning before my first other than a lot of bleeding because i was on blood thinners, i had no show or anything i assume all that happened whilst i was in too much pain to notice it.

to me it felt like really strong period pain (cramp).

They first 5 cm dilation were just exciting to me (it hurt, but you know it's for a good cause, and it's managable.). Up to 8cm I was walking around, it was fine, very doable. I wnet from 0 to 9 cm in under 2hrs so it was all very quick though.

Then at 9cm I really wanted an epidural!

I got one, which started working JUST before babe popped out.

To me the last 30 minutes were very painful, but the rest was fine.

Mine was like a metal ring being tightened round my abdomen just above my pelvis, uncomfy at first then it got painful.

Went into hospital at 5cm when I was every two minutes and unable to talk through them much. After that it was like really bad period pain but the breaks meant I could deal with it. I literally went from weird mooing in pain to discussing whether we'd fed the cats!

Walking really helped, moved onto TENS at hospital then gas and air. Was offered epidural at 9cm and said no.

Once I could push it didn't hurt really, it was such a relief to push rather than hold off. It was uncomfortable and hard work but not exactly painful.

The crowning really stung but it was kind of good as I knew it meant I was nearly there. The actually birth didn't hurt at all, it was a huge relief and the only pain after that was the stitches, which were helped a lot by gas and air.

It was painful but with the breaks it was manageable, I really feel for those with back to back labour as I've heard it's pretty relentless.

I wasn't aware of ever having Braxton Hicks but I had terrible back pain and couldn't sit down and do anything. NOW I know they were B.Hicks, but a sign I was going to get all my pains in my back. I hadn't heard of getting pains in your back at all.

They started properly on a Thursday night but not so bad. I was awake a lot. More painson the Friday and couldn't sit down so doing the ironing.

Friday night much much worse. Started using TENS but even on the highest setting it became useless and I had phoned hospital a few times before managing to convince them to let me come in at 2am Saturday (1st baby). Turned out I was about 5-6cm dilated already.

Gas and air later when really bad later. Cried for something else and got Pethidine (wonderful invention!). DH said I kept falling asleep between contractions as I was so tired. Wouldn't let go of the gas and air mask.

The last stage was taking ages and pethidine wore off so had to go the next 2hrs without anything as they said it was too late for more.

DD was back-to-back (no-one had realised) and had got stuck with the pushing, so then it was panic stations. Got given epidural in theatre (wow!!! all that pain just goes and you realise how wrapped up in your own little world you have been) and had emergency section in the end.

I didn't want any pain relief at all, but we are ttc again and I wouldn't have any issues now with having anything. Everyone's experience is different and you handle pain differently.

My contractions went from every 7 mins to every 30 seconds (or so it seemed). Mw didn't think I was in proper labour until she checked and told me to push They were like really strong period pains, but didn't seem to peak in intensity - just got longer and stronger as labour went on. Waters didn't break until just before dd emerged - was surprised at the gush!! Crowning hurt - I screamed I think, but it was over so quickly. Tbh, I found stitches and recovery worse than labour and birth. For me the most painful part of labour was being examined - sheer agony and I leapt off the couch!! Maybe cos dd was there, rather than being the 2cm dilated that mw assumed!!!

Oh yes, and I felt no urge to push! Was directed (think is is why I tore).

Not the worst pain, but it's up there. Mine was quick 11 hours from start till the end, I even was made to walk like 40-30 minutes before giving birth, because no one expected that first time mother is ready to push so quickly.

But the best part is that when you see your little baby you forget about the pain completely.

For me the intense contractions were like burning but it helps if you can relax into a contraction. If you tense it definitely hurts more. I did hypnobirthing before dd3 and this definitely made the pain bearable and I did not panic at any point.

48 hours of contractions, .... but a migraine is far worse

Having been through it, and going to through it again in Oct, the biggest thing I will be doing this time is to remind myself and make DH remind me, not to panic or get scared when it is painful. This makes it much worse.

Instead the more painful it is the more I am going to try and keep calm and just focus on it.

You don't need to be scared. Unlike all other painful situations, it doesn't mean something has gone terribly wrong with your body. It means your body is doing what it should. This is a key thing to try and get programmed into your psyche before the big day!