Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Childbirth

Share experiences and get support around labour, birth and recovery.

Original poster

What hurts more, contractions or baby actually coming out?

112 replies

macdat · 23/02/2016 03:57

I guess contractions last longer, so that's a downside, but the baby actually coming out seems...well...horrific. I'm so scared haha. I want to know which one is more painful, just so I can prepare myself a little and sort of psych myself up for it.

OP posts:
duckyneedsaclean · 24/02/2016 09:59

Crowning for me. Don't know if it was mega painful or just weird and disturbing.

NickyEds · 24/02/2016 18:11

Ds -Contractions were very intense as he was back to back and I had the drip. Pushing and delivery were agony but by then the contractions had all just merged together. It was all just agony.Two tears needing stitches which really hurt too, I told the registrar that I could feel the stitching and she said "only a couple more, I'll only be a few minutes". Bitch! I was still having nightmares a year later.

Dd - She was also back to back and the contractions were the most painful part. Crowning wasn't so bad because I didn't tear and I knew it was almost over. Also the mw poured water over my bits as she came out and it helped.

Junosmum · 24/02/2016 21:49

I cried every time a contraction ended as I knew there'd be another one along in a minute. It was awful. Didn't help that I'd been told by several people that once you start pushing its around 30mins till baby comes out. 4 hours later, there was still no sign of baby.

sootica · 24/02/2016 21:57

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Jenijena · 24/02/2016 22:01

I was not supposed to push for an hour as wasn't apparently dilated enough I so was. That hurt far, far more than anything else...

elliejjtiny · 25/02/2016 02:36

I don't know, they feel different. I'm not sure which is worse. Contractions feel like food poisoning/upset tummy. Pushing is like constipation but from the other hole!

tittysprinkles · 25/02/2016 02:50

Contractions - agony each one (back to back baby)
Crowning - didn't notice this really but I had had an episiotomy with local anaesthetic

The end bit was ok really, you are so delirious with tiredness and pain that with any luck you don't notice it. And then the best bit - tea and toast!!

MissCalamity · 25/02/2016 21:30

Getting DC1 out was so painful, I was ok (well as can be!) with the contractions, the midwife actually said to my DP we'll have to get her out of the pool if she's not having contractions, and DP said no she's having them, my knee is being squeezed every 90 seconds!

With DC2 it was the other way round, contractions were so painful & I kept nearly jumping out of the pool, it was a quick labour through, I think I only pushed 3 times & she was out & it didn't feel as painful as the first time round Grin

Pinkheart5915 · 26/02/2016 13:30

Congratulations on your pregnancy.

My labour was 14 hours, I had a pool birth and found I could manage the pain until the last 2 hours when I needed gas and air.

pollyr01 · 26/02/2016 17:46

Crowning
Did both drug free and believe me that is the worst (and quickest!) bit

Katarzyna79 · 26/02/2016 17:54

i think contractions worse usually asvtheyre more frequent. When the head pops out its jot so much pain but discomfort it bloody stings but is usually over quickly so its not such a bother .

I hope its fast this time round i shouldnt be scared after 4 but i am a bit

Katarzyna79 · 26/02/2016 17:58

misscalamity i reckon the quick deliveries are more psinful my theory lol i was in labour with baby 2 most the night but when i got in they couldnt examine me they had to tear trousers off for me, it was 1 push for the head then 2nd push baby out i couldnt control it, the baby was in a rush to be out. I was relieved but that was the most painful birth, so much for speed?

Runningupthathill82 · 26/02/2016 19:32

From my experience(s), the quick deliveries are far less painful - being in agony for 24hrs or for two hours? No contest!

Katarzyna79 · 26/02/2016 20:23

you know when you ladies say you were in labour 14 hrs for example, do you go into hospital as soon as you are contracting?

I usually wait till contractions are 2 mins apart or unbearable then go. usually I have contractions all night whilst husband sleeps, then early morning its unbearable so I go hospital. Am I leaving it too late?

the reason I wait is I figure I'm more comfy and at ease at home, I hate the clinical environment of the hospital it would make me more tense.

UptownFunk00 · 26/02/2016 20:37

Contractions are intense and you don't get a break so in that respect the pain is worse but I had them for nearly 48 hours so maybe if it had just been 6 might've been more bare able?

Giving birth stung like a bitch but it was pushing so hard I thought I'd pass out that worried me so much. I was cut pretty bad and lost a lot of blood so maybe the stinging I got was worse than normal?

Funny as a few days later you feel like you could cope with going through it again but at the time you scream never again!

Hope your labour goes smoothly.

NickyEds · 26/02/2016 20:44

I went to hospital before contractions started with ds because my waters broke and there was blood in them. They started not long after I got to hospital but I had to labour there to be monitored. With dd I'd had two weeks of bh and false starts but the first real contraction woke me at midnight and I knew immediately that it was the real deal, very intense and painful from the get go. I rang my sister to come almost straight away. When she arrived she was telling me to stay at home as long as possible, she'd been here half an hour or so when she said to get myself to hospital! When I got there the mw wouldn't admit me as I wasn't dilated enough, not in labour. Dd was born about 2 hours later on a trolley bed thing in the closed induction suite- dp had to collar a passing mw as I wanted to push!

Runningupthathill82 · 26/02/2016 20:49

Katarzyna - No. When I say 24hrs of labour, I mean 24hrs of proper labour, not the early stage!

With DS, I went to hospital when contractions were 2-3 mins apart and I was getting three strong ones in 10 minutes. It was 24hrs from there. All excruciatingly painful.

With DD I thought I was going to be in for the long haul again, so waited til the same stage to go in. She was almost born in the car...

Basically, all labours are very different!

Katarzyna79 · 26/02/2016 21:00

aww running I didn't realise the last stage of short painful contractions could last so long, mine has been 30 mins at the most.

I should be more grateful ive had it easy. You ladies are real troopers. I don't think I could do it for that long id be screaming for epidural. ive had no pain relief with my 4 so far. I'm expecting no.5 in may I hope it goes the same way but you;ve got me scared now.

Katarzyna79 · 26/02/2016 21:01

aww running I didn't realise the last stage of short painful contractions could last so long, mine has been 30 mins at the most.

I should be more grateful ive had it easy. You ladies are real troopers. I don't think I could do it for that long id be screaming for epidural. ive had no pain relief with my 4 so far. I'm expecting no.5 in may I hope it goes the same way but you;ve got me scared now.

SquidgeyMidgey · 26/02/2016 21:59

I've had 2, I would say crowning is the most intense stinging out there but transition contractions take the biscuit. Seriously ouch.

scrivette · 26/02/2016 23:45

Elliejj you described my birth perfectly, contractions felt like an upset tummy and I was convinced I had food poisoning and was not in labour.

Pushing just felt like I was really full.

Try to listen to your body and I would recommend reading about hypnobirthing.

Be prepared to use lots of gas and air for the stitches which hurt more than the birth--

scrivette · 26/02/2016 23:45

Strikeout fail.

FattyNinjaOwl · 26/02/2016 23:54

Good question. My labours were
DS1: 38 hours of contractions, starting every 2/3 minutes. 2 hours of pushing. He was back to back and came out face first.
DD: 5 hours of labour (from regular contractions, 2 weeks of contractions on and off before that. I went to hospital and was told I was in very slow labour!) She was back to back and face first too.
DS2, at first I thought my contractions were just me needing the toilet. Nowhere near as painful as the other two. I got to hospital at 7cm dilated and he was born 4 hours after my first contraction. He was good and came out how all the books tell you they do. Grin.
I found that concentrating on my breathing and lots of gas and air helped a lot.

PeaceLoveAndJaffaCakes · 27/02/2016 00:08

Pushing the bugger out hurt me much more than contractions, but it's an entirely different sort of pain. Thankfully it didn't last long. Stitching was the worst pain I've ever been in in my life.
Try not to worry OP. Your body really does take over, and just gets the job done. That baby is coming out one way or another, and you'll be grand.

SerenityReynolds · 27/02/2016 00:08

For me, the end of the first stage and transition were definitely the most painful bit. The pushing is still painful, but having something actively to do helped distract me - I found it exhausting rather than painful. I can honestly say I wasn't aware of crowning or tearing either time, though the tear after DD2 was more stingy than with DD1 (both 2nd degree). I had only TENS and gas and air for both births, though I was begging for an epidural for DD1 who was back to back. There wasn't time in the end, I went from 4-10cm in 2 hours and then told them not to bother. DD2 was even quicker and I was pretty much crowning when I got to hospital!