Subsequent birth less painful

[8DaysAWeek]

I'm due my second baby in a few months and I'm just wondering if it's reasonable to hope that this one won't be as painful as the first? He was back to back, and all of the pains were at the front of my thighs for some reason.

It's probably a weird question, and I know labour isn't a walk in the park for anyone, but I genuinely didn't expect it to be as painful as it was and I'd love to know if there is a chance that this labour won't be as bad!

Thank god for gas and air though...

All of my births were back to back.

Don't worry, subsequent births tend to be a lot less painful and are much quicker.

Mine was far, far less painful - literally a 1 to DS1’s 10! But obviously that’s just my experience. In general though, my friends have found subsequent births easier than their first.

First one wasn't great, bad tear. Second one was out in 3 pushes, felt better the next day than I had in the previous 6 weeks.

Loving reading this!! I am currently 13+4 with DC2!

Great replies so far! I just can't tell if I have a ridiculously low pain threshold or I had a particularly painful labour as have nothing else to compare it to! I definitely said the words "I can't do this anymore" multiple times and asked for an epidural but was refused for some reason (I was in too much pain to really understand but I think I was too far advanced).

My 2nd and 3rd deliveries MUCH MUCH easier/quicker/no stitches/quicker recovery...

My second didn’t hurt! Maybe for ten minutes. But mostly it was amazing and exhilarating. So much faster and amazing recovery. My third was twins and that hurt more and took longer than the second but still nowhere near as bad as the first. Your body knows what to do, your uterus has contracted before, everything has stretched before and mentally/emotionally you are so much better prepared. Good luck!

Thanks for posting OP I'm due DC2 in 9 weeks and told consultant I'm thinking of ELCS purely out of fear this one will get stuck too and ending up in forceps again.

But it would be a shame if it could potentially be easier 🤔🙈

Mine was all done in 20% of the time - from 5 hours to one! Bloody hurt, I won't lie, but didn't last long and the recovery was a dream.

My 2nd & 3rd deliveries were much quicker & less painful than the first one.

My 2nd delivery was the easiest of of the 4.

Last was back to back and the toughest.

Hope all goes well.

Shorter but not less painful. All the pain was in my hips and thighs! At least I wasn't in pain for as long though!

DD1 was horrendous agony.

DD2 was horrendous agony but for half the time.

DS was half the time again but half the pain and that's because I had in in a birthing pool which was absofuckinglutely fantastic.

sorry but I had ds2 16 weeks ago and it was just as painful aS the first time... But it was much faster and I didn't have time for any pain relief apart from a bit of gas and air. no episiotomy, ventouse, or stitches this time though so recovery was much much quicker.

You'll get a self selecting sample on here. Among friends and family, mostly second labours are shorter but there's no pattern to pain. Some were significantly more painful.

Pain was just as bad for my 2nd BUT it was 17 hours of active labour Vs 5 hours the second time round so it was far more bearable!

Thanks folks. I'm fully aware that things might be in fact worse this time round, we never know CV what will happen. But I'm taking comfort in knowing its more than possible and (from this thread and reading elsewhere) I've gathered even more than likely that a second time birth will be quicker and less traumatic. Actually started an online hypobirthing course tonight - from The Positive Birthing Company - and already starting to feel more positive :)

DC2 was more painful but it was much quicker.

First back to back induced , 8 or so hours , had morphine like you pain in back and thighs
Second born 11 mins after arrival at hospital although contracting for perhaps 3 hours . Intense but quicker and pain in belly
Third weirdly long long labour as he was actually stuck but not that painful really until the last 10 mins .

My second was just as painful, and early labour I found especially painful because I was fretting and wasn't in the "zone". But when I managed to tune out everything else and focus, it was so much easier to manage than the first labour (and I didn't have any drugs the second time, just breathing in the bath). It was also only 1.5 hours from start to finish v 13 hours.

DC1 - excruciating 72 hours of pain and disaster.

DC2 - less painful but it still bloody hurt. Took about 12 hours but I’d been lead to hope it would be faster.

DC3 - the most intense pain. Completely shocking. But all over on less than an hour from first contraction. I got my fast birth but to be honest it was too fast and furious, it sent me into shock and I shook for many hours afterwards.