Was labour as bad as you expected or were you expecting it to be worse?

[bubbles519]

Just that really

I had an ELCS for a breech baby. I wasn't afraid, but I was prepared for a hard and painful recovery. IT WAS SO EASY. I was a bit achey and sore, like I'd fallen off a horse, but other than that the worst pain was having the cannula put in and those stingy injections afterwards.

Just after is given birth I told DP that it wasn't as bad as I was expecting it to be. It was painful but it was over quickly and the drugs made it bearable.

The actual pushing didn't hurt for me - it's more just intense pressure and you have to be so focused that you can't think about anything else.

Contractions on the other hand were the most horrific pain I've ever experienced - and they went on for 34 hours!

Not as bad as I expected. I worried about the wrong things though, I was terrified that it would be really long but both my labours were actually quite short in the end.

Also I worried about interventions and tearing but in the moment you don't really care about that kind of thing (had an episiotomy with my first which was my idea of a nightmare beforehand but in reality it wasn't that bad).

The pain was worse than I could ever have imagined. I had gas and air but I was considering telling them to just cut me open to make it stop when they said he was crowning and I could push. I said to my husband afterwards that I could understand now a perspective of just wanting to die rather than be in that much pain.

However, the overall experience was less scary than I thought and was over quicker (16hrs, 4 hours active).

I'd prepared for the worst but hoped for the best, so I guess I wasn't surprised! Contractions hit me like a ton of bricks and I asked for an epidural almost immediately after they set in (I was induced with a pessary). Ended up having an emergency c-section, which I hadn't wanted, but it was a generally positive experience once the decision was made.

It was about what I had hoped for I guess! Agree with another poster who said the pain is incomparable. It's definitely not the worst pain I have had but not at all like being sick. I quite liked having my first two babies, in that it was a slog to a great end goal!

The labour is the most painful experience I’ve ever been through but it really wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I found counting through the contractions from the start of one until the peak really helped me mentally and I thought of it as one less to deal with lol. My first labour was 3 days and ended with an epidural and assisted birth. Towards the end, baby was getting distressed and at that point I would have happily allowed the professionals to do anything to get baby out safely. Second labour was much more manageable and I gave birth in the pool, again counting through contractions and pushing wasn’t too bad as body just takes over for you in reality. Despite the horrible first labour it still wasn’t half as bad as I imagined. Labour and birth are nothing to be frightened of but unfortunately we can’t predict it either. Just have to go with the flow and make decisions as they arise. Best present in the world is being handed your baby after all your hard work

Not as bad as I thought it was going to be. If anything it's put down as one of my favourite days and it's makes me happy whenever I think about my experience... I've had wisdom tooth pain for over a week and that was definitely worse than labour.

Much better and quicker than I thought. I've had worse periods.

My 4th and final was worse than I expected , it was a shoulder dystocia birth and he was dragged /pummelled out of me I had barely had any pain relief it was the most painful 3 minutes of my life. Then my placenta wouldn't come out and a dr tried to rip it out by hand , that didn't work so I had surgery to remove it. Really not what I expected!

Labour itself I found manageable.

Opening my legs for stitches afterwards, beyond painful. The worst pain ever. Razor blades to the foof.

I was determined not to have pain relief the first time around. I was induced which meant my body didn't get time to release natural pain relief, so it was very painful. Second one I decided not to have pain relief either but it was slightly easier without the interventions as no induction. But still bloody painful. Thankfully both labours were short. It was bonkers not to take all the pain relief I could get, and twice! There won't be a third but if there was I'd be all hooked up to the drip before my husband had even opened the wine and winked!

First was worse - the contractions! I ended up with an epidural. Second baby was lots better. Gas and air was enough.

I had a long labour and the first 15 hours or so were uncomfortable but not unbearable. Then I think I was so tired I don't remember much. The only thing I remember distinctly is dp, very far away in the distance, shouting at me and me wondering why he was shouting. I'd forgotten I was in labour by then and wasn't too bothered. According to him, the midwives had finally said I could push and I was either too asleep or too drugged to understand.

Then I remember lights and clattering noise - the crash trolley - but still wasn't bothered. And then someone very insistent saying they had to stitch me up. And then waking up the following afternoon feeling like I'd been hit by a train, and a little trainee midwife who seemed to be about 14, helping me into a bath..

When other women say their birth was the most fulfilling moment of their life or even how bad it was, I feel a bit like a fraud because I can't actually remember DS being born. It all feels very remote.

Significantly worse. It was too far out of my experience to have imagined. I had a terrible birth but so many do sadly. Second time was planned section and much better.

I didn't expect it to be bad and it was OK. There's no other experience like it.

I've broken bones and dislocated my knee and was fine but labour on the other hand, was really, really painful for me. The contractions after 7cm felt like someone set my lower part on fire and at the same time slicing me bit by bit. It was horrific and I'm known to have a high pain threshold. Next time I'm in labour, I'm going to ask for an epidural upfront if the pain is going to be the same as the first one.

It was significantly less painful and isn't a 'bad' pain at all. It's productive and empowering. I find wisdom tooth pain is so much worse. I actually loved both my labours. Managed two without pain relief although did get a local anaesthetic when getting stitches afterwards.

Much better than expected. I had two water births and lovely encouraging midwives.

Labour with my first was incredibly long! It was manageable. I did feel like I'd done 400 press ups as I kind of did. I'd been on all fours during contractions and did a lot of rocking around. I was quite hoarse too as I 'mooed' a lot!

I was a bit too relaxed about how long we had when I went into labour with DD2 as it had taken so long with the first. Luckily my DH is more anxious!

First one horrific second one, much, much better. Still agony though. Birth is the very definition of agony. Definitely worth it for my beautiful miracle babies though.

Depends how bad your labour was I suppose. Not everyone gets the same pain. A nice small baby in a good position hurts a lot less than a huge baby that’s back to back. A cervix that dilates properly hurts a lot less than one which doesn’t. My pain was so severe that I was immobilised and even morphine didn’t take the edge off. It’s given me a fear of death because I now know how much pain the human body is capable of feeling.

First baby was ELCS. The CS was better than expected, but I found the recovery very hard and painful.

Second was horrifically painful. My uterus ruptured after 3 long days of labour. It was 3 hours from the first tearing pain to being rushed into theatre for a category 1 CS, as HCPs dismissed it could be a rupture until our stats suddenly dropped. I had just paracetamol and then later G&A to (not) cope with the pain for those 3hrs.
On the upside, in recovery I got adequate pain relief (a morphine drip) unlike with baby #1 and generally the recovery was much much easier.

Much worse. Back to back labour meant constant contractions for hours and hours, no 3 in 10, just constant pain. I thought my spine was breaking. Baby got stuck at hour 26 and required lots of intervention. Forceps are instruments of torture. Post-birth midwife said i should sue the hospital for malpractice having been left to push alone for 4h. Just awful experience.

C section for me next time. Almost cost me my future Baby.