Are birth stories REALLY that interesting to other people?

[poodlepusher]

I am just wondering as I was obsessed with my first, and would tell it at the drop of a hat, again and again - but couldn't be arsed to go into the details of my 2nd, just too knackered and wanting to get on with things.

Do you find our own birthing stories fascinating and everyone elses' a drag, or are you interested in the minutae of someone elses' blow by blow account?

When you've done it once you think your birth was the most traumatic, painful, unusual birth there has ever been.
Then you have another and realise that each one is bad - different, but still painful traumatic etc.
I used to want to tell people about my first and got quite annoyed if they interrupted me with 'oh yes but my labour was blah blah' and they'd be thinking theirs was worse but I knew that it couldn't have been worse than MINE.
With my 2nd I never told anyone and if they asked I'd say oh you don't want to know, it got a bit gory and you might want to eat later . With a first i think you want every one to know how you SUFFERED.

I love to hear other peoples birth stories. I often find them really emotional. There was a really well written one on here about a month or so again, but I'm buggered if I can remember who wrote it.

I would just love to hear the great experiences that people have, but you never get that do you! I don't believe that everyone had a traumatic birth, some must surely be ok?!

Mine was pretty good (well, it was quick and I didn't need have any pain relief)

i think they are interesting if you are within a year either side of a birth, or if you are very close to the person telling it. otherwise not so much

Now that's what I'm talking about Effie! Now tell me you didn't rip in half, didn't have any stitches and you were home by lunchtime doing the tango in your living room!

er, sorry!

But I was in the pub a few hours before, had a second stage of less than an hour and though I had an episiotomy it healed fine

I like reading and hearing about other peoples birth storys, as long as they don't go into too much gory detail.

Some of them make me weep, soppy mug that I am

im not really that interested in anyone elses stories... but somehow people just HAVE to tell them . maybe its because they think theirs was so bad that no-one elses birth could have possibly been QUITE as painful/nightmarish as their own!

When I was in the whole pregnancy/birth/baby stage yes! Now I just find them boring tbh

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i love birth stories, love em!!

on a more serious note, women who feel traumatised by a birth experience, feel compelled to keep telling the story and retelling it, over and over again as a way to get to grips with what happened.

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It's funny how pregnancy suddenly makes you feel free to talk about your fanjo and sex life all day long, even I've found that I am happy to tell absolutely everyone just about anything now that I'm pregnant, where as before if someone asked a personal question I would more likely jab them in the eye with a pen!

Lolli just been searching for you and found
this and this
if you fancy a little light reading. some positive stories to balance out the "it was hell" ones

Jen thank you that's really kind of you! I was actually completely freaking out about childbirth for the first time this morning, hadn't had any problem with the idea before then and just suddenly I went mental with all the horrible stories i'd heard, so that thread will really help, thanks.

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HA my partner thinks he's going to film the birth and then show it to everyone when they come to see the baby! AS IF! Just imagine how many people would end up seeing my faff!

I'm interested in them if I'm interested in the woman but otherwise not.

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I do like to hear friends birth stories if they have just had their baby, or if they mention something funny/dramatic from the birth in conversation, but my SIL drove me mad when I had just had mine. Her children are in their late teens/early 20s but she can't stop herself from comparing any birth story to her own (and trying to make herself look better than other people). It drives me insane. You can't even mention another babys birthweight without her saying something like "well my 1st DC was 10lb5oz, try getting that out". Or she will roll her eyes heavanwards if she hears that someone has had an epidural - thank god I didn't need one or I would never hear the end of it! I would have liked to have her stories once, but there is some reference at nearly every family gathering!

i know pruners, fancy me being on this thread!!

birth is so life changing in so many ways, that talking about it is natural, i think.

but i can imagine why women would not want to or would not be interested

As a first timer due to give birth in 5 weeks (if he's on time!), I'm finding that I'm actually really interested in birth stories at the moment - friends' and MNers' stories alike. I'm hoping to pick up useful tips on what may happen, things that we can try to help with pain etc. as well as understand what can go wrong. It is always nice to read an uplifting story - there was one on here a while ago where it didn't go according to plan (ended up with forceps or even EmCS I think) but the mum wrote her story so eloquently that I found it really useful as well as uplifting and hope that I can recall my birth story in that way.

But I was never interested before I got pregnant and may not be after I've had this little one

Sometimes, depends on the story and how they tell it. But I usually ask, because a lot of women want to talk about it. No harm in giving them the opportunity.

And writing birth stories on here was quite cathartic, didn't care if no one read it!