I'm really early on in my pregnancy so I'm not sure why I'm even thinking about this now. This will be my first.
The thing that's worrying me is the lack of control during labour. I'm worried the pain will be so intense and frightening that I will panic and not be able to cope, and there will be nothing I can do to stop it. I am scared I'll get a severe tear, haemorrhage and die. The fear of this lack of control is keeping me up at night and making me tearful during the day. I know it's irrational and pathetic but I can't help it.
Please could someone talk me through what happens during labour and the coping strategies you had? What happens if the pain is too severe? And what happens if things go wrong? Will they go through things with me before making any decisions or will they just go ahead and do what they need to do to protect baby (episiotomy etc).