How painful is childbirth on a scale of 1-10?

[Blackitty]

1 being a breeze
and ...
10 being the absolute worst pain imaginable?

I am due in March. First baby and would like to know what I’m in for...

That was a 10 for me - particularly on the first one.

Everyone feels it differently, and each of my labours felt different too, so don’t read too much into the posts!

I found it totally bearable but my labours were short.
I found the calmer I was, the easier to cope. Yes, it’s scary but you know why you’ve got the pain and you know you need to cope with it and that it will eventually be over.
Contractions were intense but a pain that felt like pressure....eased up once waters went and I was pushing. Crowning was a sharper pain.

When I caught my finger in a heavy bar door on a night out once (plenty of alcohol anaesthesia) it was FAR more painful.

I love reading threads like this and comparing my experience to others - it really goes to show that every birth is so different!

I was induced and had absolutely no reaction to anything they gave me until my waters were broken.

Having my waters broken was around 6/10.

I started having contractions immediately and within 30/45mins they were pain level 10/10. I was adamant that those screaming mums on one born every minute were having a laugh and there was no need. I screamed 😂

Gas and air helped me not care as much but didn't take the pain away per se. I had two epidurals (neither worked unfortunately!) and whatever they inject you with (some kind of morphine I think?). The morphine was the best from the point of view of painkilling.

I would say that with the gas and air and the limited relief from the epidurals it went to an 8/10 but only during the contraction and honestly I think a lot of that was because I was stuck on the bed being monitored because I was induced - my back was killing me because I'd been sitting/lying in the same position for 12+ hours at that point. There was lots of time between contractions when it wasn't painful at all but I was very sick from the gas and air I think.

Strangely I don't remember much pain when I got to the stage of pushing! I had a reasonably sized tear too but really don't recall any pain.

Later found out baby was back to back too so that might explain some of the back pain.

Had the most horrendous pregnancy, induced for three days, two failed epidurals, back to back birth and a third degree tear and literally the first words I said to my husband when I was passed my little one were "I'd do it again in an instant".

You will be absolutely fine OP xx

I did find it very painful, probably 8/9 at times but it was far more bearable than, the pain of a broken bone or similar. It felt like a constructive pain if that makes sense? It's not the same as injury or illness where all you can do is lay there and put up with it.

I had a fairly straightforward if unexpectedly rapid labour. Contractions for me started around a 2 and escalated to about a 7 or 8 (with gas and air) by the time I was going into transition. Crowning was absolutely a 10 but that but doesn't last long!

I had an epidural at 6.5cm which was mainly because I'd already been going 30 hours by this point and just wanted to sleep, plus they were putting a drip in me to speed things up (induction process) and I'd heard how painful that was and was scared. But the first 6.5cm I'd say were about a 6 it was painful but like a few others have said it was manageable because it wasn't a constant pain. I deep breathed through the contractions and found that helped. Have a look into hypnobirthing if you haven't already.

With the right medical care and pain management, I know from experience of two child births the labour is a 3.
But I’ve been told baby’s position is also a factor and both of my children were in the perfect position for exit.
Note: My pregnancies were hell on earth.

Also having the epidural put into my back was the worse pain of all!! I'd say that was a 10 for me 🤢

8-ish on contractions. It's not the long duration of it that wore me down emotionally tbh, not the precise pain itself.

Stitches were no worse than a 3 for me.

Have seen DH in pieces about dislocated shoulder & broken leg, I'd say his shoulder was a 9+.

I've had two inductions for very late babies and had a reaction to the induction drug both times which hyperstimulated me meaning I had contractions with 20 seconds apart for hours and hours and they were off the toco scale. Its very very painful but manageable for about 20 hours and then I've just got exhausted and the babies went into distress so they had to hurry things along.

Crowning was ... 6?

On a scale of 1-10?
15!!
Back to back baby, 32 hrs of labour. Tens machine didn’t work and my idiot husband religiously stuck to my ‘mum wants natural birth’ birth plan.
I was praying for an emergency C-section at one point, just so I could be knocked out and stop the pain.
Didn’t stop me having several more IVF’s in an attempt to have a sibling, I’d have gone through it all again in a heartbeat.

Just so that you're aware, a certain cohort of women lie, to themselves and others, about the pain of childbirth. They consider having a 'natural' childbirth in which they managed the pain with a yoga ball and unicorn dreams to be a sort of moral superiority - a few of the birth stories shared in my NCT group made me laugh - it was like the stork had flown in and deposited a baby on their laps. Mainly you hear this in real life and have more honest answers on here, but still.

There is a good reason that childbirth is widely considered to be horrifically painful - it is. But it's not constant pain and it is manageable for many people without drugs. Some parts are 4 and some are 12, and that can happen in the same minute. Also every labour is different.

Don't be scared. Have a plan that includes pain relief if you need or want it. Be flexible. You respond to the situation as it happens.
The lovely baby is worth it! It's all about your mental and physical wellbeing and a healthy baby, however you can get there.

It is a 10, however, you honestly do forget about it when you hold your baby for the first time. It is not the same as being ill, you know the pain will end when you have your baby, also if it were that bad no one would ever have more than one child and plenty of people go on to have more than one.

Uncomfortable throughout labour on and off but not painful. For me, was like period discomfort. The delivery part was a 10, but only lasted a 1/4 hour so was over really fast

The pain itself isn't the issue, it's the length of time. If it was just just a few contractions, push and then done, I would have coped fine. However, after the first 12 hours with pain every 3 minutes, it's exhausting and becomes harder to deal with. And after 28 hours I was done!

There are moments of 8 or 9 but it's not the whole time. Lots of labour I chatted and made jokes. I liked the gas. The third stage I've never quite been there for because mine come out quite quick. So I have spent most of those time complaining that someone was touching me. ( My babies head)
I have horrid piles and pooing is far far more painful.

Induction did for me with DC1. Definitely 10. I thought those freak contractions would rip me apart.
With DC2, a drug free home birth, a 3.

For me, everything from 2 to 10 (although the 10 only lasted a few minutes). BUT I found it different to other times I've been in pain, because it comes in waves, so you do get little breaks. The biggest thing for me though was realising that it's meant to be painful - I found that without the worry/need to solve it that accompanies every other type of physical pain, it was much easier to manage.

Child one was mostly 8 and then a brief unimaginable 10 during the entry of the forceps.
Child two probably peaked at 8. But the after birth pains and shakes were bad.
But I found all the pain (apart from
The forceps bit) bearable , and only had gas and air.

I think that I have had worse experiences
Toothache in ways, because I’ve had terrible, miserable toothache that has lasted for days and I haven’t known when it would end.

10
I progressed too fast to have an epidural and my contractions were less than 2mins apart from the start. It was agony. But as soon as baby was out the pain vanishes.
It’s different to other pain because you know it has a purpose and an end.

I've had four babies and it was 9 or 10 every time. I will never forget that awful stinging, stretching, burning sensation for as long as I live.

10. Back-to-back labour here. No break in the pain. Just waves of worse pain.

Be very clear about what pain relief you want from the start (for example, an epidural) and be prepared to make an almighty fuss about it, or chances are you'll be fobbed off.

I suppose I was lucky but no higher than 5/6. I have had worse period pains. Breaking my knee was worse, some gastro upsets have been worse too. No epidurals available when I gave birth first in 1970 and I didn’t need gas and air. I was in labour overnight and I was walking around a lot. I was nervous because dh was working in Sierra Leone and the hospital was a bit primitive.
My second in 1974 was quicker and they tried to give me gas and air but I really hated it. It made it more difficult to control my breathing.
For both I used a book called The New Childbirth by Erna Wright which taught breathing techniques which really worked for me.
Fear and tension makes pain worse. I was very excited. It is a productive pain so you can work with it. There is a baby at the end!

All 3 of mine were an 8. I learnt a really simple breathing technique that was amazing and a TENS. Used the breathing through each contraction. I am a proper wuss so DH was amazed. All three labours about 8 hours first two had gas and air, last one nothing.
It sounds a bit zen but on the last one I was on my own for 7and a half of the 8 hours through choice and went into myself in contraction. They only last 1 minute and they peak at 30 seconds so you only need to get to 30 seconds and then you know it will get easier and then stop.