Why does birth hurt

The Bradley method also focuses on good nutrition and exercise during pregnancy and relaxation and deep-breathing techniques as a method of coping with labor. Although the Bradley method advocates a medicine-free birth experience, the classes do discuss unexpected complications or situations, like emergency cesarean sections. A variety of pain medicines can be used during labor and delivery, depending on the situation. Many women rely on such medicines, and it can be a huge relief when pain is quickly eased and energy can be focused on getting through the contractions.

Talk to your health care provider about the risks and benefits of each type of medicine. Analgesics ease pain, but don't numb it completely. They can be given many ways. If they are given intravenously through an IV into a vein or through a shot into a muscle, they can affect the whole body. These medicines can cause side effects in the mother, including drowsiness and nausea.

They also can have effects on the baby. Regional anesthesia. This is what most women think of when they consider pain medicine during labor.

By blocking the feeling from specific regions of the body, these methods can be used for pain relief in both vaginal and cesarean section deliveries. Epidurals , a form of local anesthesia, relieve most of the pain from the entire body below the belly button, including the vaginal walls, during labor and delivery.

An epidural involves medicine given by an anesthesiologist through a thin, tube-like catheter that's inserted in the woman's lower back. The amount of medicine can be increased or decreased according to a woman's needs. Very little medicine reaches the baby, so usually there are no effects on the baby from this method of pain relief. Epidurals do have some drawbacks — they can cause a woman's blood pressure to drop and can make it difficult to pee.

They can also cause itching, nausea, and headaches in the mother. The risks to the baby are minimal, but include problems caused by low blood pressure in the mother. These drugs don't relieve pain, but they may help to calm and relax women who are very anxious.

Sometimes they are used along with analgesics. The first stage of labour is your body preparing for giving birth, with signs such as your waters breaking, the start of contractions, and a 'show'.

When you have a contraction, your womb uterus gets tight and then relaxes. You may have had contractions throughout your pregnancy, particularly towards the end. During pregnancy, these painless tightenings are called ' Braxton Hicks ' contractions.

When you are having regular, painful contractions that feel stronger and last more than 30 seconds, labour may have started. As labour gets going gets established your contractions tend to become longer, stronger and more frequent. During a contraction, the muscles in your womb contract and the pain increases. If you put your hand on your abdomen, you can feel it getting harder.

When the muscles relax, the pain fades and your hand will feel the hardness ease. The contractions are pushing your baby down and opening your cervix entrance to the womb ready for your baby to go through. Your midwife or doctor will probably advise you to stay at home until your contractions are frequent. When your contractions are coming every 5 minutes, it's time to go to the hospital. You may have either backache or the aching, heavy feeling that some women get with their monthly period.

While you are pregnant, a plug of mucus is present in your cervix. Just before labour starts, or in early labour, the plug comes away and you may pass this out of your vagina. This small amount of sticky, jelly-like pink mucus is called a 'show'. It may come away in one blob, or in several pieces. It is pink in colour because it's blood-stained, and it's normal to lose a small amount of blood mixed with mucus.

If you're losing more blood , it may be a sign that something is wrong, so telephone your hospital or midwife straight away. A show indicates the cervix is starting to open, and labour may follow quickly, or it may take a few days.

Some women do not have a show. Most women's waters break during labour, but it can also happen before labour starts. Your unborn baby develops and grows inside a bag of fluid called the amniotic sac. When it's time for your baby to be born, the sac breaks and the amniotic fluid drains out through your vagina. This is your waters breaking. When this happens, call your midwife or doctor, so they can ask you some questions and check your condition.

You may feel a slow trickle, or a sudden gush of water that you cannot control. To prepare for this, you could keep a sanitary towel but not a tampon handy if you are going out, and put a plastic sheet on your bed. Amniotic fluid is clear and a pale straw colour. Sometimes it's difficult to tell amniotic fluid from urine. When your waters break, the water should be clear or slightly pink.

If it appears greenish or bloody, see a doctor or your hospital immediately, as this could mean you and your baby need urgent attention. If your waters break before labour starts, phone your midwife or the hospital for advice. Without amniotic fluid your baby is no longer protected and there is a risk of infection. The cervix needs to open about 10cm for a baby to pass through. This is called 'fully dilated'. Contractions at the start of labour help to soften the cervix so that it gradually opens.

Sometimes the process of softening can take many hours before you're in what midwives call 'established labour'. Once I surrendered to and accepted the pain, it was more bearable. It is like getting caught in the undertow of a wave. Being trapped underwater is scary — you can fight it and get more scared or you can just let go and wait until the wave releases you.

Also, there was an intense searing pain in my lower back, which was helped when my husband applied pressure to it. It feels like your abdomen is trying to squeeze out all its contents, not just the baby. They come in waves and varying intensity throughout the laboring process. I would go from a pretty tolerable one to an extremely intense one the next time. I have a pretty high tolerance for pain and it is definitely the hardest thing I have ever done.

While the vast majority of our respondents found labor extremely painful, some were pleasantly surprised to find it easier than they had imagined.

Keep reading to hear more about their experiences. I went in for my 36th week visit and the midwife was checking to see if I was dilated. She got a funny look on her face and told me I was five centimeters dilated and 90 percent effaced! I went to the hospital, got an epidural, and four hours later had a baby girl virtually pain free.

I was in labor for 16 hours, and it seemed to fly by. And it all got much easier once the epidural kicked in. To me, it felt like a menstrual pain that was more painful than normal but not excruciating. Actually, the worst part was how a contraction would kick in whenever the nurse put the baby monitor on my stomach! It feels like cramping when you get your period, just a little more intense.

And the pushing is a relief. Once you hold the baby you forget all about the pain you were in. A handful of women mentioned that the pain didn't escalate until their water broke. Here are their experiences. It was more of a tightening that got worse and worse until it peaked, then dropped off.

If I could have had this particular pain once an hour or even once every 15 minutes, I'd have been able to tolerate it. But the fact that just as soon as you get through one contraction another is coming, that's what wears you down.

The pain was so bad that in the middle of one contraction I imagined that I walked away from my body. I tried to picture myself walking on the beach. Of course, that didn't work and my next thought was of the epidural. It felt like someone had taken hold of my insides and were wringing them out like a wet dishrag.

It appears that the majority of moms who participated in our survey opted for an epidural—and were happy they did. After eight hours of labor pains I opted for the epidural. I had immediate relief. The breathing I learned in class helped, but it was hard to concentrate because of the pain. Thank God for the epidural—from someone who was not sure if she was going to get it when she first went to the hospital!

The best way I can think to describe it is to say that it felt like my stomach was getting an extremely bad cramp—like a charley horse , but in my stomach! The pain was really bad, but I'm not afraid to go through labor again. Some moms went with unmedicated childbirth and managed their pain in other ways. I've had IV drugs, an epidural, and nothing. I honestly preferred nothing.

I did not find that this really relieved my pain but rather made my labor feel like a nasty stomach virus.