This seems more and more like a lexical problem. How do we define 'pain'? What sensations would qualify? And perhaps most importantly, how do we and our culture feel about pain?
Is pain necessarily something scary and negative? If so, then some labors are definitely pain-free, even without hypnosis. The sensations of labor are different from those of sustaining serious injuries. And if so, I definitely see a need for hypnosis to reprogram one into thinking labor does not equal pain.
If, however, an individual and/or her culture don't see all pain as inherently negative, scary, and to be avoided at all costs, then even the easiest labors can qualify as painful and still be positive experiences. Strenuous exercise definitely qualifies, and it's certainly not unpleasant, negative, or something to be avoided. Paper cuts are more unpleasant by far
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Originally Posted by Mosaic  I had a pain-free Hypnobabies birth. It was long, with back labor, but I can't say that it hurt. Challenging, yes. Intense, yes. Painful? Nope.
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This is interesting to me because I can't imagine what sensation it is that is challenging and intense, but is not pain. Running or swimming for an hour come to mind, but my muscles would definitely hurt and that would be the challenge.
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Originally Posted by mambera
There are a lot of things that made labor pain more acceptable than other sorts of excruciating pain (I wasn't scared, I didn't feel I was being damaged (until the very end anyway), it was more like running-a-marathon than breaking-your-arm), but it was definitely pain. Not 'pressure,' PAIN.
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That's the way I've experienced it. But according to my definition, pain does not necessarily mean something scary and to be avoided. There are different kinds.
Now, paper cuts and having a tooth drilled by a dentist are
unpleasant.
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