Do really awful menstrual cramps equal a really awful labor?

[veryhappydog]

I'm trying to get my hormone and menstrual issues cleared up as much as I can now, but it's still bugging me in the back of my mind that if my uterus causes this much pain over a little bit of blood, is it just likely to go into overdrive and make for a horrible labor experience? I get debilitating back pain, muscle spasms up and down my back and thighs, and crippling uterine pain. I've actually considered using Hypnobabies for the period pain, so am I out of luck for an easy labor in the future, or is the feeling and coping totally different?

[kavamamakava]

I don't think it means you'll have a horrible labor. In my case, my experience with really painful menstrual cramps made me feel like labor wasn't all that bad. Plus, labor has a pattern and you know that contractions will end and you'll have a break. You never know what's going to happen with a period cramp.

[treegardner]

I had horrible cramps and labor was a totally different thing. It wasn't worse or better, just totally different.

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

I found that having dealt with horrific cramps (every bit as painful as full on labor for me but in a different way) in the past made it easier for me to deal with labor pains.

I dont know that it made labor more painful or not though.

[zinemama]

I don't think so.

On the other hand, the pain of labor certainly made those horrible cramps seem like awfully small potatoes.

[DisplacedYooper]

I would say my worst cramps (due to a tilted uterus) were worse than the regular labor pains I experiences. However, I also ended up with a swollen cervical lip, and *not* pushing while the swelling went down was pretty bad (though manageable in the end...)

[scottishmommy]

One of the first things I said after my baby was born was "At least it wasn't as bad as menstrual cramps!". I know a lot women who've said the same thing.

[lonegirl]

I think everyone is different. I usually get cramping and back ache during AF(I thought they were very painful).....then I spent 26h of hard labour....all back labour....those cramps were nothing. LOL DS was backwards and we were spine to spine....I hope if I am lucky enough to conceive again that I can do everything to get baby turned before the approach of labour.....Now pushing....well that was impowering....even though for me there was no way he was coming out I am glad I had the chance to try before a CS.

[savithny]

With my first labor, I kept waiting for it to get as bad as my worst cramps.... and when it did, I thought "yikes" for about one contraction and then my water broke and I got a huge urge to push and the hurting stopped.

Second time, it didn't even get as bad as the first time. Never got as bad as the worst cramps.

And I got to use all the coping strategies I developed getting through cramps to relax my way through labor. So that was a bonus?

[camprunner]

I had horrible menstrual cramps before I got pregnant with my first. The kind where you ly down and cry. We heard someone say that labor felt like bad menstrual cramps and dh was about to cry with me. Anyway, in the end labor was so easy and the only thing i felt was the dialation and that was it! With my next one labor was completely different and while it wasn't as nice as the first one, it didn't feel like menstrual cramps either.

[caned & able]

No

[cappuccinosmom]

Nope.

[nia82]

I've always had horrible cramps but labor was way worse - which was because DS was posterior and then sort of between posterior and normal with a nuchal hand. However my cramps had nothing to do with my labor experience!
My cramps have actually lessened, I'm on cycle 10 postpartum and I only hurt the first day and don't even require any meds now to make it through (just rarely).

[Belle]

No.

My menstrual cramps before giving birth were horrible. Birth was different. I could handle birth. Even better than that was that after giving birth, my menstrual cramps have decreased in intensity.

[bcblondie]

Nope I actually heard the opposite. That women are better prepared to handle the pain of labour.
I myself had back labour so the pain was completely different than af cramps. But still. I didn't think the pain was all that bad, until I was ready to push.

[Veritaserum]

I've had periods worse than labor. I use Hypnobabies for birth. Magnesium and Calcium help me with bad cramps.

[mwherbs]

What I have seen most of the time is when women have had to cope with something like painful menstrual cramps they are more prepared to manage labor cramps and I have had many of those gals think that labor was not as bad as the menstrual cramps-- so be encouraged you have honed your coping skills--

[zinemama]

Dang. I though my menstrual cramps used to be horrendous. But folks have had cramps worse than labor??

I can't even imagine what that would have been like. When I was in labor I would have given anything to trade what I was going through for one of my periods in the bad old days (they quit being painful when I was 25).

[AmyKT]

I have two things to say about this:

#1 If you have bad menstrual cramps, labor pains probably don't seem as bad as they do for someone who doesn't have cramps, because it all takes them by surprise, but it won't surprise you. My doula agreed with this.

#2 My menstrual cramps are pretty bad, compared to most of my friends, but they are not seriously debillitating. Aleve is my best friend when I'm having them, though. My labor pains felt very similar to menstrual cramps, though they did get more intense than regular menstrual cramps. I found that I felt them in generally the same place, which is in my back and down my legs.

So I don't think that you will have worse pains because of your menstrual history, but you may find that they are similar.

Also, it took about a year of postpartum menstruation before my cramps returned again, and they are not as bad as they used to be, so that may be something for you to look forward to.

[zinemama]

Originally Posted by AmyKT

I have two things to say about this:

#1 If you have bad menstrual cramps, labor pains probably don't seem as bad as they do for someone who doesn't have cramps, because it all takes them by surprise, but it won't surprise you. My doula agreed with this.

It's great that this turned out to be the case for you. But I really don't think you can generalize about everyone. I had bad cramps. Call in sick, double over a heating pad in bed cramps. Feel light-headed and woozy cramps. And labor was about a kajilion times worse than that.