Was childbirth the worst pain you've ever experienced?

[Irma Lisette]

Was (natural) childbirth the worst pain you've ever experienced?

Before I had DS I was very scared of the pain, esp. since I'm not very good with pain anyway. We planned a home birth so I knew that pain meds were not an option, which made me even more scared! But I kept my fear under control by reading a lot of books about natural childbirth.

Well when the day came, it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be! It was like bad menstrual cramps (and I've had some really bad ones!), but instead of the pain going on and on, I got a break in between contractions. I never even thought about pain meds until maybe with the last 2 or 3 pushes.

I have to say I've had worse pains than that, and I'm wondering if there are more moms out there that think childbirth wasn't that bad. Or was I just lucky?

[Herausgeber]

I have IBS. My IBS attacks hurt more than birth. The thing that shocked me about labor wasn't the pain; it was how exhausting it was.

[slightlycrunchyann]

Breaking my arm was worse! I broke my arm really badly before I had kids and that become my benchmark for 10 on the 1-10 pain scale. Childbirth hurt a lot, up there at a 9 at times, but the arm was worse. I think, too, there's some of that childbirth amnesia at work for me, maybe something in the hormones, I just don't remember looking back just how that pain felt, but I sure remember exactly how that arm felt!

[straighthaircurly]

I thought being pregnant was worse than giving birth. I had a lot of problems with my hips while pregnant and it made sleeping a miserable experience. Contractions weren't bad as you get a break like you said. I also felt like contractions were pain with a purpose and I can withstand a lot of pain if there is a purpose behind it. I didn't use any pain medications although I dislocated a rib head during labor and that hurt the most because it was so sharp and so constant.

[pixiewytch]

I had an attempted HBAC and for me, yes, it was the absolute worst pain I've ever experienced. I don't consider myself a wussie either. I've had tattoos, piercings, menstrual cramps from hell, and previous c-section, all of which paled in comparison to my contractions. I wanted to die. At one point I was in so much pain I didn't even care about having the baby. I just wanted the pain to end....and yes, it was equally exhausting for nearly 24 hrs.

I am convinced that labor pain is absolutely subjective and individual from what I have heard from others, read, and been through myself.

[myhoneyswife]

Nope. I don't really know what the most painful thing I ever did was. I'm thinking having hemorrhoids is more painful I don't remember birth really hurting much, being uncomfortable at times if I laid down or sat, yes, being exhausting, yes, but not really pain. We'll see what the next one is like

[JanB]

Almost. The aftermath of having my impacted wisdom tooth extracted was actually worse. I was under general anesthesia for the actual extraction, but for the next two days I thought I was in hell, and that was WITH the Vicodin. Childbirth was not a walk in the park either, but I'd rather give birth forty more times than have to have a wisdom tooth extraction again.

[the_lissa]

It was for me, but I have never really had anything else painful in my life, except menstrual cramps, and my cramps were only slightly less painful than labour, so saying it was the most painful thing doesn't really say much for me.

[ani'smommy]

Originally Posted by JanB

Almost. The aftermath of having my impacted wisdom tooth extracted was actually worse. I was under general anesthesia for the actual extraction, but for the next two days I thought I was in hell, and that was WITH the Vicodin. Childbirth was not a walk in the park either, but I'd rather give birth forty more times than have to have a wisdom tooth extraction again.

Yep, exactly what I was going to say. I will never in my life forget the pain of those wisdom teeth. I had four impacted ones all extracted at once. It was hell.

I gave birth on cytotec and pitocen with no pain meds and the mouth pain was worse.

[mzfern]

Yes.



Until a week after birth and I developed an anal fissure.

Now THAT'S the new yardstick of worst.pain.ever. (Still healing, babe is 6 weeks).

[Baby Makes 4]

Childbirth was a 9 on my 1-10 scale for sure.

10 was the afterpains while nursing for the first few days. Awful, cramping blinding pain.

10 was also my last miscarriage, the physical pain was slightly less than labour but the emotional pain amplified it to an unbearable level. It also lasted much longer than labour.

[BetsyS]

I can't imagine going through any pain worse than childbirth. I thought I would die, for hours and hours. An epidural didn't help, narcotics (Fentanyl) didn't help. Nothing helped. I literally cried, "please tell me I won't die" with each contraction.

Yeah, it was the worst pain I've ever felt.

[philomom]

No. Gallbladder issues were worse. A kidney infection was worse.

My labors are like bad cramps. Nothing serious.

[hapersmion]

I've felt just as bad when I've come down with nasty syomach bugs a time or too. Labor lasted longer, though, and I couldn't lie down between contractions (or I would throw up - during transition, anyway, which lasted forever). It was completely bearable, though, even though I had back labor. I never wanted pain meds (but I couldn't have gotten them anyway - a hospital would have meant an automatic c/s for breech.)

I think my external version trying to turn the baby was worse than labor. They aren't supposed to hurt if done right, but I had sharp pains like gas pains every time the doctor pushed, and for an hour or two after we were done. (I think people thought I was in labor when I was waiting around the hospital afterwards.) I was supposed to stay relaxed to let the baby turn, and I don't know how well I did - my feet tried to curl up to my knees every time the doctor pushed. It was still not agony, but it was worse than labor because it was useless; the version failed.

So, labor hurt more than I expected it to (I think I expected it to be easy! ) but I'd definitely do it again without pain meds, no question.

hapersmion

[Eman'smom]

Originally Posted by JanB

Almost. The aftermath of having my impacted wisdom tooth extracted was actually worse. I was under general anesthesia for the actual extraction, but for the next two days I thought I was in hell, and that was WITH the Vicodin. Childbirth was not a walk in the park either, but I'd rather give birth forty more times than have to have a wisdom tooth extraction again.

Yup, I would give birth right now to not have gone through the wisdom teeth. That was the most awful exerperience ever.


Not to downplay the pain of birth, it hurt something awful. But nothing compared to the wisdom teeth.

[cam&kat's_mom]

hope. i was in a car accident that was more painful... and i walked away from it... my tattoos hurt more... the nursing afterpains... they hurt FAR more than birth.. labor was more exhausting than painful

[moonfirefaery]

The worst pain I ever felt was having an open wound flushed with water--and the second worst was slamming my finger hard in a care door. The third was having my arm chewed up by my husband's german shepherd. All of those times the pain was so unbearable that I couldn't think of anything else, couldn't relax, almost passed out. Yes, I felt like I was dying when I was giving birth; it was painful...but I could still speak, screaming made me feel better, I could still eat, and I never came close to fainting. I think the length of time of the labor is the hardest part. If it had just been 15 minutes, like the flushing of the open wound, I don't think it would compare to other pains as much.

[PerennialMom]

No, it wasn't the worst pain....I guess I wouldn't classify it as 'pain' either. It was manageable and came in 'waves' that allowed me to rest. I knew I'd get a fabulous, healthy baby out of it, so I kept my heart and mind on the wonderful things to come! I surrounded myself with positive energy that I started to build all around me (DH, midwife, etc) during pregnancy.

I agree with a PP. It's subjective. It depends on your frame of mind, your support group surrounding you, your fear or lack thereof, etc, etc. I don't believe it has anything to do with pain threshold. I have THE WORST pain threshold. I am THE BIGGEST wussie when it comes to things that hurt.

[PortraitPixie]

NO.

Kidney stones while 7 months pregnant.

[pjs]

yes, pretty much for me.