Giving Birth is agony myth!

[Lampman]

The other day in the office I was surrounded by 3 heavily pregnant females all in various stages of pregnancy.
Sitting quietly at my work I couldn't help overhearing the tales of discomfort and sickness during the nine months of carrying the child.
This was then capped with far, far too much info on the agony of actual childbirth.
The question I didn't dare voice was if it's so horrible why do they go back for second and third helpings.
Is the pain an urban myth??
Answers on a postcard please.
HBC bunker.

[grego]

The pain isn't a myth Lampman, I've had 2 children now both without any pain relief, although it is painful the pain disappears as soon as you have your baby and its worth it. The contractions for me near the end of labour was the most painful part.

[accymel]

Just before my 1st one was born i didnt count on how painful it could be simply cos the mothers i talked to said it wasn't that bad - hmmmmmmmm oh gawd how wrong they were, i even came up with new swear words for an epidural tho wasn't allowed it & with my 2nd i expected the worst & it was much more controlled pain & manageable, still painful but not as bad as the 1st. The worst part is pushing them thro bit eeeoouch.

Lampman have u got kids, if so was u there at the birth as im sure yr misses would of given u a clue, if not ahh well u may find out one day just a tenth of the pain hehehehehe

[katex]

Don't think you can generalise here Lampman, every woman has their own level of pain and how they best deal with it.

Yes, my experience was that it is a myth, and had suffered worse period pains on a monthly basis, never had any sort of pain killer either.Nearly lost my son, but that was due to inefficiency at the Hospital .. think 'cause I wasn't moaning an' groaning as some other women, wasn't as far on into the birth as they 'presumed', and equipment not working correctly, and the fact they left me on my own for long periods of time.

We all have our birth stories and thank goodness everything turned out OK for me. Please remember though, that women still die in childbirth when things go wrong and what they must suffer must be horrendous compared with a trouble free birth.

Not too sure of the stastics where a woman plans her second child, think most could be the result of 'accidents' .. who knows.

[SPUGGIE J]

I was told by my missus at the time of my daughters birth that the nearest a guy could get to the birth pain would be his "delicates" being being used as a pin cushion. Its bad enough booted there so I cringe at the thought of pins. So if thats how bad it is then hell they are doing great taking it on.

[Lampman]

Yes Katex,my wife had a similar experience with our daughters birth,they both were in hospital for a further 5 weeks afterwards.
This was followed up by years of visits to Consultants at various stages of child development(our daughter had been deprived of oxygen).
Anyhow all turned out well in the long term.
Hmm.that brought back some bad memories,teach me to be flippant!

[MargaretR]

Image the red indian torture procedure-
Two saplings are bent so that their tops are pinned to the earth
Then tie one leg to each one
Then release the pins
That's what came to my mind during labour (only did it once)

[Margaret Pilkington]

I didn't think labour was 'that bad' either....but I didn't go back for a second helping. I didn't have any pain relief...nothing, no gas and air, not even two paracetamols....and my daughter was 8lb 10oz....that gives the game away as to how long ago it was. (so she wasn't one of these tiny delicate looking babies)
I would say that the only way a man can maybe have some understanding of what labour is like....would be to shove a fair sized water melon up his bum and then tell him to part with it

[Lampman]

Or as the late Dave Allan said try taking your top lip and stretching it over your head.

[West Ender]

I did it 3 times (giving birth, that is) and they were all over 8lbs. I had them very quickly, my longest labour being the first - 4 hours. I found contractions painful but the actual pushing them out just hard work.

I had studied and followed a book on natural childbirth by Dr. Grantly Dick-Read. His methods were based on yoga, fitness and relaxation and I am quite a titch, only 5'1 and small-boned, but I did all the exercises and learned to relax my whole body "at will". It worked for me.

Having said that, with my 2 daughters I had spent 9 months in a perpetual state of vomitting. Morning sickness? it was all bl**dy day and night sickness - and a craving for draft bitter with the first one (peaches and Lucozade with daughter no. 2). Only my son behaved himself while he was brewing - and he made up for it 15 years later.

So why do women keep on doing it? Mother Nature has a very firm hand and the urge to reproduce is, for those who experience it, something you can't always resist. No matter how awful the experience of birth there's nothing like the feeling when you hold your beautiful sleeping baby in your arms, at peace with the world. We'll skip over the feeling when it's screaming its head off at 3 a.m. as you change a nappy full of ****.

[Margaret Pilkington]

Yes, I guess that would be a fair approximation too. It is true that you do soon forget the pain....but to be honest, it was pregnancy I didn't like...and I don't go a whole bundle on the motherhood lark either......and I NEVER EVER considered repeating the process.

[Neil]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

I would say that the only way a man can maybe have some understanding of what labour is like....would be to shove a fair sized water melon up his bum and then tell him to part with it

That can't be a fair comparison as men are not designed for childbirth.
I don't think there is anyway we can fully understand what you ladies go through.

[pipinfort]

nearly four years ago my missus said she had worse toothache than labour pain !!!!! if its different everytime i`ll let you know , she`s due again in the next week or two!!!

[Lilly]

No doubt about it,it is the worst pain ever and suffice to say if you've given birth nothing else will ever seem as painful again,ever but mother nature has a way of ensuring that some time later,possibly to make sure that the human race continues,women forget just HOW bad the pain was.So you get all broody again and decide to have another then when you go into labour for the second time you're thinking 'oh my god,how could I have forgotten how bad this pain was' and then you have your lovely baby and the whole thing starts again in a couple of years and you might have to stop yourself going for a third maybe due to money,space,the thought that carrying on like this you might end up with a football team etc.

[harwood red]

have to disagree Lilly, yes childbirth is very painful but gallstones surpass it.... that really is pure agony with no joy of a baby or when the pain will end...was so glad when I got rid of gall bladder