Why is there pain during childbirth?

[Piercetheveil]

This is where we see if Cool chick can edit code.

[Cool Chick]

work in progress ovah here ... i leave editing code to smart people ... like you

[Piercetheveil]

This is painful...like childbirth. Why is childbirth painful?

(did ya see that? huh huh)

[jeff3]

From a cattle farmers perspective I see another possibility (actually probability) , with the help of modern medicine, we have once again thwarted natures way of doing things. Normally natural selection would weed out those that have difficult births simply because they would not successfully reproduce. This is not to say I favor allowing humans to die, I'm just saying we are able to save and allow to reproduce many people who would have simply not survived even 75 years ago, if we go back 200 years ago we would see the very high mortality rate of difficult births for mother and child.

Even after birth we keep many people alive that normally would not have survived 200 years ago and now their genes are in the pool at a higher rate than they would be if we were unable to help them.

I select cattle for "easy calving" to keep for breeding purposes and by doing this greatly reduce difficulties at birth. I also consider the size and shape of the udder for obvious reasons. As an interesting side note most men are naturally attracted to body shapes in women that generally indicate easy birth and good milk production.

[Cool Chick]

Originally Posted by jeff3

I also consider the size and shape of the udder for obvious reasons. As an interesting side note most men are naturally attracted to body shapes in women that generally indicate easy birth and good milk production.

ooh you had me at udder ... and yes and right on ... hmmm so that's why milk does a body good

[Cool Chick]

Originally Posted by Piercetheveil

(did ya see that? huh huh)

and then there are pains in the ass ... which is an entirely different topic altogether

[OlderWiser]

Originally Posted by MidasGirl

Your experience is the exception not the norm olderwiser. You were fortunate in that way. I have maybe 3 friends who also had almost pain-free births, or as they described it, "just a little worse than a painful period".

No, a LOT more painful than a painful period. Like, hopping up and down screaming painful. Cursing God type painful. Howling periodically painful. But I can take any kind of pain that only lasts for a minute and then I get a break. If it were constant, that'd be another matter, and that's why a migraine or a severe toothache is worse. It's not the level of pain, it's the way it's handed out. There's no escape from a migraine. You don't get a breather.

I didn't say labour was easy or painless. I said it was nothing I couldn't cope with. Bit of a difference.

Originally Posted by MidasGirl

I'd rather have had 5 toothaches

I once had an infected molar that caused me utterly excruciating pain for several days in a row. At the time I had no dental insurance and no transportation, and I was so out of my mind with pain that I couldn't think clearly enough to do anything, anyway. If I'd had a gun, I would have blown that tooth right out of my jaw (and my life with it, of course).

I'd rather have a baby.

Originally Posted by MidasGirl

At the time I listened to all the horror stories of women talking about how horribly painful giving birth was, and I internalized it all and went in expecting the worst. If there is one thing I'd say to a woman giving birth for the first time, is don't listen to other womens horror stories (so yeah, disregard my first paragraph if you're thinking about it). I think a lot of that pain can be controlled by using simple techniques such as hypnosis or even LoA.

Absolutely! Couldn't agree more.

[OlderWiser]

Originally Posted by jeff3

As an interesting side note most men are naturally attracted to body shapes in women that generally indicate easy birth and good milk production.

This probably explains my success with men. Moo!

[carenkh]

Originally Posted by jeff3

As an interesting side note most men are naturally attracted to body shapes in women that generally indicate easy birth and good milk production.

Except breast size doesn't indicate the ability to produce milk - I have relatively small breasts, and I felt like a lactating goddess, I made so much milk.

I wouldn't describe my first birth as pain-free (both boys were homebirths), but immediately after my son was born, I told my midwife, "That wasn't so bad!" I had done a lot of research, so during contractions, I was picturing the muscles doing the job they were supposed to be doing. I had also been meditating a great deal, and eating a macrobiotic diet, which I believe helped the process.

There is a *lovely* compelling movie, The Business of Being Born, that includes beautiful scenes of women giving birth naturally.

[Angela]

I met a woman, Anna Vervaal, who impressed me so much I wrote a blog post about the work she does --

Anna is a registered nurse who does amazing work with expecting parents, helping them to resolve issues so that they're not passed on to yet another generation, relieving fears so that they're not expressed as pain during childbirth (and shared with the new baby), and creating an experience of in-water birth that is comfortable and sometimes even erotic. The father is usually in the tub, cradling, comforting, gentling, and caressing the mother, and in some cases their other kids may be in there with them, too - birth as a family project.

Then she photographs the incredibly alert and happy newborns, and I was crying as I looked at her slideshow, it was so profoundly moving. You can see these photos on her website -- and take a look at the brand new wise old soul on the contact page. (Warning: there is lots of nudity and unabashed intimacy in these pictures.)

I believe this approach to bringing people into the world could actually transform the experience of living in it!

[drakecatz]

[QUOTE]

Originally Posted by Cool Chick

Some wear the badge of natural childbirth like it's the best thing ever ...

No parent can compete with those EARTHMOTHERS!!

This made me laugh as it is soo true! I had my children in the late 70's and natural childbirth was the only hip, social, correct, above it all, way to go. And I certainly was not going to be any less then the perfect birth mother!

Sooo, all day long with the day nurse checking me, I was in labor. When the night nurse came on, she checked me once and felt a little face instead of the top of a head....

C-section here I come. My first born was a "face presentation." Women and children died in the old days from this kind of face first birth. So I'm very glad I was in a hospital! There is no way of checking for this ahead of time, and you can't turn the baby by hand like you can in a breach.

Since that experience I am put off by home births. You just never know what might happen. Something to think about.

[openeyes]

Originally Posted by drakecatz

Since that experience I am put off by home births. You just never know what might happen. Something to think about.

One option I like is a birth center. There's one half a mile up the road from where I live that is staffed by nurse midwives and it's like a nice big, clean home where you can have your birth however you want, in water or out, with whoever you want there with you. In the rare instance that the mother needs to get to a hospital, a large one is less than two miles away and her midwife can accompany her.

How are Birth Centers Different?

[joelr]

Originally Posted by OlderWiser

No, a LOT more painful than a painful period. Like, hopping up and down screaming painful. Cursing God type painful. Howling periodically painful. But I can take any kind of pain that only lasts for a minute and then I get a break. If it were constant, that'd be another matter, and that's why a migraine or a severe toothache is worse. It's not the level of pain, it's the way it's handed out. There's no escape from a migraine. You don't get a breather.

I don't understand why giving birth is so painful? You're allowed to get a decent dose of most painkillers, a shot of dilaudid is very strong.
I was in the ER with a kidney stone which gives more pain than I could have ever imagined having, I was surprised I didn't pass out, I was like sweating , moaning, hyperventilating, every few seconds it felt like a knife going in my back and it caused an involuntary "gaaaahhk!".
The first opiate shot helped a bit but the second really helped. I could still feel some pain but I didn't care at all. I remember just lying there with my mouth half open thinking "oh, this why people get addicted..."

But talking to my wife I was very alert and aware, no memory loss, speech was a little slurry. If I were giving birth it wouldn't interfere with the enjoyment.
Except it would be weird because I don't even have a vagina.

[ssandra]

Originally Posted by joelr

But talking to my wife I was very alert and aware, no memory loss, speech was a little slurry. If I were giving birth it wouldn't interfere with the enjoyment.
Except it would be weird because I don't even have a vagina.

Anything that you as a mother take during pregnancy and childbirth goes to your child as well. I don't believe that painkiller who help stop pain for an adult are healthy for a new born / to be born baby.

As long as I can manage I would go without painkillers for that reason.

Of course, being in too much pain isn't healthy as well for the baby (too much stress) so I would not rule it out completely.

[OlderWiser]

Originally Posted by joelr

I don't understand why giving birth is so painful? You're allowed to get a decent dose of most painkillers, a shot of dilaudid is very strong.

First birth I had a strong pain reliever, and it made me super drowsy so that I'd fall asleep between contractions. When the next one came, it would take me totally by surprise. I was disoriented and the drug made the experience just that much worse.

Third birth I had a medically-indicated epidural. It made me itch like you wouldn't believe (common side effect, the fix for which is to add yet MORE drugs to the mix!). It also kept me confined to the bed so I couldn't move around. I had to have a catheter, the insertion of which caused me to have a panic attack (the nurse thought I was a "difficult patient" and was far too pushy and didn't give me a chance to prepare myself for having a foreign object inserted into my body in a place I didn't want a foreign object inserted).

Second birth I didn't have any pain relief because I asked for it too late, fourth birth I didn't ask for any at all because the labour went really quickly and by the time I got to where I thought I might want some, it was, again, too late for it.

Believe it or not, you don't get to have a hit of drugs the second you present yourself in labour in most cases, and even if you do get drugs right away, they don't always do much to help. Besides, drugs don't always make things better. I had a headache for six weeks after that damned epidural...

[joelr]

Originally Posted by OlderWiser

First birth I had a strong pain reliever, and it made me super drowsy so that I'd fall asleep between contractions. When the next one came, it would take me totally by surprise. I was disoriented and the drug made the experience just that much worse.

Third birth I had a medically-indicated epidural. It made me itch like you wouldn't believe (common side effect, the fix for which is to add yet MORE drugs to the mix!). It also kept me confined to the bed so I couldn't move around. I had to have a catheter, the insertion of which caused me to have a panic attack (the nurse thought I was a "difficult patient" and was far too pushy and didn't give me a chance to prepare myself for having a foreign object inserted into my body in a place I didn't want a foreign object inserted).

Second birth I didn't have any pain relief because I asked for it too late, fourth birth I didn't ask for any at all because the labour went really quickly and by the time I got to where I thought I might want some, it was, again, too late for it.

Believe it or not, you don't get to have a hit of drugs the second you present yourself in labour in most cases, and even if you do get drugs right away, they don't always do much to help. Besides, drugs don't always make things better. I had a headache for six weeks after that damned epidural...

I guess it effects people different. Or they gave you enough to produce the "nod" as opiate users call it, where you keep falling asleep.
Like Ssandra says it might effect the baby too.

I also wasn't giving birth after I was op'ed up, I was left to chill out and wait for my ct scan. I didn't have to deal with contractions. Man that sounds scary!

I know they don't give pain killers right off. I was wheeled in to a room writhing in incredible pain and a nurse handed me a bottle and said "go pee in this". Then they held off treatment until someone checked the urine for blood. Eventually a nurse came running in saying "there's blood in his urine!"
I was like "y'think?"

[openeyes]

I just watched the Orgasmic Birth DVD last night and highly recommend it, particularly now that netflix carries it. There's lots of good footage demonstrating a much happier form of birthing, along with interviews of several leaders in the field, including longtime midwife Ina May Gaskin.