Why is there pain during childbirth?

[justhopingandsearching]

This is probably a retardly dumb question, but why is it women experience pain during giving birth? I mean this is something that is suppose to be natural, the female body was ''meant'' to give birth. Women (at least many) feel hormones that can induce the desire to procreate, and yet there are no hormones for a painless childbirth. You would think from an evolutionary standpoint that during childbirth the most blissful, happy, joyous, maybe even arousing feelings would be produced as some sort of positive reinforcement to have more children.

[aelle]

Because we evolved to have unnaturally big brains for our body size, which comes with big craniums, and our hips have not caught up (not enough deaths during childbirth I guess).

In a natural birth women do produce hormones that make them forget the pain. From an evolutionnary standpoint that's good enough.

[MiBeloved]

A related question is:

Is pain a natural part of evolutionary experience?

[spirit4711]

Originally Posted by MiBeloved

Is pain a natural part of evolutionary experience?

I think so. Pain is a warning signal to do something different. E.g. if I didn't feel pain when I put my hand in the fire, why would I pull it out before it´s too late?

[JSB]

Because babies' heads are big, and vaginas are small!

[ssandra]

I don't know, but maybe it is so that you get a warning to stop doing what you are doing, go someplace quiet and have your baby. I believe that giving birth isn't supposed to last 24 hours or something... Natural birth is supposed to last shorter.

Of course I have not given birth yet, but from what I gather is that if you have to many doctors and too many interruptions, it takes longer and hurts more. If you just go with it it hurts less and is over faster.

But again, this is just what I heard here and there online, I have no experience yet.

[aelle]

Originally Posted by ssandra

I don't know, but maybe it is so that you get a warning to stop doing what you are doing, go someplace quiet and have your baby. I believe that giving birth isn't supposed to last 24 hours or something... Natural birth is supposed to last shorter.

Of course I have not given birth yet, but from what I gather is that if you have to many doctors and too many interruptions, it takes longer and hurts more. If you just go with it it hurts less and is over faster.

But again, this is just what I heard here and there online, I have no experience yet.

That's really a case-by-case thing. My mother in law tried to have 2 natural homebirths (which is standard in the Netherlands), both times she laboured for over 48 hours before being transferred to the hospital.

[Honeywith4bees]

Originally Posted by ssandra

Natural birth is supposed to last shorter.

If you just go with it it hurts less and is over faster.

But again, this is just what I heard here and there online, I have no experience yet.

Just a warning that this is not always the case and women can end up feeling like they have somehow "failed" at childbirth if they have a long, and painful "natural" childbirth. Which of course, is bunk. More medical intervention did have a negative effect on first birth though, so I can relate to that statement.

I do wonder, though, if perhaps we are less physically strong than our ancestors were and therefore feel more of the physical effects of the birth?

[gigij]

Could improved pre-natal care and nutrition be producing bigger babies than in the past? My 3 were all 10 pounders.

[frajilthunder]

Originally Posted by gigij

Could improved pre-natal care and nutrition be producing bigger babies than in the past? My 3 were all 10 pounders.

Bless you

[JSB]

Originally Posted by Honeywith4bees

...
I do wonder, though, if perhaps we are less physically strong than our ancestors were and therefore feel more of the physical effects of the birth?

Our ancestors probably had a higher pain tolerance, simply because they were used to it, but women used to die in childbirth all the time, so I don't think the physical effects are worse today.

[Honeywith4bees]

Originally Posted by JSB

women used to die in childbirth all the time

I wonder if that is true for the Native Cultures during pre "industrialized" times? For instance, there is the myth of the Native American woman out working in the fields and stopping to squat down to give birth, then going right back to what she had been doing

[openeyes]

While it doesn't make someone a bad parent if their labor is painful, or even if they feel a need for medication, it's possible for it to be a very different experience:

Welcome to Orgasmic Birth | Orgasmic Birth

Orgasmic Childbirth

[Curtis2011]

There are many stories of people using hypnosis or other methods during childbirth, and feeling no pain at all. (some women even say they had amazing orgasms during childbirth )

[Honeywith4bees]

I used hypnosis techniques during one of my births and it was the least painful of all, but it was the fourth one too, so it could be that the fear of the unknown wasn't as prevalent.

[ssandra]

Originally Posted by openeyes

While it doesn't make someone a bad parent if their labor is painful, or even if they feel a need for medication, it's possible for it to be a very different experience:

Welcome to Orgasmic Birth | Orgasmic Birth

Orgasmic Childbirth

This sounds more logical to me...

It doesn't meant that if it does hurt that you do something wrong, or that you are a bad mother or something... I just believe that what is described above is the state it is supposed to be. Joy and bliss, not pain and suffering.

Which is true for all of life btw, not just childbirth

[Johnny Skosnik]

Interesting thread, but shouldn't it be under "Health & Fitness"?

[Daffy Duck]

There is pain during childbirth to warm you up for the pain of 18 years raising a child.

[ssandra]

Originally Posted by Daffy Duck

There is pain during childbirth to warm you up for the pain of 18 years raising a child.

If that isn't a limiting believe I have never seen one

why would raising a child be painful?

It has challenges for sure, and it will never be only roses and sunshine... but painful?

(ps. since we are seriously considering children, I am honestly asking about your motivation why you said that, not making fun or trying to prove a point..)

[Honeywith4bees]

Originally Posted by ssandra

why would raising a child be painful?

It has challenges for sure, and it will never be only roses and sunshine... but painful?

Because watching your teenager get his heart broken is painful. Putting your 18 year old into rehab for his alcohol dependence is painful. Seeing your children make mistakes, learning things "the hard way", when all you want for them is to go straight to utter happiness, without having to take their lumps along the way, is painful.

Lots of joy and contentment for sure, but don't kid yourself into thinking everything will always be blissful!!

[Daffy Duck]

Originally Posted by ssandra

If that isn't a limiting believe I have never seen one

*sigh* Yet another one of my jokes gets taken seriously! That's what happens when I forget to use my smiley faces.

Yeah, I was joking. I also like to say that children are the most common sexually transmitted disease on the planet. Another joke!

[ssandra]

Originally Posted by Daffy Duck

*sigh* Yet another one of my jokes gets taken seriously! That's what happens when I forget to use my smiley faces.

Don't be sad.. I'm sorry I took your joke seriously... now be happy again?

Originally Posted by Daffy Duck

Yeah, I was joking. I also like to say that children are the most common sexually transmitted disease on the planet. Another joke!

Yeah... happy again!!!



p.s. I thought you might be joking, but I replied in case you were serious...

[BitterFlower]

I have a 13 month old.

Medically speaking, the pain (contractions) are from the uterus expanding to accomodate the child. The pushing part to me was the most relief, but getting there was a little at times. IA with the poster that medical interventions (and other people) can cause the "pain" to be insurmountable. OTOH there are situations like aelle's mom where medical intervention would be necessary. Personally, I had to kick my mom out the delivery room and I was hella pissed at my first nurse because every few minutes they would ask if I wanted a painkiller. They were messing with my mojo.

I did eventually get an epidural after 10 hours of labor (mostly caused by the pain of pitocin, internal monitoring, and a badly inserted picc line for the pitocin), however, the whole experience wasn't that bad and I would do it again.

[ssandra]

I am completely aware that IF i'm having a child, I'll be having it in a hospital... but one where natural child birth is advocated (in Mexico 80% of the child births are by cesarean. Why? Because here they believe that if you have the money you should use the technology. Natural births are for people who do not have money to go to the best hospitals...

(disclaimer, not everybody thinks this way of course, but it seems that it is a common thought).

I also believe, (although I still have to read up on the subject) that I would like as less as possible checkups when the moment is there. It will be fine. The baby will come when the baby will come...

I've read an account online from somebody who was 2 days over her due date and they pricked her water... And the doctor didn't even tell them he was going to do this, he just said "you are going to have your baby this weekend ok?" prick prick, au au... and there it went...

I personally feel that with most things if you can do it as your instinct tells you to do it, it is almost always better (unless your instinct is off, then you are screwed )

[Daffy Duck]

Originally Posted by ssandra

p.s. I thought you might be joking, but I replied in case you were serious...

That's cool. I should have been clearer. Wouldn't it be nice if we could somehow hear each other at times when the tone is not clear?

This reminds me when just the other day I was thinking about how poorly written languages convey certain things. It is amazing though how much information we can share via text alone. Anyway, sorry, just rambling a little bit.

[joelr]

Like one poster mentioned nature and evolution do not care about how much pain we feel. The only experiences that evolution will change are things that result in no offspring.
If the pain always resulted in failure to give birth and only the women who had pain free births were able to have children then eventually the genetics to have pain free births would dominate.

There was one period not too long after the first humans arose in Africa, where a long drought and climate change killed off most humans. At that point only the strongest and smartest were surviving. That was a big evolutionary shift for us.
Scientist have found large eggshells from that time, buried in the ground with small holes poked out on top to be used as water storage. Clever.

[MidasGirl]

Maybe it's because it pains God to create us? (had to remember the smiley)

I think pain during childbirth is actually nature's way of controlling population. Think about it, if giving birth were as pleasurable as the sex that produced that baby, we'd be at trillions of humans and animals.

Another point to consider, apparently being birthed is said to be one of the most traumatic events the baby goes through. Being expunged through that tiny tube can't be funny for that baby, although it's not thought about much.

[OlderWiser]

There's a theory that it's actually for the benefit of the baby. During birth, the baby is squished and squeezed and the bones in the skull literally overlap from time to time while the baby passes through the birth canal. A tiny fetus (who is about to become an infant) isn't going to be able to manufacture enough endorphins in order to deal with the pain, so the mother does, instead, in response to her own pain. The baby, being still attached via the umbilical cord and therefore still receiving the benefit of the mother's bloodstream, gets to share in the pain relief. Perhaps, for a tiny baby, there are enough endorphins to actually relieve a great deal of the pain, who knows?

Mind you, that's just a theory. Nobody can really test it, other than measuring levels of endorphins (which has been done, and women who have a natural birth do have higher levels of endorphins and so do their babies, but what that means is open to speculation).

Personally, I never found childbirth that horrifying (have given birth four times). Painful, yeah, but only for the half-hour or hour of transition. The rest of the time was tolerable, if very deeply uncomfortable. It was nothing I couldn't cope with. Sure, I'd rather have been doing something else, but it's not like the pain is constant. I mean, you get a break between contractions. A severe toothache or a migraine is a lot worse, in my experience.

And yes, I do know that my experience is not the same as every woman's, and I understand about complicating factors and so on and so forth, but most women I've talked to who have had both migraines and given birth naturally pretty much agree that labour is a lot more tolerable than a migraine. Your mileage may vary.

[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". Certainly for me, I'd rather have had 5 toothaches compared to the pain I underwent, it was literally all I could do to stay conscious during the last half hour of contractions. I know people who've had it worse than me. Longer labor time etc.

However, I believe that if I had to give birth knowing what I know now, I could get it to be quite pain-free. 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.

[Cool Chick]

Originally Posted by MidasGirl

I think pain during childbirth is actually nature's way of controlling population. Think about it, if giving birth were as pleasurable as the sex that produced that baby, we'd be at trillions of humans and animals.

Have you seen the statistics on population???

[/QUOTE]Another point to consider, apparently being birthed is said to be one of the most traumatic events the baby goes through. Being expunged through that tiny tube can't be funny for that baby, although it's not thought about much.[/QUOTE]

Well evolutionarily speaking ... my three childbirths were painless. I mean come on people epidurals were created for a reason ... why NOT use them? Some wear the badge of natural childbirth like it's the best thing ever ... and it very well could be. Like walking instead of driving a car or writing longhand correspondence instead of hopping on the internets. I'm all for using science in medicine as a tool. And there is still pain involved as with any other mammal ... other animals lick themselves clean and/or eat the placenta and get on with it. We humans are the only ones who whine about it (joke)

And why is pain being characterized as always "bad"? Piercing and poignant, pain can be a triumph to overcome ... an indicator of great success ... a benchmark for courage ... and a tool for increasing awareness. Physical pain can create major rushes of endorphins ... ask long distance runners.

Point being ... I've experienced child birth three times. When the epidural wore off there was still pain ...and it was powerful. It was almost poetic seeing myself and all the other mothers in the hospital perched in their peach nightgowns; babes suckling at their breasts, being honored by families and doctors and nurses for their courage and love in bringing new life in the world.

Then again ... I'm quite a paradoxical chick and I choose to see what can always be gleaned from experience. Giving birth to my sweet babygirls was the most illuminating and powerful experience of my life.