how painful is a "normal" childbirth? my first child's birth was done with no...

darla · #1 04-17-2009, 12:03 AM

...epidural, entirely natural.? and the whole thing was bad, the labor, the delivery, all of it. enough to make me not want to do it again if it's that bad every time. has anyone had better experiences with natural birth?
i didn't do the epidural because my baby was 2 months early. they couldn't stop the labor. with her being so small and young, we thought an epidural would put her at greater risk.

i'm especially scared because she was small! what will a normal size baby be like if i can't get an epidural for some reason. it hurts thinking about it!

* i do think the contractions were worse than the stretching of delivery. does anyone agree or was your experience different?

Baby#2dueJuly09 · #2 04-17-2009, 12:08 AM

I agree, if it hurt that bad and it was such a horrible experience, get an epidural next time! I got one and I had a great labor experience and had very little pain.
But to answer your question, even though I didn't have a 'natural' labor since I had an epidural, pain is subjective and is tolerated differently by every person. It depends on your pain tolerance! What may be really painful for some women may not be to others....

Vinny V · #3 04-17-2009, 02:48 AM

Why not just ask for drugs next time?

*i go by mommy* · #4 04-20-2009, 07:31 AM

i'm right there with ya girl, natural labor makes you never want to have sex again.. for a few weeks anyways haha

rachael o · #5 04-20-2009, 07:31 AM

I have had 3 absolutly drug free births and it was my 3rd that was unbearable due to my baby being posterior in position. My 1st and 2nd births were obviously painful but bearable, i actually enjoyed giving birth, that was until my 3rd and 4th whom we both posterior and with the 4th i had to have an epidural and ventouse extraction, not nice at all!!!

Wife & Mommy of 4 · #6 06-11-2009, 07:50 PM

I had the epidural with all of my babies except my 5 weeks olds. My water broke and when I got to the hospital she cam so fast I didnt have time for the epi. That labor and delivery was the worst of all of them. The pain was so unbearable for me, i felt like i never wanted to give birth ever again! The cons were the pain was horrid but the pro is that the labor went soo fast after she came out I was so happy that it went by so quick, however the pain made it feel like that 35 minutes was 10 hours. but when i look back at that day I feel like i could do it again if me and my husband ever wanted another baby. The epidural is heaven and if there is time to get it i highly recommend it to anyone...=o)