Does giving birth have to be painful? And if not, isn't this all bizarre?

Factual Questions
21

This is a perfectly reasonable thing to wonder, actually. There are so many people who choose and schedule c-sections that I can see why the average person who knows little about childbirth would just assume that it’s easier.

It’s already been answered but since it’s major surgery it’s not at all better. I had a vag delivery and didn’t need any stitches and was walking around comfortably right away. I even tried to dig a hole in the yard 3 days after delivery (our cat died, and I was not allowed to dig the hole). A woman on the post partum unit couldn’t walk unassisted after her c-section.

I would have even gotten an extra 2 weeks paid leave if I had a c-section, 8 weeks instead of 6. So if an insurance company recognizes the difference you know it’s serious.

22

A lot of people believe epidurals are the first step toward a cascade of medical interventions that often end in C-section (essentially, epidural -> trouble pushing -> c-section). Rates of c-section for those initially getting an epidural are much higher. So all the reasons for why C-sections are less optimal that vaginal birth apply to getting an epidural as well.

23

Can you elaborate on some of the known “specific things?”

24

I’m envious. I had very long labors, 24 hours the first time and almost 72 the second. Both times I had to be induced at more than two weeks overdue. In my situation, an epidural was the only thing that let me get any sleep at all at a time when I was completely and totally worn out.

It didn’t interfere with my awareness of the actual birth, either time, and I attribute the pain relief to actually moving the labor along. So I’ll chime in with those who say every situation is different.

I was very thankful not to have a c-section in either case, thanks to the dedicated attention of a doula. Had my OB had her way, baby #2 would have been delivered via surgery. :eek:

25

You’ve got one very brave wife! :slight_smile:

26

One (Related) question:
If it takes a woman, say, 24 hours to give birth does the baby sort of just hang there halfway in and halfway out? :eek:

27

I haven’t had children yet, but my personal perspective is that I’m not very fearful of pain, and that due to other personality factors I do NOT want to have a c-section if I can avoid it, and that I also will most likely want to spend as much of labor possible moving around and unencumbered by IVs and fetal monitors, and be fully aware of what is happening with my body. So I’ve always planned on doing ‘natural childbirth’ (which is a rather silly name in this day and age for choosing to experience the pain of it…)

My mother had four medium to long labors and vaginal births with no pain relief in the 80s and 90s, which I’ve always known, so it doesn’t seem like a huge deal to me. Most people who I know who have given birth more recently got an epidural - which works to varying degrees it seems.

I’ve had a fair amount of chronic pain (migraine sufferer since age 4, and I’ve had my spells with menstrual cramps severe enough to keep me in bed vomiting and writhing for a day or two) and I’m pretty confident that childbirth, while surely painful, will be something I can handle without feeling traumatized. But I have an open mind and a google addiction, and I realize that back labor or shoulder dystocia might very well be the worst things I’ve ever felt. And I wouldn’t be at all conflicted if I decided during labor that yes, please, I will take that epidural (any more than I would be if my doctor told me that for the safety of my baby and I, we will be doing that c-section NOW).

Seriously?

No. When a baby gets stuck in the actual birth canal (which is only a few inches long), the baby will usually die in fairly short order (within the hour at the least).

Birth is a complicated physiological process. Google it. :slight_smile:

28

The longest part of labor is the process of contractions and dilations to allow the cervix to thin and open enough so that the baby will be able to come out. That’s what people are usually referring to when they talk about labor lasting for hours and hours. The baby is still in the uterus during that part of labor.
The part where the baby actually comes out of the uterus and passes through the vagina doesn’t take all that long unless as mentioned above the baby is stuck. If the baby does get stuck, the docs will immediately do some maneuvers to try to move the baby along because as mentioned above it’s dangerous for the baby to be stuck like that.

29

Babies (this study specifically looked at preemies) who are born vaginally seem to have fewer respiratory distress problems. Cite. Nobody is sure exactly why this is, but one theory is that the physical compression involved in vaginal delivery helps force fluid out of the infant’s lungs.

30

Kind of, but not in the way you’re thinking. The birth canal, as rhubarbarin says, is only a few inches long. For most of labor, the baby’s head is just above that, pushing on the cervix, which is this ring of cartilage that separates the uterus from the vagina (“birth canal”). The pressure of the baby’s head on the cervix may be part of what causes good contractions that open the cervix (we don’t really know entirely what causes contractions, and labor will sometimes start even if they head isn’t pressing on the cervix, but I’m talking generally speaking for a “normal” labor here.)

The cervix is more or less round with what’s usually a teeny tiny hole in the middle, smaller than then a pen. During labor, this hole slowly opens and the edges of the cervix thin out. When the hole is about 10cm across (that’s about 4-5 inches), the head of the baby can fit through it and enter the birth canal. That’s when the mom can start “pushing” to help squoosh the baby down the birth canal. (They probably don’t have to push, actually…unconscious moms can still deliver, because the uterus pushes all by itself. But we’re used to pushing, so we push.) This can take a few minutes or an hour. If it takes more than an hour, most hospitals will make you have a c-section, but this is very controversial. If you’re not in a hospital, it can take longer than an hour and most babies don’t die from it.

Once the head is out, it’s just a matter of seconds to minutes before the rest of the baby is out.

Where the danger comes is if you start seeing specks of black tarry goo coming out before the baby. This is baby proto-poop, and if they breathe that in, it can cause an infection in their lungs. So if they see this stuff, called “meconium”, they’ll stop you from pushing and make you have a c-section. They do not want you to deliver vaginally, 'cause babies tend to open their mouths and breathe in when they’re delivered, and that’s bad if there’s meconium present.

The other danger sign is if the baby’s heart beat slows down while they’re in the birth canal. If it happens at the start of a contraction and the heart rate comes back up pretty quickly, it’s normal and a sign that birth is very very close. It if happens at the peak or end of a contraction, it’s called a “late deceleration” and can be a sign that the placenta might be detaching early or the baby isn’t getting enough oxygen, and it’s worry time.

If the baby is “stuck” in the birth canal, it’s usually a shoulder stuck after the head is delivered, and you’ve got about 5 minutes before brain damage from lack of oxygen. Google shoulder dystocia.

31

Another MAJOR factor against a Caesarian birth is that the actual birth process is GOOD for the baby. The squeezing helps to loosen and remove the fluids and mucus that occupy the entire respiratory tract, so the lungs are ready for that first gasp of air. Fluid-filled lungs don’t work very well, and they are a prime setting for infection.

A couple of centuries ago, many women DIED in childbirth. Without the support of medications, surgery, or other interventions available today, mom and baby finally gave up the fight. A woman’s body was an unknown factor, so until she actually became pregnant and delivered, it wasn’t really known if there would be a successful outcome.

Today, Mom gets nutritional support, treatment for pre-eclampsia, pelvic measurements, ultrasounds to check for the baby’s size and positioning, forceps or vacuum extraction if necessary, and if all methods are unsuccessful, a Caesarian can be performed.

AFTER the baby is born, Mom can have pitocin to help the womb clamp back down, supplemental fluids, and even blood replacement.

Finally, in rare cases, if Mom develops a post-partum infection from giving birth (“childbed fever”), there are powerful antibiotics available.

Childbirth isn’t necessarily painful. But it does employ powerful muscles that have never been used before (or used only occasionally, for most women). It also involves a HELLUVA lot of stretching. The normal cervix is open the diameter of a pencil lead. That MUST stretch to accommodate a the circumference of a baby’s head…think about THAT!

So, it’s not necessarily painful…but thanks to modern medicine, it’s no longer a crapshoot to be DEADLY.
~VOW

32

A couple of centuries ago was a specially bad time for a western woman to give birth, as doing so in hospitals was becoming common and doctors hadn’t discovered the link between “anatomy class first thing in the morning” and puerperal fever. I recently got a book with a way too long title which I recommend to anybody interested in the history of medicine - but not if they’re squeamish, nor close to meals.

33

There is a theory that until recently water births were more common, and water births are easier than giving birth on land while laying on your back.

http://www.waterbirth.org/assets/documents/Iran%20waterbirth%20trial.pdf

34

The reason is that Adam and Eve wanted to be like God, and to know good from evil. God therefore cursed us with big heads, to think with, like He does. The upshot is that childbirth is painful and difficult, and we spend all our time worrying about the future, instead of wandering around naked in the forest, and trusting God to provide for us.

The lesson: be careful what you wish for.
ETA: I’m not saying God has a big head. He might have a small head. We don’t know.

35

I think He is pretty full of Himself. He certainly seems to like being praised a lot.

36

He’s an ESFJ.

37

He’s a guy, so we all know the answer to that. He’s got a big head and a small head, but only enough blood to supply one at a time.

38

It can work the other way, too, though. Our neighbor tried to deliver naturally for her first child, and after more than a day of labor and fighting the pain, she was too exhausted to push, and she had to have a caesarean. For that birth and each one to follow, of course.

39

I wanted to have an unmedicated birth, for several of the reasons already listed. I wanted to be clear-headed and aware of what was happening. I didn’t want the baby to be affected by the anesthesia. I didn’t want to have multiple interventions during the birth. However, after a long, stalled labor, I opted to have my water broken, and then to have an epidural. That led to lots of other things (IV fluids, oxygen, various other monitors), but it also allowed me to sleep for a few hours before giving birth, and I was able to deliver vaginally.

With my second kid, I had an emergency c-section. I begged the anesthesiologist to give me a spinal, rather than general anesthesia. I wanted to be awake for my son’s birth. The first delivery was a much better experience, despite it not going as I had planned.

40

All this time and I never realized my neighbor posts on the SDMB. :wink:

My wife likewise did her best until she hit the twenty-five hour mark, at which point they cued the c-section; the doctors had kept telling her to push, in hopes that the baby’s head would eventually line up properly; turns out that, er, no, as it happens, the angle was perfect, but the size was simply impossible.

I’m not sure what that means, Garden-of-Eden-wise, for my petite wife and enormous-headed daughter.