# Had both? Childbirth or kidney stones more painful? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 1, 2004, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/had-both-childbirth-or-kidney-stones-more-painful/231824 "2004-03-01T01:28:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2004, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/had-both-childbirth-or-kidney-stones-more-painful/231824/21 "2004-03-02T04:41:06Z")
Chalk up another vote, from my mother. She had 8 kids and about a half-dozen kidney stones, and says the stones are _much_ more painful. ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2004, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/had-both-childbirth-or-kidney-stones-more-painful/231824/22 "2004-03-02T04:52:33Z")
The wife says stones are more painful than childbirth. I’ve had neither, but she speaks from experience. ---
**Author:** ![TeaElle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@TeaElle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeaElle)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2004, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/had-both-childbirth-or-kidney-stones-more-painful/231824/23 "2004-03-02T05:07:10Z")
Anyone care to compare _gallstones_ and childbirth? ---
**Author:** ![SnoopyFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d07c76/32.png) [@SnoopyFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnoopyFan)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2004, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/had-both-childbirth-or-kidney-stones-more-painful/231824/24 "2004-03-02T05:52:01Z")
I’ve had gallstones. Childbirth is worse, although a gall bladder attack is no day at the park. My pain ranking: 1. Pleurisy 2. Childbirth (close 2nd) 3. Gall bladder attack 4. Really bad sprained ankle Pleurisy is slightly worse than labor because the pain never lets up, you can’t sleep at all, you can’t even friggin’ lay down and it lingers. After about a month of pleurisy I understood why some chronically ill people commit suicide. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2004, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/had-both-childbirth-or-kidney-stones-more-painful/231824/25 "2004-03-02T13:31:12Z")
> [@TeaElle](#): > > Anyone care to compare _gallstones_ and childbirth? Anyone care to have me muddy the waters a little? Okay, here goes. I’ve had kidney stones (so many I’ve lost count) and kids (three last time I looked); but I had all my kids by c-section. However, if you believe the women who’ve already posted and say kidney stones are worse, then that would work. I’ve also had gallstones (only one attack, because a few days after that attack, they yanked my gall bladder). I can tell you unequivocally that gall stones feel _just exactly like kidney stones_ except for the location of the pain, and the fact that with kidney stones I just puke, but with gall stones I puked yellow stuff. So, if you can follow all of that, gall stones must be worse than child birth. ---
**Author:** ![Eureka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/74df32/32.png) [@Eureka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eureka)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2004, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/had-both-childbirth-or-kidney-stones-more-painful/231824/26 "2004-03-02T14:17:05Z")
Some second hand evidence. My mom has had babies. My dad has had gallstones ( and a round of pancreatitis). I don’t know whether my mother has compared having babies to dad’s routine gallstone attacks, but the time he was hospitalized with pancreatities, she was absolutely certain he was in more pain than she had ever been in. (On the other hand, she did not have particularly long or painful labors). At the time that dad had pancreatitis(caused by a gallstone) at least one female choir member claimed that ordinary gallstones were worse than childbirth. ---
**Author:** ![lynxie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e99b99/32.png) [@lynxie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lynxie)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2004, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/had-both-childbirth-or-kidney-stones-more-painful/231824/27 "2004-03-02T23:40:35Z")
childbirth pain (for me) was more intense, but the gallstone pain never abated - so I’d call it a wash ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/had-both-childbirth-or-kidney-stones-more-painful/231824/28 "2004-03-03T00:14:30Z")
Pancreatitis is the pits. But it has a strange effect in that the pain (plus the morphine injections) makes the time in hospital with it feel surreal. I know the pain I had, but I can’t remember it. Gall stones are pretty bad, but not like the pancreatitis pain. I am male, and unlikely to give birth anytime soon, so can’t comment on the relitive pain of contractions. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/had-both-childbirth-or-kidney-stones-more-painful/231824.md?page=1)