# Is painful, vaginal birth the default in film/TV? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 11, 2017, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-painful-vaginal-birth-the-default-in-film-tv/779509 "2017-02-11T00:44:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2017, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-painful-vaginal-birth-the-default-in-film-tv/779509/21 "2017-02-12T17:23:36Z")
> [@raventhief](#): > > For the record, i was in the room when a friend gave birth and that’s almost exactly what happened. She never said she didn’t want the drugs, but she dialated too quickly. So The nurse came in and said " no drugs yet, you need to be closer" and the next visit was " you are too far along for the epidural now." > > And she tried very hard to pulverize my hand. My experience exactly, with my husband’s hand ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2017, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-painful-vaginal-birth-the-default-in-film-tv/779509/22 "2017-02-12T19:08:11Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > Yeah, but women giving birth in US private hospitals get epidurals. Rachel in “Friends” screams like a woman in “Call the Midwife”. Not every woman in the US gets an epidural when giving birth (I don’t remember if Rachel on _Friends_ did or not), and while I’ve never given birth myself it’s my understanding that an epidural doesn’t completely eliminate all discomfort. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2017, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-painful-vaginal-birth-the-default-in-film-tv/779509/23 "2017-02-12T19:16:49Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > Not every woman in the US gets an epidural when giving birth (I don’t remember if Rachel on _Friends_ did or not), and while I’ve never given birth myself it’s my understanding that an epidural doesn’t completely eliminate all discomfort. It doesn’t. I had one with my first and was incredibly achy and it was a long, exhausting delivery. I didn’t with my second (it progressed too fast from it’s too early to it’s too late) and I was very loud… ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2017, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-painful-vaginal-birth-the-default-in-film-tv/779509/24 "2017-02-13T03:53:30Z")
Not every person can have spinal or epidural anesthesia. People who have blood clotting disorders or have had a spinal fusion on the affected vertebrae usually cannot. There may be other contraindications but I can’t think of them right now. ---
**Author:** ![Weisshund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba8739/32.png) [@Weisshund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weisshund)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2017, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-painful-vaginal-birth-the-default-in-film-tv/779509/25 "2017-02-13T05:47:34Z")
Bloody hell, i think painful vaginal birth is the life default too imagine the tele getting something correct. FWIW i’d think that most women don’t get the epidural I’d think most people dont fancy the idea of jabbing something in the spine or the risk of leakage ---
**Author:** ![sinjin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@sinjin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sinjin)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2017, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-painful-vaginal-birth-the-default-in-film-tv/779509/26 "2017-02-13T05:59:14Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > Aren’t painful vaginal births the default in real life? Um, no. I had two vaginal births with no drugs. No big deal. On the other hand I need nitrous oxide to get my teeth cleaned. YMMPV. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2017, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-painful-vaginal-birth-the-default-in-film-tv/779509/27 "2017-02-13T07:25:03Z")
> [@sinjin](#): > > Um, no. I had two vaginal births with no drugs. No big deal. > > On the other hand I need nitrous oxide to get my teeth cleaned. YMMPV. Lucky you! I think the part that TV and movies get wrong is that pushing out the baby is the most painful part. While it is pretty exhausting and not that pleasant, all the parts before are much worse, pain-wise. Especially the “transition” phase just before delivery. Actually delivering the baby is a relief. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2017, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-painful-vaginal-birth-the-default-in-film-tv/779509/28 "2017-02-13T07:45:50Z")
I remember a c-section on the second _V_ miniseries… ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2017, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-painful-vaginal-birth-the-default-in-film-tv/779509/29 "2017-02-13T09:48:30Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > Lucky you! > > I think the part that TV and movies get wrong is that pushing out the baby is the most painful part. While it is pretty exhausting and not that pleasant, all the parts before are much worse, pain-wise. Especially the “transition” phase just before delivery. Actually delivering the baby is a relief. Another thing that varies. The worst part for me was mid-delivery. I expected the head coming out to hurt. What I didn’t know was that they’d make me stop there, and that the shoulders would be trying to tear me apart from the inside out. That was the most painful part for me, laying there with this baby neck stretching my hooha and the shoulders pressing from the inside while they suctioned his nose and mouth and got the shoulders in the right alignment to finish the delivery. But spraining my ankle was still more painful. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2017, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-painful-vaginal-birth-the-default-in-film-tv/779509/30 "2017-02-13T11:38:17Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > I don’t know what that’s about. I was allowed to have drugs as soon as the anesthesiologist could get to my room. Yeah, I wanted a drug free birth but was advised to take pain relief from the start _because_ it would be many, many hours, and they said I’d be exhausted if I didn’t. I tried gas, which was horrible. Then they gave me an epidural, which failed so I had no pain relief but it weakened my lower half so I couldn’t move around to try to mitigate the pain any more. It was something like four hours later they finally gave me a successful epidural, and I ended up giving birth in an emergency situation with no sensation below the waist whatsoever - pushing with muscles I couldn’t feel. With that in mind I went in the second time determined not to have pain relief, and at one point found myself with a nurse trying to bully me into having gas. Conversely, my friend went in with the goal of medicated, pain-free births and progressed far too quickly, resulting in two drug-free births to her horror. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2017, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-painful-vaginal-birth-the-default-in-film-tv/779509/31 "2017-02-13T14:56:24Z")
It is the default, but there have been exceptions. Peg Bundy mentioned being heavily drugged during her two childbirths. There was some legal drama (I want to say LA Law) where a woman who was very likely to miscarry hired a lawyer to prevent the doctor from coercing her into a Caesarian. The doctor rigged up a table where he would show the mom a sonogram of her late-term baby. He surreptitiously gave her an epidural and performed a Caesarian under the table while her eyes were transfixed on the sonogram screen, and he whisked the baby up and put it on the table. The lawyer threatened legal action, but the parents just wanted to go away quietly. I don’t think I’m skipping any relevant details, it was pretty moronic. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2017, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-painful-vaginal-birth-the-default-in-film-tv/779509/32 "2017-02-13T16:33:37Z")
I always thought that the attending yelling “Push! Push!” was idiotic. In my experience, I didn’t need encouragement - I \*wanted \*to push. In fact, my Dr. said “OK, relax” and I said “NO!” Then I pushed my daughter out. My husband said the doc literally had to catch her. I’ll admit my experience may not be typical or even representative, but in spite of our education and birthing classes, I think if we go with our instincts, we know how to give birth. Assuming no complications, obviously. But what do I know - I’m not a medical professional. Just a mom… ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2017, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-painful-vaginal-birth-the-default-in-film-tv/779509/33 "2017-02-13T16:54:36Z")
Not sure if the phase is entirely over, but from about the mid-70s to the late 90s, it seems Lamaze was universal on television and movies. Of course, I’ve never met a woman in real life who used Lamaze, even those who gave birth during that era. But if you watch TV, it sure seemed like that was the only option. ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2017, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-painful-vaginal-birth-the-default-in-film-tv/779509/34 "2017-02-13T17:09:12Z")
Well, it doesn’t really matter how painful the delivery is on TV, because labor only lasts about 10 minutes from the time her water breaks dramatically to the time the baby appears. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2017, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-painful-vaginal-birth-the-default-in-film-tv/779509/35 "2017-02-13T17:54:27Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > I always thought that the attending yelling “Push! Push!” was idiotic. In my experience, I didn’t need encouragement - I \*wanted \*to push. In fact, my Dr. said “OK, relax” and I said “NO!” Then I pushed my daughter out. My husband said the doc literally had to catch her. > > I’ll admit my experience may not be typical or even representative, but in spite of our education and birthing classes, I think if we go with our instincts, we know how to give birth. Assuming no complications, obviously. > > But what do I know - I’m not a medical professional. Just a mom… There have been studies that show that “coached” pushing is no more effective than uncoached pushing (that is, letting you push when you feel like it, once you’re fully dilated and effaced), and may even prolong delivery by a few minutes, but even my crunchy granola Certified Nurse Midwife friends mostly ignore them. It seems very hard for people to sit there during a birth and not form a cheerleading squad. (Telling us not to push before we’re fully dilated and effaced is done for a reason - push too soon, and it can cause the cervix to become inflamed and get thicker and more closed again. So in an ideal world, they’d coach us when \*not \*to push, and then shut up once we’re ready to go.) ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2017, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-painful-vaginal-birth-the-default-in-film-tv/779509/36 "2017-02-13T19:38:30Z")
> [@cher3](#): > > Well, it doesn’t really matter how painful the delivery is on TV, because labor only lasts about 10 minutes from the time her water breaks dramatically to the time the baby appears. Not to mention the baby is already a few months old already. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2017, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-painful-vaginal-birth-the-default-in-film-tv/779509/37 "2017-02-13T20:17:19Z")
actually a very messy and painful c section in the second season is what drew me to ER mom discovered it but I always missed it or had something to do Well the one time I turned in the c section happened (in fact I was surprised something that graphic was allowed on tv ) and since I was born that way I asked mom if sit was realistic she said yes but it seemed they changed a few things since the 70s … she liked the fact that the lady still was sore afterwords … ---
**Author:** ![sinjin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@sinjin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sinjin)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2017, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-painful-vaginal-birth-the-default-in-film-tv/779509/38 "2017-02-14T07:00:52Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > Not sure if the phase is entirely over, but from about the mid-70s to the late 90s, it seems Lamaze was universal on television and movies. Of course, I’ve never met a woman in real life who used Lamaze, even those who gave birth during that era. But if you watch TV, it sure seemed like that was the only option. I did lamaze twice, 1979 and 1981, and a lot of my friends did too. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2017, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-painful-vaginal-birth-the-default-in-film-tv/779509/39 "2017-02-14T11:36:15Z")
Me and my husband went to Lamaze class. The hospital that we had our babies in sent all the future moms to the classes. That was in 1987. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2017, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-painful-vaginal-birth-the-default-in-film-tv/779509/40 "2017-02-14T13:00:24Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > Aren’t painful vaginal births the default in real life? In 1990 and 93 I was the Lamaze coach for the birth of my two kids. In 94 I was coach for a friend’s delivery. Three painful vaginal births. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-painful-vaginal-birth-the-default-in-film-tv/779509.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-painful-vaginal-birth-the-default-in-film-tv/779509.md?page=3)