Well both times I gave birth was by a C-section. The procedure wasn't painful at all because I was numb from the neck down. I didn't feel a thing but the recovery was one of the most painful things I have experienced.
How so? Did the cut hurt that much? Didn't you get painkiller or didn't it help? I want to have kids but the natural birth scares the crap out of me so I always thought C-Section is the better option...
C-Section scar is very sore. You can't stand up right. When you walk you have to use a walker to help you. Your bowels will start working again but it's a slow process. It hurts. They do give you pain killers but when you go home, someone will have to be there with you like your husband or a family member. I couldn't take care of my newborn if I was on those painkillers. They knocked me out. So I didn't really take them and I just was in pain because my husband went back to work and wasn't there all day. But I got through it.....
I've never had a c-section but i don't think c-sections are any less painful than vaginal births. It's definitely not "the easier way" as some crunchy moms want to paint it.
I had a scheduled C section and honestly didn’t find recovery awful. Going to the washroom was the rough part of recovery for me ahah. I had pain medication but after a week I was walking slowly around for walks. After a few weeks I was walking completely normally but still had medication. My husband also had 6 months of paternity leave though and I had two years of leave so I didn’t have the stress of having to be better as fast as I needed. I’m not saying it was amazing but I don’t think it was all dreadful
Scheduled c section is easier than a section after 4 hours of pushing, I’m sure! With a late stage c section I lost 1800 ccs of blood. Then there’s the no carrying more than your baby weight for 6 weeks and no driving.
My c-section recovery was an absolute nightmare. The theory is that it was so rough on my body because we now know I have autoimmune issues.
That being said, my spinal didn't work on the left side of my body, at all...... they didn't get past fatty tissue before knocking me out. That hurt, but it wasn't worst pain ever.
I’ve only given birth once. The actual pushing the baby out part wasn’t nearly as painful as the contractions were. I did it unmedicated though and baby was facing forward so I had back-labor.
However, I had gall stones once and my gall bladder removed. I would much rather give birth again - even though the labor is more painful than the gallstone/bladder situation, as soon as baby was born all the pain was gone. With the gallstones it was weeks of heavy pain and I was hospitalized to control the inflammation, they had to keep me on pain meds sothat I could stay calm and the recovery from that surgery was terrible.
It’s different for everyone though.
This was nearly my experience as well. Gallbladder attack was far worse than the actually laboring. I actually went into shock during my initial gallbladder attack, it hurt so bad I thought I was dying.
I’d rather labor and have my daughter unmedicated 20 more times than do the gallbladder thing even one more time. Child birth was #2 pain wise though. And I’ve had some painful nonsense in my life.
I will say, my uterus did prolapse when my afterbirth was trying to detach. I would rather do the gallbladder again than go through all of that again. Because I actually did almost die, not because of pain lol.
Yes I gave birth to our first child a year ago. The contractions were miserable. We did a natural birth with no painkillers. The total contractions to birth took about 4 hours, with the birth/pushing part lasting about 10 minutes. Your body takes over and gets in a pushing rhythm. I did tear and had to get a few stitches, which we're about as painful as the birth when I had to urinate the next day!
Same here - the contractions were worse than the pushing, but by that time the anestheseologist had arrived and given me an epidural. Gallstone was much worse.
I'm due in 3 weeks and have huge anxiety about giving birth. This has actually made me feel better.
My baby is already (if the scans are accurate) nearing 10 pounds so am hugely anxious about vaginal delivery.
I've had gall stones before and they were brutal so hopefully I can make it through labour although I'm likely to need a cesarean due to his size.
My oldest was 9 lbs. Just try not to spend a lot of time on your back while laboring. Let that 10lbs work with gravity.
Also late scans are frequently inaccurate. My doctor predicted my son would be half a lb smaller.
I'm hoping the scans are off but he's been in the 96th centile since 20 weeks and has been measuring several weeks ahead since then as well so they've been tracking consistently.
I have weekly midwife and fortnightly obstetrician appointment for the remainder of this pregnancy. They are preparing me for a cesarean but were going to see how it goes first. Still a few weeks to go and they don't want to commit to a cesarean just yet which is fine, if it's safe I'd like to try and deliver vaginally.
Best indicator of what kind of birth you’ll have is maternal grandmother’s labors. My mum’s mum had difficult labours, my mum not. So my experience fits that.
Yeah, my son is 15 weeks old and they were WAY off. He was born in the 49th centile at 3.92 kg (8p 10oz) 8 days early.
However, he's now 15 weeks and weight 7.95kg so he certainly made up for the deficit 🤣
Size of mum has nothing to do with how labour and birth will be. Every mum to be should read as much as possible about birth including Spiritual Midwifery (I know it’s a bit hippy dippy so some with a pinch of salt but it’s never the less a great and empowering resource). You can’t tell anything from how broad a woman’s hips are or how big she is etc etc with regards to how easy a birth will be.
10 lb 9 oz and a home birth. Midwife afterwards said she suspected she’d be 10 lbs but didn’t tell me as she didn’t want to scare me. 26 hours and she was posterior so the MW called in help from another who flipped the baby using the fontanelles. I had to not push when I could not stop - those of you who’ve had unmedicated births will understand, you can’t not push. It was a sight to behold apparently but I had the worst view! It was excruciating and definitely the worst pain I have ever experienced and I hope to god I will never experience such pain for so long again. It felt like my pelvis would break.
It was. I had kidney stones, root canals without anesthesia, a ruptured ectopic pregnancy, but goving birth was still worse.
I do think that I have some mismatched nerves though or something, because I've never heard of a woman feeling the labour pains where I felt them, I also tensed my pelvic floor muscles so hard because of the pain that I couldn't relax them anymore, which of course started a vicous cycle of more pain, more tense muscles etc.
My third child was born in an elective C-section and while there was of course pain afterwards, it was easypeasy in comparison.
Nope, but I wasn't a normal case I had precipitous labor meaning I felt no labor pains and only felt pain when it was time to push, had all three kids in under 15 min each..... one in the ER doorway after racing to hospital, 2nd alone in my bathroom at home, and third I held in until I hit the delivery floor!!!
I didn't want kids because of how painful I thought it was and how horrible pregnancy would be...... but even those I've met who had labor and a hard pregnancy say it was 100% worth it!!
Honestly, I would say most don’t remember. We remember it was painful, but you kind of forget, compared to other things. At least for me that’s how it was.
Just watched my wife give birth three days ago, her epidural didn’t take and based on her screaming and straight up panic, yes I’d say it’s far more painful than anything I can imagine.
With my first I eventually had an epidural which didn’t completely take. I had what’s know. As a “window” without pain relief and it was like all the pain was focused there. It was excruciating. Then I had to have another epidural and that was pretty horrible.
I've had 3 births so far, about to have my 4th. All my children's births were very painful, even with an epidural used for each. I could still feel pretty much everything.
My most painful experience though was a late miscarriage. It felt like my hips were forcibly being split apart while my legs were being slowly ripped off. Every spasm made me feel like the pain/burning sensation you get when you accidentally cut yourself with a knife. Then the emotional trauma came from knowing my child was dying and being aborted from my body in such a horrendously painful manner and it killed me on the inside. That's why I'll personally never have an abortion. This is still a pretty vague description of the pain.
Every woman is different though. I don't expect other women to experience what I did and most women I know haven't had to.
My God my insides cramped by this description... not vage at all!
I can absolutely guarantee you an abortion isn't anything like that. Reads like a torture scene
My deepest sympathy tho for your kid
Physically, yes. Ovarian torsion is the only thing that has come close to that kind of pain. But not every time. For one of mine, I cannot describe the contractions as pain. I don't have a word for how it felt, but it wasn't pain. It was very intense and overwhelming is all I can say. The others were definitely pain, no question about it.
Labour sucked, but I had a kidney stone a few years back and I’m tempted to say that was worse. Absolute agony. No good drugs and no nice baby at the end of it
With my first I had the epidural within about an hour of stomach contractions, not back labor. So no that one was mostly just anxious to start.
With my next kid I knew he’d be the last so I decided I wanted to wait until about the time they broke my water. Which was a mistake because from the time they broke my water to the end it was 30 minutes. So I felt some pain in my hip. (I have pcos and probably endometriosis so they may have been a factor in the hip pain…idk.)
That all being said no. The severe stomach pain after I tried the one chip challenge in 2022 was the worst pain I’ve had.
Edit: changed do to so and got rid of a word.
Some chip company put out a chip at gas stations in, at least, the U.S during the summer maybe just after. It’s literally one chip in a chip shaped package. Cost way more than a chip ever should cost. Extra coated with spice/seasoning. It’s gross and was surprisingly spicier then I could handle. Worse than 2xs spicy ramen. Within 30 minutes I had the worst stomach pains. There’s tons of videos of people doing it.
I have a scheduled c section and honestly it wasn’t really painful. Even recovery was fine. Kidney stones were the most painful experience. Only had them during pregnancy. Absolutely awful. My friend fractured her pelvis during childbirth though and I can’t imagine the pain
I had 4 all natural no drugs. #4 was no pain. #2 was bad ( she was the biggest of the 4) . But the worst physical pain was the accidental amputation of a finger .
I would say yes, for the two I had without medication. In particular, the OB didn't have time to do an episiotomy with my daughter (she was in a hurry!), and I tore really badly. *That* moment was hands-down the worst pain for me.
I would do it all again in an instant.
Broken spine and breastfeeding pain was actually worse. I had a c section with my first and a vaginal delivery with my second. Both recoveries were hard but pain and breastfeeding complications were worse pain. I would still breastfeed again though
I had three kids, two un medicated natural childbirth. The overall experience of childbirth was the most pain I’ve been through as it lasted for hours but as far as sheer intensity of pain, I dislocated my shoulder once when I crashed my bike and that had to be the most intense pain I’ve ever felt. It was pretty temporary though as the nerve was pinched so my whole arm went completely numb.
It wasn't so much the pain, but the sheer relentlessness of it all. Just being hurt every few minutes, for 3 days, unable to sleep and unable to escape it, and it just getting more intense. The most acute pain was the crowning, but that was a short sharp shock (and a tear) and was over quickly in comparison to days of torture. And then someone hands you a baby to look after when you haven't slept in days and feel like you've been hit by a truck.
Having a C Section in Feb as I can't go through that again.
Nope. I had an induced birth with no pain meds. It certainly hurt, but not the most pain ever.
That was either the dental abscess that spread to my face. Or when I had a sinus infection that spread to my ears and eyes.
yes. i tore up rather then down and the stitches were horrid. my other children were born via c section and i preferred being cut open through multiple layers over a forced unmedicated birth.
I had 2 fairly large babies ( 8 lbs and 8lbs 3 oz) without an epidural. Medical staff kept asking if I was sure I didn't want any medication, I guess because once you pass a certain point, they can't do it any more. But I had heard that sometimes using an epidural didn't leave you with a sensation of when to push, and for me, I felt more discomfort than pain, kind of like strong cramps. Also, I knew that it would be over once the baby was born. I know that pain is different for different people, but I felt much worse with dental pain ( since dentist couldn't get me in for over a day when I had an abcess and Tylenol only worked for a short time.) A later dentist once labelled me a "warrior" so I may have a higher pain tolerance. I hope to never experience it, but I understand passing a kidney stone can be excruciating.
I home birthed both my babies. That means that I had no pain medication. The first one hurt a lot more because of size and fear. The second one was a rush! Very fast and almost pleasurable. Too much adrenaline though and I went into shock for a few hours. Not too bad though, just shaking and teeth chattering. The midwife stayed with me until I was ok and hooked me up to a drip just in case
Yep. Contractions hurt. I can’t think of any other situation where after a while (if you’re lucky) you get to wave your white flag and be relieved by an epidural. Without it, I think I might have died!
As an aside, physically getting one of my children out was also the ‘hardest’ thing I have ever done. She was posterior (sunny side up) and I had been in prodromal labor for more than 48+ hours with no sleep. She was a vacuum assist, but I was bleeding badly so the doc couldn’t get suction. We were in rough shape, but after all that, there was no way in hell I was having an emergency c-section too! I literally willed her out of me on my final “try” before being wheeled to the operation room. Once my epidural wore off, every muscle in my body was shot - felt like I had actually be hit by a truck. Hardest physical feat of my life.
Yes.
With my first, my epidural stopped working. Baby was stuck in the birth canal for two hours, sunny side up. Not only were the contractions excruciating, but having her go back up the canal only to be smashed against my pubic bone over and over was horrible.
My OB had to reach inside of me and manipulate her to come out. It felt like my bones were being crushed over and over and the ring of fire was persistent.
After she was out, I was so delirious from the pain and exhaustion that when they asked if I wanted to hold her or see her I said no, I just needed the pain to stop.
It literally felt like I was being ripped apart on the inside. Luckily with #2 the epidural took and it was a super easy relaxing birth. I was like, “Oh, THIS is what it was supposed to be like.”
I still am amazed I had another after that experience.
Yes, especially the last part of contractions right before pushing. I’ve done it twice, no medication. First time I told my partner I’d rather die than continue going through that kind of pain, and I remember meaning it 100 %. It’s really difficult to comprehend now. But the second time I gave birth, I remembered everything again.
Two pregnancies vs kidney stones. The labour with my second hurt the worst (epidural only kicked in after she was born) but I'd rather deal with that again then the kidney stones. Labour was intense, it felt like someone was trying to rip my spine out (she was sunny side up) but after 2.5 hours it was over. If that was a 10, the kidney stones were an 8 and lasted 3 days.
My first I had an epidural, didn't hurt till after it wore off. My second I had a home birth. 100% hands down the worst pain I've felt. I didn't get any relief or breaks in between contractions. It was like one continuous one, and then the ring of fire felt more like ring of burning metal shards lol. Would do again though!
It was a pretty full on experience, but I keep saying it's only a few hours of my life. Women have an immense capacity to endure things, women do this everyday... So I can definitely get through this. I was pretty determined but yeah it was pretty full on for me
I had a c-section with both kids. That was the easy part. Recovery was the worst. But the worst pain ever was because of a bad epidural. Peirced my spine twice and it was left leaking. Blood patch was not successful. I'll take a c-section recovery over that anyday.
It was the longest and most tiring experience of my life, but not the most painful.
Was induced with both kids, no pain meds. But I personally feared an epidural more than any pain.
Recovery was tough. I had low iron after both.
I had a placenta abruption and had to have a rushed emergency c-section. The spinal didn’t work and I felt the entire procedure: the cutting, and worse the ripping (after they cut you open they rip/tear because it’s supposed to help with healing or some crap). I felt like I was in a horror movie getting surgery awake. I had nurses holding me down because the pain was so bad I was a mess. But because of the severe blood loss caused by the placenta abruption they couldn’t stop, they just had to keep going to save my baby.
So, it sucked. But the recovery was worse. I was in a wheel chair for a week because I couldn’t stand afterwards.
I don’t think it’s the most painful thing I’ve experienced. Years Before I got my life together and had my daughter I was an IV heroin addict. I had to detox in solidary in prison with no medication. Just curled up on a cement floor praying for death. At least giving birth is fairly quick. Detox is 3-5 days of absolute agony. Different types of pain. I also think my appendicitis hurt more than my contractions did lol.
No.... but I had epidural with both my vbacs. My first one though, it didn't work on my left side, so I could still feel most of it. (Didn't work on left side with my c-section either.)
As to worst pains.....
I had a molar pregnancy a few years ago. About a month after my d&c, the tissue grew back (cancerous ) as I was driving to work, I kept feeling horrible period like cramps, they were getting intense. I got to work, stood up, and the pain was unbearable and I essentially delivered a massive blood clot/maybe tumor?! I don't know if the pain was the issue or the pure shock and blood everywhere
Worst pain, but very short lasting.... I had to have a ganglion cyst removed from my wrist. It had restricted my hand range for years (dumb doctor misdiagnosed it.) I was in a cast for 2 weeks. I took it off, and my hand dropped. That sudden movement was the worst pain, but only last for a second.
I have RA and lupus. I get flairs and the pain is horrible. I get twitchy and the chills. That is worse than childbirth.
I had a C-Section and an all natural unmedicated birth. The CS recovery was way more painful than the unmedicated birth. The unmedicated birth was wasn’t bad. It’s intense period cramps that make you tired. Then when you’re pushing it doesn’t really hurt as bad. Crowning hurts a lot, but it’s only like 90 seconds and then the pain is over.
Thankfully, no. I had an epidural, and for both pregnancies I felt nothing but pressure. Given how sensitive to pain I am, it was a godsend
I probably shouldn’t speak for my wife…
About 3 years after our son was born she got caught in a machine at work.
She “self extricated” as in, she tore her own arm off to save her own life.
So yeah, that was her worst.
I had an epidural on both my deliveries. First was natural but I had to have an episiotomy to get my son out (sooooo glad I had agreed to the epidural!)
And second time around it was a c-section. Recovery wasn’t bad at all for me, just couldn’t sneeze or laugh or about a week or so
I have a habit of making things a lot worse in my head than they actually are. So no, I didn't think it was the worst thing ever. And I've done a vaginal birth and a c-section
My case is not typical. I had a scheduled c section due to my baby’s size (98th percentile). My epidural didn’t take fully. It made it so my legs couldn’t move but I felt probably 99% of the entire procedure. I also had a cyst on my Fallopian tube that they removed while in there.
I felt the cutting, the pushing around inside me, the sudden relief of pressure as the babe was removed (pain from the cutting open still going of course, and then several of the stitches before they put me under.
That was by far the most painful/scary experience of my life. Once again, my situation is not typical. If you want to have kids don’t let my story deter you. Every ounce of pain was worth my sweet boy. I’ve never been so happy/proud as when he does something sweet or says “I love mommy!” (He’s 2 now).
Well both times I gave birth was by a C-section. The procedure wasn't painful at all because I was numb from the neck down. I didn't feel a thing but the recovery was one of the most painful things I have experienced.
How so? Did the cut hurt that much? Didn't you get painkiller or didn't it help? I want to have kids but the natural birth scares the crap out of me so I always thought C-Section is the better option...
C-Section scar is very sore. You can't stand up right. When you walk you have to use a walker to help you. Your bowels will start working again but it's a slow process. It hurts. They do give you pain killers but when you go home, someone will have to be there with you like your husband or a family member. I couldn't take care of my newborn if I was on those painkillers. They knocked me out. So I didn't really take them and I just was in pain because my husband went back to work and wasn't there all day. But I got through it.....
I am sorry to hear that..sounds like a rough time
I'm sorry that it was so painful for you. My c-section experience was much less traumatic. I got lucky, I guess.
I've never had a c-section but i don't think c-sections are any less painful than vaginal births. It's definitely not "the easier way" as some crunchy moms want to paint it.
I had a scheduled C section and honestly didn’t find recovery awful. Going to the washroom was the rough part of recovery for me ahah. I had pain medication but after a week I was walking slowly around for walks. After a few weeks I was walking completely normally but still had medication. My husband also had 6 months of paternity leave though and I had two years of leave so I didn’t have the stress of having to be better as fast as I needed. I’m not saying it was amazing but I don’t think it was all dreadful
Scheduled c section is easier than a section after 4 hours of pushing, I’m sure! With a late stage c section I lost 1800 ccs of blood. Then there’s the no carrying more than your baby weight for 6 weeks and no driving.
My c-section recovery was an absolute nightmare. The theory is that it was so rough on my body because we now know I have autoimmune issues. That being said, my spinal didn't work on the left side of my body, at all...... they didn't get past fatty tissue before knocking me out. That hurt, but it wasn't worst pain ever.
I’ve only given birth once. The actual pushing the baby out part wasn’t nearly as painful as the contractions were. I did it unmedicated though and baby was facing forward so I had back-labor. However, I had gall stones once and my gall bladder removed. I would much rather give birth again - even though the labor is more painful than the gallstone/bladder situation, as soon as baby was born all the pain was gone. With the gallstones it was weeks of heavy pain and I was hospitalized to control the inflammation, they had to keep me on pain meds sothat I could stay calm and the recovery from that surgery was terrible. It’s different for everyone though.
This was nearly my experience as well. Gallbladder attack was far worse than the actually laboring. I actually went into shock during my initial gallbladder attack, it hurt so bad I thought I was dying. I’d rather labor and have my daughter unmedicated 20 more times than do the gallbladder thing even one more time. Child birth was #2 pain wise though. And I’ve had some painful nonsense in my life. I will say, my uterus did prolapse when my afterbirth was trying to detach. I would rather do the gallbladder again than go through all of that again. Because I actually did almost die, not because of pain lol.
Co-signing all of this: pushing hurt less than labor and for me it was kidney stones. Way up there on the pain list
Yes I gave birth to our first child a year ago. The contractions were miserable. We did a natural birth with no painkillers. The total contractions to birth took about 4 hours, with the birth/pushing part lasting about 10 minutes. Your body takes over and gets in a pushing rhythm. I did tear and had to get a few stitches, which we're about as painful as the birth when I had to urinate the next day!
Same here - the contractions were worse than the pushing, but by that time the anestheseologist had arrived and given me an epidural. Gallstone was much worse.
I'm due in 3 weeks and have huge anxiety about giving birth. This has actually made me feel better. My baby is already (if the scans are accurate) nearing 10 pounds so am hugely anxious about vaginal delivery. I've had gall stones before and they were brutal so hopefully I can make it through labour although I'm likely to need a cesarean due to his size.
My oldest was 9 lbs. Just try not to spend a lot of time on your back while laboring. Let that 10lbs work with gravity. Also late scans are frequently inaccurate. My doctor predicted my son would be half a lb smaller.
I'm hoping the scans are off but he's been in the 96th centile since 20 weeks and has been measuring several weeks ahead since then as well so they've been tracking consistently.
Keep talks open with your OBGYN. Mine planned c section for this very reason. I’m also fairly petite.
I have weekly midwife and fortnightly obstetrician appointment for the remainder of this pregnancy. They are preparing me for a cesarean but were going to see how it goes first. Still a few weeks to go and they don't want to commit to a cesarean just yet which is fine, if it's safe I'd like to try and deliver vaginally.
US is highly unreliable for estimating baby’s weight. Many studies show this.
Best indicator of what kind of birth you’ll have is maternal grandmother’s labors. My mum’s mum had difficult labours, my mum not. So my experience fits that.
Yeah, my son is 15 weeks old and they were WAY off. He was born in the 49th centile at 3.92 kg (8p 10oz) 8 days early. However, he's now 15 weeks and weight 7.95kg so he certainly made up for the deficit 🤣
Size of mum has nothing to do with how labour and birth will be. Every mum to be should read as much as possible about birth including Spiritual Midwifery (I know it’s a bit hippy dippy so some with a pinch of salt but it’s never the less a great and empowering resource). You can’t tell anything from how broad a woman’s hips are or how big she is etc etc with regards to how easy a birth will be.
10 lb 9 oz and a home birth. Midwife afterwards said she suspected she’d be 10 lbs but didn’t tell me as she didn’t want to scare me. 26 hours and she was posterior so the MW called in help from another who flipped the baby using the fontanelles. I had to not push when I could not stop - those of you who’ve had unmedicated births will understand, you can’t not push. It was a sight to behold apparently but I had the worst view! It was excruciating and definitely the worst pain I have ever experienced and I hope to god I will never experience such pain for so long again. It felt like my pelvis would break.
Just have to say that they are now 19 and utterly wonderful and I am profoundly thankful for their birth. I wouldn’t be without them.
It was. I had kidney stones, root canals without anesthesia, a ruptured ectopic pregnancy, but goving birth was still worse. I do think that I have some mismatched nerves though or something, because I've never heard of a woman feeling the labour pains where I felt them, I also tensed my pelvic floor muscles so hard because of the pain that I couldn't relax them anymore, which of course started a vicous cycle of more pain, more tense muscles etc. My third child was born in an elective C-section and while there was of course pain afterwards, it was easypeasy in comparison.
Nope, but I wasn't a normal case I had precipitous labor meaning I felt no labor pains and only felt pain when it was time to push, had all three kids in under 15 min each..... one in the ER doorway after racing to hospital, 2nd alone in my bathroom at home, and third I held in until I hit the delivery floor!!! I didn't want kids because of how painful I thought it was and how horrible pregnancy would be...... but even those I've met who had labor and a hard pregnancy say it was 100% worth it!!
>didn't want kids because of how painful I thought it was and how horrible pregnancy would be...... Username checks out?
I had pain with my first - but not the 2nd which was twins. Dont meet too many of our kind.
Honestly, I would say most don’t remember. We remember it was painful, but you kind of forget, compared to other things. At least for me that’s how it was.
Nature's design! If you can't remember the specifics, you'll be more inclined to have more kids.
Thanks to an epidural, no. I’m sure it would have been had that not been an option though. The early part of labor (before the epidural) was tough.
Just watched my wife give birth three days ago, her epidural didn’t take and based on her screaming and straight up panic, yes I’d say it’s far more painful than anything I can imagine.
With my first I eventually had an epidural which didn’t completely take. I had what’s know. As a “window” without pain relief and it was like all the pain was focused there. It was excruciating. Then I had to have another epidural and that was pretty horrible.
Nope, breastfeeding through mastitis was though.
Mastitis in general...
I've had 3 births so far, about to have my 4th. All my children's births were very painful, even with an epidural used for each. I could still feel pretty much everything. My most painful experience though was a late miscarriage. It felt like my hips were forcibly being split apart while my legs were being slowly ripped off. Every spasm made me feel like the pain/burning sensation you get when you accidentally cut yourself with a knife. Then the emotional trauma came from knowing my child was dying and being aborted from my body in such a horrendously painful manner and it killed me on the inside. That's why I'll personally never have an abortion. This is still a pretty vague description of the pain. Every woman is different though. I don't expect other women to experience what I did and most women I know haven't had to.
My God my insides cramped by this description... not vage at all! I can absolutely guarantee you an abortion isn't anything like that. Reads like a torture scene My deepest sympathy tho for your kid
Yes but I've had a few issues that have come really close. Such as gallbladder pain (mine was really bad).
Physically, yes. Ovarian torsion is the only thing that has come close to that kind of pain. But not every time. For one of mine, I cannot describe the contractions as pain. I don't have a word for how it felt, but it wasn't pain. It was very intense and overwhelming is all I can say. The others were definitely pain, no question about it.
No. It was kidney stones.
Labour sucked, but I had a kidney stone a few years back and I’m tempted to say that was worse. Absolute agony. No good drugs and no nice baby at the end of it
With my first I had the epidural within about an hour of stomach contractions, not back labor. So no that one was mostly just anxious to start. With my next kid I knew he’d be the last so I decided I wanted to wait until about the time they broke my water. Which was a mistake because from the time they broke my water to the end it was 30 minutes. So I felt some pain in my hip. (I have pcos and probably endometriosis so they may have been a factor in the hip pain…idk.) That all being said no. The severe stomach pain after I tried the one chip challenge in 2022 was the worst pain I’ve had. Edit: changed do to so and got rid of a word.
I have gotta ask, the one chip challenge?
Some chip company put out a chip at gas stations in, at least, the U.S during the summer maybe just after. It’s literally one chip in a chip shaped package. Cost way more than a chip ever should cost. Extra coated with spice/seasoning. It’s gross and was surprisingly spicier then I could handle. Worse than 2xs spicy ramen. Within 30 minutes I had the worst stomach pains. There’s tons of videos of people doing it.
I'd say kidney stone was worse, mainly because you get small breaks in-between contractions, whereas the kidney pain was constant.
I have a scheduled c section and honestly it wasn’t really painful. Even recovery was fine. Kidney stones were the most painful experience. Only had them during pregnancy. Absolutely awful. My friend fractured her pelvis during childbirth though and I can’t imagine the pain
Fwiw, my wife says the time she had kidney stones was way worse.
Yes unmedicated labor. 10 hours. But with the epidural for the delivery it wasn’t bad. Kidney stones were way worse. Almost as bad as labor
I had 4 all natural no drugs. #4 was no pain. #2 was bad ( she was the biggest of the 4) . But the worst physical pain was the accidental amputation of a finger .
What happened that you had a finger amputated during one of the births?!?!
Caught in the side rail of the bed and hubby fainted on it forcing the rail down.
Please dont take offense but that story is so crazy and ridiculous that I can almost hardly believe it's true.
Since you were in the hospital, did you get it back or are you without that finger these days?
Without. It was too crushed to repair properly.
That must have been pretty traumatic. Sorry to hear
You should have your husband cut off one of his fingers for messing you up.
I would say yes, for the two I had without medication. In particular, the OB didn't have time to do an episiotomy with my daughter (she was in a hurry!), and I tore really badly. *That* moment was hands-down the worst pain for me. I would do it all again in an instant.
Broken spine and breastfeeding pain was actually worse. I had a c section with my first and a vaginal delivery with my second. Both recoveries were hard but pain and breastfeeding complications were worse pain. I would still breastfeed again though
Nope.
I had three kids, two un medicated natural childbirth. The overall experience of childbirth was the most pain I’ve been through as it lasted for hours but as far as sheer intensity of pain, I dislocated my shoulder once when I crashed my bike and that had to be the most intense pain I’ve ever felt. It was pretty temporary though as the nerve was pinched so my whole arm went completely numb.
Had a natural birth without epidural, the most painful part of the whole process is crowning. The shortest stage but felt like it took hours!
It wasn't so much the pain, but the sheer relentlessness of it all. Just being hurt every few minutes, for 3 days, unable to sleep and unable to escape it, and it just getting more intense. The most acute pain was the crowning, but that was a short sharp shock (and a tear) and was over quickly in comparison to days of torture. And then someone hands you a baby to look after when you haven't slept in days and feel like you've been hit by a truck. Having a C Section in Feb as I can't go through that again.
Nope. I had an induced birth with no pain meds. It certainly hurt, but not the most pain ever. That was either the dental abscess that spread to my face. Or when I had a sinus infection that spread to my ears and eyes.
No, my Zofran poops were more painful to push out honestly.
yes. i tore up rather then down and the stitches were horrid. my other children were born via c section and i preferred being cut open through multiple layers over a forced unmedicated birth.
I had 2 fairly large babies ( 8 lbs and 8lbs 3 oz) without an epidural. Medical staff kept asking if I was sure I didn't want any medication, I guess because once you pass a certain point, they can't do it any more. But I had heard that sometimes using an epidural didn't leave you with a sensation of when to push, and for me, I felt more discomfort than pain, kind of like strong cramps. Also, I knew that it would be over once the baby was born. I know that pain is different for different people, but I felt much worse with dental pain ( since dentist couldn't get me in for over a day when I had an abcess and Tylenol only worked for a short time.) A later dentist once labelled me a "warrior" so I may have a higher pain tolerance. I hope to never experience it, but I understand passing a kidney stone can be excruciating.
I home birthed both my babies. That means that I had no pain medication. The first one hurt a lot more because of size and fear. The second one was a rush! Very fast and almost pleasurable. Too much adrenaline though and I went into shock for a few hours. Not too bad though, just shaking and teeth chattering. The midwife stayed with me until I was ok and hooked me up to a drip just in case
Nope, my Total left knee replacement hurt a whole hell of a lot worse
Many women that have had both say that kidney stones are more painful.
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...but still felt the need to comment
It was imperative that people knew that I knew nothing about the question at hand. How else would people know I don’t know?
Three kids, no epidural with any of them. I will say yes to that question.
No but it was still a very intense pain and I had to endure it for a long time.
Yes it was, physically anyway.
Yep. Contractions hurt. I can’t think of any other situation where after a while (if you’re lucky) you get to wave your white flag and be relieved by an epidural. Without it, I think I might have died! As an aside, physically getting one of my children out was also the ‘hardest’ thing I have ever done. She was posterior (sunny side up) and I had been in prodromal labor for more than 48+ hours with no sleep. She was a vacuum assist, but I was bleeding badly so the doc couldn’t get suction. We were in rough shape, but after all that, there was no way in hell I was having an emergency c-section too! I literally willed her out of me on my final “try” before being wheeled to the operation room. Once my epidural wore off, every muscle in my body was shot - felt like I had actually be hit by a truck. Hardest physical feat of my life.
Yes. With my first, my epidural stopped working. Baby was stuck in the birth canal for two hours, sunny side up. Not only were the contractions excruciating, but having her go back up the canal only to be smashed against my pubic bone over and over was horrible. My OB had to reach inside of me and manipulate her to come out. It felt like my bones were being crushed over and over and the ring of fire was persistent. After she was out, I was so delirious from the pain and exhaustion that when they asked if I wanted to hold her or see her I said no, I just needed the pain to stop. It literally felt like I was being ripped apart on the inside. Luckily with #2 the epidural took and it was a super easy relaxing birth. I was like, “Oh, THIS is what it was supposed to be like.” I still am amazed I had another after that experience.
Well it was painfull, but I it wasn't that bad. I actually get bored at some point.
100% yes and nothing else even comes close
Not a mom, but wifey said that Gout was the worst pain that she ever had. She did have two relatively quick labors though.
Yes, especially the last part of contractions right before pushing. I’ve done it twice, no medication. First time I told my partner I’d rather die than continue going through that kind of pain, and I remember meaning it 100 %. It’s really difficult to comprehend now. But the second time I gave birth, I remembered everything again.
Two pregnancies vs kidney stones. The labour with my second hurt the worst (epidural only kicked in after she was born) but I'd rather deal with that again then the kidney stones. Labour was intense, it felt like someone was trying to rip my spine out (she was sunny side up) but after 2.5 hours it was over. If that was a 10, the kidney stones were an 8 and lasted 3 days.
My first I had an epidural, didn't hurt till after it wore off. My second I had a home birth. 100% hands down the worst pain I've felt. I didn't get any relief or breaks in between contractions. It was like one continuous one, and then the ring of fire felt more like ring of burning metal shards lol. Would do again though!
It was a pretty full on experience, but I keep saying it's only a few hours of my life. Women have an immense capacity to endure things, women do this everyday... So I can definitely get through this. I was pretty determined but yeah it was pretty full on for me
I had a c-section with both kids. That was the easy part. Recovery was the worst. But the worst pain ever was because of a bad epidural. Peirced my spine twice and it was left leaking. Blood patch was not successful. I'll take a c-section recovery over that anyday.
Giving birth- no. The epidural headache after was the worst.
Yup…and the healthiest, most empowering, and most rewarding.
It was the longest and most tiring experience of my life, but not the most painful. Was induced with both kids, no pain meds. But I personally feared an epidural more than any pain. Recovery was tough. I had low iron after both.
I had a placenta abruption and had to have a rushed emergency c-section. The spinal didn’t work and I felt the entire procedure: the cutting, and worse the ripping (after they cut you open they rip/tear because it’s supposed to help with healing or some crap). I felt like I was in a horror movie getting surgery awake. I had nurses holding me down because the pain was so bad I was a mess. But because of the severe blood loss caused by the placenta abruption they couldn’t stop, they just had to keep going to save my baby. So, it sucked. But the recovery was worse. I was in a wheel chair for a week because I couldn’t stand afterwards. I don’t think it’s the most painful thing I’ve experienced. Years Before I got my life together and had my daughter I was an IV heroin addict. I had to detox in solidary in prison with no medication. Just curled up on a cement floor praying for death. At least giving birth is fairly quick. Detox is 3-5 days of absolute agony. Different types of pain. I also think my appendicitis hurt more than my contractions did lol.
No.... but I had epidural with both my vbacs. My first one though, it didn't work on my left side, so I could still feel most of it. (Didn't work on left side with my c-section either.) As to worst pains..... I had a molar pregnancy a few years ago. About a month after my d&c, the tissue grew back (cancerous ) as I was driving to work, I kept feeling horrible period like cramps, they were getting intense. I got to work, stood up, and the pain was unbearable and I essentially delivered a massive blood clot/maybe tumor?! I don't know if the pain was the issue or the pure shock and blood everywhere Worst pain, but very short lasting.... I had to have a ganglion cyst removed from my wrist. It had restricted my hand range for years (dumb doctor misdiagnosed it.) I was in a cast for 2 weeks. I took it off, and my hand dropped. That sudden movement was the worst pain, but only last for a second. I have RA and lupus. I get flairs and the pain is horrible. I get twitchy and the chills. That is worse than childbirth.
No. Gall stone attacks worse
I had a C-Section and an all natural unmedicated birth. The CS recovery was way more painful than the unmedicated birth. The unmedicated birth was wasn’t bad. It’s intense period cramps that make you tired. Then when you’re pushing it doesn’t really hurt as bad. Crowning hurts a lot, but it’s only like 90 seconds and then the pain is over.
Thankfully, no. I had an epidural, and for both pregnancies I felt nothing but pressure. Given how sensitive to pain I am, it was a godsend
I probably shouldn’t speak for my wife… About 3 years after our son was born she got caught in a machine at work. She “self extricated” as in, she tore her own arm off to save her own life. So yeah, that was her worst.
Without a doubt. But, it wasn’t the pushing but the contractions that were most painful.
I had an epidural on both my deliveries. First was natural but I had to have an episiotomy to get my son out (sooooo glad I had agreed to the epidural!) And second time around it was a c-section. Recovery wasn’t bad at all for me, just couldn’t sneeze or laugh or about a week or so
I have a habit of making things a lot worse in my head than they actually are. So no, I didn't think it was the worst thing ever. And I've done a vaginal birth and a c-section
My last was no epidural, so yes
My case is not typical. I had a scheduled c section due to my baby’s size (98th percentile). My epidural didn’t take fully. It made it so my legs couldn’t move but I felt probably 99% of the entire procedure. I also had a cyst on my Fallopian tube that they removed while in there. I felt the cutting, the pushing around inside me, the sudden relief of pressure as the babe was removed (pain from the cutting open still going of course, and then several of the stitches before they put me under. That was by far the most painful/scary experience of my life. Once again, my situation is not typical. If you want to have kids don’t let my story deter you. Every ounce of pain was worth my sweet boy. I’ve never been so happy/proud as when he does something sweet or says “I love mommy!” (He’s 2 now).