Probably the most severe pain that a person has to experience is pain during childbirth. Every woman who has become a mother is familiar with the pain that accompanies this process. And in many cases she is not ready to become a mother again, since it is her pain during childbirth that holds her back. With what to compare these sensations? Yes, with nothing, because no other pain can not repeat it. It must be understood that birth pain is individual in nature and depends on the physiological characteristics of each woman.
Features in different women
As previously noted, pain at the onset of labor is individual for each woman. However, it may depend on a number of factors. Let's consider some of them:
- Physical and psychological preparation for childbirth. It is advisable that before this process a woman with her husband attend courses of young parents. Here, experts will tell you how to breathe correctly during childbirth, calm the expectant mother. It is important that her husband is also with her so that she feels his support.
- Pain threshold level. It is individual for every woman. If the woman in labor is not able to endure pain, she is given injections of an anesthetic drug.
- The complexity of the course of childbirth. Sometimes the birth process lasts only a few minutes, and sometimes a few hours. It depends on the degree of opening of the uterus and the size of the fetus. Caesarean section may be needed.
- The use of anesthesia. Many women decide on this method of childbirth, since the pain is practically not felt.
What resembles pain during childbirth?
Most women who have yet to give birth to their first child are wondering about what pain in childbirth can be compared to. In fact, it can hardly be compared with anything. Moreover, for every woman this process is individual.
The unpleasant sensations that accompany a woman from the very beginning of labor are initially episodic in nature. At the same time, the woman in labor feels a peak at which the pain becomes unbearably strong, and a decline when this feeling becomes less noticeable, or disappears altogether. This phenomenon is called contractions. As a rule, contractions are repeated at intervals of 30 seconds to half an hour. Their duration is approximately a few minutes. The explanation for this is that the woman’s body began to prepare for the birth of the fetus.
Generic process
What does labor pain look like? It is hard to say. But she is very strong and unbearable. The cervix, which is normally closed, begins to stretch little by little, reaching nine to ten centimeters in diameter by the time of birth. This is necessary in order to pass the baby's head through the birth canal. As a rule, this phenomenon lasts from 30 minutes to several hours, which depends on the condition of the tissues of the woman.
If the process takes too long, the doctor may stimulate it. Each subsequent birth is less painful than the previous ones. Usually the second birth lasts less than the first (provided that no more than three years have passed after them). This is because the woman’s body still “remembers” the previous labor. It is the sensations of cervical distension during contractions that are the main source of pain during childbirth. When the fetus is completely out, the pain disappears.
What does science say?
Every woman is afraid that she will have intense and unbearable pain during childbirth. What to compare it with? No pain can repeat the one that the female body experiences during labor. Although some scientific studies have shown that pain during childbirth is equal to a fracture of 20 bones. Nevertheless, in most women, the pain threshold decreases due to the fact that the hormone endorphin is released into the blood. Therefore, in some women in childbirth, this process proceeds with minimal pain or no pain at all.
Each woman can determine for herself what pain during childbirth is like. After all, each person has a purely individual sensation. To make the pain less pronounced, you can’t set yourself up for a bad end. In no case do not need to think about a bad outcome. In addition, do not get hung up on how to compare pain during childbirth. Scientific facts prove that for a certain category of women, even tooth extraction is more painful.
How to relieve pain yourself
To reduce pain during childbirth, both physical and psychological preparation is necessary. During pregnancy, you need to walk as much as possible, which will strengthen the muscles of the vagina and pelvis. As a result, pain during childbirth will be significantly reduced. In addition, a pregnant woman should pre-configure herself that the process of giving birth to a child will be painless.
Of course, pain is a companion of absolutely any kind, even if they pass artificially (during operations). It does not matter with what pain in childbirth can be compared. The main thing is that she is not so terrible as is customary to talk about it. If the expectant mother understands this, childbirth will be much easier.
Artificial pain reduction
Any woman shudders when she hears the phrase "pain during childbirth." With what to compare this phenomenon, each woman determines for herself. In any case, even from this thought goosebumps appear. If a woman in labor has not managed to cope with fears of childbirth, then the sensations of panic experienced by her can lead to a weakening of labor. Therefore, doctors recommend the use of epidural anesthesia.
This type of anesthesia is considered the safest not only for women, but also for the baby. However, this method of pain relief has a drawback. It consists in the fact that the woman in labor does not feel the active period of contractions, so she can not begin to push at the right time. As a result, the vaginal muscles may be slightly torn after delivery. Therefore, using epidural anesthesia, it is necessary to follow all the advice of the receiving doctor.
Right breathing
Pain during childbirth is the most severe, comparable to a fracture, so proper breathing is necessary to facilitate active labor. You need to learn proper breathing not during childbirth itself, but in front of them. Although most women who have learned proper breathing techniques panic during labor, forgetting everything that they have been taught. Therefore, they have to follow all the advice of a doctor who will tell you how to breathe properly so that the birth passes as quickly and painlessly as possible.
How to explain to a man what labor pain is?
To explain to a man what pain is during the onset of the active phase of labor and with what pain labor can be compared is a rather difficult task. What can you compare labor pain for men? Yes with nothing. You shouldn’t even try, they still don’t understand. It is better to make them experience this pain on themselves. Fortunately, currently there is a huge amount of special equipment that allows you to do this. Of course, you can’t do this against the will of the man himself. Although, if he is afraid, then he roughly understands what pain during childbirth is. With what to compare her, he does not know, but that it hurts, he guesses.
Pain in attempts
Despite the fact that most women note that the peak of the most severe pain occurs precisely during the period of labor, during the attempts there are also quite unpleasant sensations. They are not so strong due to the fact that the baby’s head, passing through the birth canal, compresses the nerve endings, which significantly reduces their sensitivity.
It’s hard to say what kind of pain you can compare childbirth. Quite often, women giving birth for the first time, as well as in the case of quick and rapid childbirth, have the so-called gaps. This is a violation of the integrity of the tissues when passing through the head of a child. Quite often, doctors, anticipating the appearance of gaps, conduct an episiotomy. It is an artificial incision of the vaginal tissues to facilitate the exit of the baby's head, as well as to prevent tears. The suture applied to the area of the incision made by a medical method heals much faster and delivers less discomfort than a natural gap. The pain from a rupture or incision in the perineum is practically not felt by the woman, since it is at this moment that the baby’s head compresses the nerve endings, so the sensitivity of the tissue site becomes minimal.