Labor Pain

          Pain during labor is different for everyone. Some women go through the delievery process very easily while many others say it is the most painful experience they have ever endured. Labor pain varies dramatically from woman to woman, and even from pregnancy to pregnancy. This means that with one pregnancy the pain can be minimal but with the next one it can become very painful. Until a woman goes through childbirth, they will not know where on the spectrum they will fall. Many women wonder why labor hurts so much and what the cause is of the pain they are experiencing or will experience during childbirth. The uterus is a muscular organ that contracts powerfully to squeeze your baby out, and those contractions are the primary source of labor pain. How much pain you experience depends on a variety of factors. One factor can be the strength of your contractions which increases during labor. Another factor is whether the women have had Pitocin, which causes stronger contractions to occur. The size of the baby and position in your pelvis can be a direct cause of labor pain.  Whether the child is faceup or facedown which is the ideal birth position can also be a factor in child birth pains and the speed of your labor. Besides intense muscle tightening throughout your abdomen and, sometimes, your entire torso and pelvic area, you may feel pressure on your back, perineum, bladder and bowels. A combination of genetics and life experiences determines your pain threshold, or ability to withstand pain, and this also plays a part. Social support (or lack of it), fear, anxiety and even the positive or negative labor stories you’ve heard can contribute to your perception of pain. What’s more, you probably can’t change your inborn capacity to withstand pain. Labor pain usually comes on gradually and builds up as you progress through the stages of labor. Some women feel guilty if they opt for labor-pain medication, as though they’ve somehow failed or put their babies’ or their own well-being at risk. In fact, epidurals and other pain-relief drugs are quite safe, says William Camann, M.D., director of obstetric anesthesia at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and co-author of Easy Labor: Every Woman’s Guide to Choosing Less Pain and More Joy During Childbirth (Ballantine Books).

http://www.fitpregnancy.com/labor-delivery/labor-delivery/truth-about-pain?page=3