Does labor hurt?...Are you kidding me???

The most common question I get asked is "Does labor hurt?" or some variation of it. Of course this is usually from the first time moms to be, but not always. YES! Yes! it is most likely going to hurt. To understand this, you have to understand the physics of the birthing process. A baby (average size 6-9lbs, although some are smaller and some are bigger) is in a muscle(uterus) in your abdomen and it is going to squeeze(contract) for numerous hours (average time for first time moms is usually 18-24hrs, but is usually much faster for subsequent births, on average 6-8hrs). Once this muscle has finally squeezed the baby through its opening(cervix) then you are going to have to push this tiny human being through your vagina(first time moms on average push for 1-2hrs, but this can be done much quicker, especially by someone who has had a baby before) Pushing as in holding your breath 2-3 times for 10-20 seconds with each contractions(usually occurring every 2-3 minutes at this point)and push down to push the baby out. There is quite a bit of stretching, as one might expect, as a baby is pushed through an area that hasn't experienced anything the size of a small bowling ball come through it before. After 20 years of participating in several thousands of deliveries, I can count on one hand the number of patients I have seen that didn't feel any pain, and I don't even need all of my fingers to do so. So YES it is going to hurt!!! The odds are against a totally painless delivery. As you wrap your head around that, let me reassure you that there are many ways to relieve and ease that pain, so that it may be tolerable and more bearable, but that will be another blog!