Labour pain is one of the most severe pains ever evaluated, and it is one of the reasons women would not go for a natural delivery. Some mothers experience a normal period cramp kind of pain while others go through incredible pain that cannot be compared to any pain in the world. Everyone is different in experiencing pain during labour. Sometimes labour over in a matter of hours, in other cases it tests mums-to-be’s physical and mental stamina.
Have you ever wondered why giving birth is more painful?
During the onset of labour, the muscular organ called the uterus contracts powerfully to squeeze the baby out and these contractions are the primary source of labour pain. During the contraction, we may feel pressure on the waist, hip, back, perineum, bladder, and rectum. So contraction is all about physical and mental stress resulting in unbearable pain.
Labour pain builds up gradually as the stages of labour progress and labour pain is affected by certain factors, which include
1. Strength of contractions.
2. Pitocin which induces labour can cause strong contraction.
3. Baby’s size and position in the pelvis.
4. Speed of labour.
5. Ability to withstand pain.
Stages of Labour in Pregnancy:
STAGE 1:
Early Labour and Active Labour
Early labour:
The length of this stage is up to 6 hours or even longer. At this stage, the mother experiences mild to moderate contractions which last 30 to 60 seconds and occur every 5 to 20 minutes.
Active labour:
The length of this stage is 4 to 8 hours. At this stage, the mother experiences strong contractions occurring frequently with short duration. Water breaking happens at this stage.
STAGE 2
Birth of the baby:
The length of this stage is about a few minutes to an hour. At this stage, the mothers are asked to push when they feel the urge to push. When the baby’s head is delivered, the rest of the baby’s body will be followed by shortly.
STAGE 3
Delivery of placenta:
At this stage, mothers will have a mild and less painful contraction to deliver the placenta. Placental delivery typically happens within 30 min.
