Pain in Childbirth – Episode 200

What to expect about pain in childbirth. Today I’m sharing 3 tips about the pain, and the options for pain relief while in labor.

Listen here in Apple Podcasts

Big thanks to our sponsor The Online Prenatal Class for Couples is going to get you prepared for your birth and pain management during your labor!

In this episode:

Kidney stone vs birth pain: https://pregnurse.com/kidney-stone-birth/

Other things that might interest you

• Tearing at Delivery – Episode 191
• How LONG Will My Labor Be with Rochelle L&D RN — Episode 183
• 4 Tips if You’re Afraid of The Epidural — Episode 174

Producer: Drew Erickson

Check out my other pregnancy podcasts:

Transcript

[00:00:00.500] – Hilary Erickson

Hey, guys. Welcome back to the Pulling Curls Podcast. Today on Episode 200, we are talking about pain in childbirth. What would be more exciting to talk about at a major milestone like your 200th episode than pain in childbirth? Let’s untangle it.

[00:00:27.000] – Hilary Erickson

Hi, I’m Hilary Erickson, the curly head behind the Pulling Curls Podcast: Pregnancy and Parenting Untangled. There’s no right answer for every family, but on this show, we hope to give you some ideas to make life simpler at your house. Life’s tangled, just like my hair.

[00:00:53.530] – Hilary Erickson

I wish I had a kazoo here right now. You probably don’t because gosh, darn it, I hate kazoos, but as a mom, mostly. But oh, my gosh, we’re at 200 episodes. So this is the final episode of season five. And I’m excited to talk to you about something that a lot of people are worried about in childbirth, and that is pain, which totally makes sense because pain is something that we fear. And that’s why I had kidney stones and I live in fear about having them again. So I totally get it. And I think it’s very natural and normal to be afraid of the pain in childbirth. So today I have three things to teach you about pain and child birth that I think you’re going to find helpful.

[00:01:34.080] – Hilary Erickson

Do you feel prepared for your delivery? In just three short hours, you can be prepared for the confident, collaborative delivery you want. You’ll know what to expect and how to talk with your health care team. And there are no boring lessons in this class. I’ll use humor, stories from my 20 years in the delivery room to engage both of you.

[00:01:50.580] – Hilary Erickson

I love how Alyssa told me that she found herself laughing at things that used to sound scary. Most of all, you guys are going to be on the same page from bump to bassinet. Join the online prenatal class for couples today. You can save 15 % with coupon code UNTANGLED. You can find the link in the show notes.

[00:02:10.200] – Hilary Erickson

When I did my survey last year of what people were most afraid of, this was actually the number one. So I’m excited to talk to you guys about it and hopefully we can allay a lot of fears here.

[00:02:21.550] – Hilary Erickson

So the first one is I think a lot of people worry about the amount of pain that they’re going to be in. But I am here to tell you that it’s not the amount of pain that you’re going to be in, it’s the duration, which I’ve seen a lot of people on social media talking about how important your mindset is versus other things in labor. And I would agree because your mindset of knowing that this pain is going to last for quite a long time and you need some coping skills to manage it for hours on end, that is the most important thing.

[00:02:48.490] – Hilary Erickson

So it’s not so much that you’re going to feel horrible pain, that it’s not the pain that you’re feeling, it’s just how long that it lasts. And so a lot of times when people are able to ride that pain and not get so caught up in the pain, that is when they do the best. So just remember, it’s the duration, not the intensity of the initial pain.

[00:03:10.170] – Hilary Erickson

Number two is that the pain is going to feel similar to the things that you’ve previously had. I know that when I have a serious stomach flu or a serious food poisoning, it feels very similar to labor. So if you’ve had those things yourself in the past, that is pretty close to what it feels like. But again, when you have the stomach flu, usually you’re not having those pains for hours on end. They go away after you’ve expelled that from your stomach.

[00:03:36.370] – Hilary Erickson

But pushing out a baby is harder than getting last night’s Chinese food out of your system. So I actually have a post on which is worse, child birth or kidney stones because I have had both. So I was pretty good to speak on that subject. And I honestly think that the pain as far as contractions and the pain from the urine backing up in your kidney is very similar. However, I don’t think that the pain of pushing out the baby, that’s where you get a little bit more intense pain. And I don’t think that that compares to kidney stone pain personally.

[00:04:09.100] – Hilary Erickson

Plus with child birth, you have a lot more on your mind, which speaks to number three, which is the anxiety that a lot of people are feeling. First off, you may not have had a lot of medical stuff in your lifetime. Most people that come into labor and delivery have not ever had surgery. This is their first hospital stay. They’re just not used to hospital routines and how we do things.

[00:04:33.330] – Hilary Erickson

And so that can be really anxiety producing, which, of course, is why you’re going to take a prenatal class so that you understand all those different things. Plus there’s the anxiety of something possibly going wrong. Your partner might carry a lot of that anxiety too. Something going on with you or the baby.

[00:04:48.490] – Hilary Erickson

By the way, we have had podcast episodes on this season about how the hospital is prepared for both of those situations. So it really doesn’t need to be up to you to worry about those things. That’s really why you’re paying your health care team. But I understand that there is a whole lot of what is my life going to look like after I have this baby that you’re considering, along with the fact that you’re in some of the worst pain of your life.

[00:05:09.220] – Hilary Erickson

So there are pain management options. That is one of the most important things I think to know about pain in childbirth is that there are options. And if it’s your first baby, you really can get that epidural right up until even while you’re pushing, you can get an epidural if it’s just too much at that point.

[00:05:26.810] – Hilary Erickson

The good news is that most people feel better once they start to be able to push. There’s something in your body about pushing against the pain that just feels better. But I think a lot of people are like, No, I’m not getting an epidural. I’ve made that choice ahead of time, and now I’m never going to get an epidural.

[00:05:42.000] – Hilary Erickson

And the good news is you can change your mind at any time. I encourage people to get lots of pain management education to be prepared on how to breathe and other things that they can do to manage their pain because you never know if A, the epidural is going to work, B, when you can get the epidural, and also just managing early labor at home, all of those skills can be really helpful.

[00:06:03.900] – Hilary Erickson

Side note, all of those skills can be really helpful as a mom because managing the pain of motherhood, while it is a very different type of pain, you sometimes need your labor breathing with. I’m right there with you.

[00:06:16.060] – Hilary Erickson

Those are my three tips about the pain in childbirth. The most important thing I can tell you, so this is bonus tip number 4, is to deal with the pain that you are dealing with right now. You cannot predict how in an hour that pain is going to going to feel. You may feel exactly the same. The contractions may feel the same. They may get better, they may get worse.

[00:06:36.700] – Hilary Erickson

So you’re really just looking at how am I managing this right now? You are taking it contraction by contraction. You’re not looking far in the future because you have options if you need to manage things further in the future, but you’re just managing it right now, contraction by contraction. Because I think a lot of people just think it’s going to get worse. I’m not going to be able to handle it. And who knows what it’s going to feel like down the road. Let’s just manage what it’s feeling like right now.

[00:07:03.100] – Hilary Erickson

Okay, guys, that is the end of season 4 of the Pulling Girls podcast. Mama needs a break, so I will actually see you back here mid August, and I can’t wait to talk to you then.

[00:07:17.480] – Hilary Erickson

Thanks so much for joining us on today’s episode. The Pulling Girls podcast grows when you share us on social media or leave a review. If you do, please tag us so that we can share and send you a virtual hug, which, frankly, is my favorite hugging. Until next time, we hope you have a tangle free day.