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Sources of Pain During Labor and Birth

The big question in everyone's mind is, "How much pain will there be for me during labor?". While we can't answer that question specifically, we can help identify some of the causes of pain and methods to deal with them.

There are three main causes of pain during childbirth: emotional, functional, and physiological.

Emotional sources of pain can be: fear, the unknown, lack of education, etc.

These can actually cause and intensify pain. Childbirth education is a great way to combat this problem, although it will not eliminate it. It will enable those participating in the birth process to have a working knowledge of what is going on. This is not limited to classroom instruction, but also includes: reading, touring birth facility, discussion with careproviders and numerous other sources of information.

Functional sources of pain can be: cervical dilatation, contractions, descent of the baby, position, procedures, etc.

Your muscles are working, and this may cause pain which can be reduced by relaxation. Holding your breath and fighting contractions can actually hinder dilatation and labor, and be more painful by depriving your uterus of oxygen and creating tension. Position is very important in the birth process. Certain positions, such as lying on your back, can be harmful and painful. Changing positions and remaining mobile can help to reduce this pain. Procedures, such as amniotomy, vaginal exams and monitoring can cause pain themselves, by limiting mobility, or by creating anxiety.

Physiological sources of pain: derivations from "normal"

These will not occur with everyone, but are possibilities that you need to know how to deal with. One of the most common examples is a back labor caused by the posterior baby, this can occur in up to 25% of labors. This pain can be dealt with by trying to encourage the baby to turn by using a variety of positions, water, etc. Sometimes unusual pain may be a sign of problems.