Whats most painful, contractions or giving birth?

Hiya, the best way I can describe it, is being penetrated too deep lol you know that sorta feeling you get when your cervix gets hit? (sorry lol its the only thing I can relate it too :P) its like that pain for around 20 to 40 seconds (depends on how far along your labour u are) then it goes again. the contractions right before the pushing part was the most intense for me. Once I started pushing the pain eased off. Crowning wasnt as bad as I thought it would be, felt like burning I suppose but it wasnt worse than contractions. Pushing feels like having a nice big poop too lol you will know what I mean. And the discomfort eased once my waters broke (15 minutes before my little girl arrived lol). I got through labour with my TENS machine and breathing, did gas n air at the end but to be honest it did sod all other than make my hands and feet go numb lol think i zoned out a bit at the pushing bit. I remember just staring at the light coming from under the door and pushing whenever I got the urge, Apparently I ignored my husband lol Its intense, but sooo worth it. its bareable cos its not a constant pain and you get the best reward ever at the end. congrats hunni and good luck! xxx

Contractions. They are what causes all the back pain and tummy pain. I did not get an epidural...I suffered more from the contractions which lasted over 24 hours for me. Giving birth didn't take that long. Of course, time does fly by when you're giving birth too. I know for sure I did tear while giving birth but I didn't even feel it. I was too focused on pushing and trying to keep myself from going crazy from the contractions.

For me it was the contractions. Especially in the end before you push. You just feel helpless. But when you push you know the end is near and you get a new lease on life. I didn't feel any pain with the baby actually being delivered although my second baby, my son, came out so fast he tore me a bit and they didn't have time to snip me. Other then that.. the birth was fine.

By the time you get to the pushing part, all your body wants you to do is push, so it is kind of a release to be able to do so. Labor is frustrating because all you can do is breath and walk, if you are allowed out of bed. With pushing and giving birth you have a job to do and a goal to met, so it is better in some way.

All 3 of my labors to me were fine. My longest was 13 hours. With my 1st I pushed for an hour, he was turned the wrong way, my 2nd I pushed twice, and my 3rd I pushed 3 times. You just do what you have to do to get your baby out!

personally the worst part of labour for myself was crowning (but i had no pain relief for the last hour and a half - or the first four hours). everybody experiences labour differently. Every pregnancy and labour is different. Everybodies pain threshold is different.

Dont panic and look into pain relief options so you are aware of your options when the time comes.

By far the labor contractions!

It was a relief to finally get to push through all that pain

I have a one year old daughter and i'd say contractions. Just relax and let the baby push itself down. God Bless you.

the most painful part is when the baby is crowning and the vagina is stretching and after that the baby just pops out. i hope this helps.

imagine the worst pain you ever had for an earache or toothach..its not as bad, and u forget about how it felt afterwards....women have been doin this for millions of years, and survived.

good question, my first baby is due in 5 weeks