I think one reason why women fear the pain of childbirth so much is that they know that no one is being straight with them about "Just how bad is it?" I think that being descriptive about what I felt ("like a molten hot basket ball being pressed down into my crotch every 3 minutes with just enough time to barely get myself together before the next big press") AND also letting women know that I'm the world's biggest wimp when it comes to pain (didn't have my ears pierced till I was 34 y.o. and then had to lie in bed whimpering for 24 hrs after) and yet I've had 3 natural births, is empowering. I also find that if a woman is friends with other women who have done it she's more likely to go the distance. I tell the women they can have the "pay now plan" or the "pay later plan" with re to pain in birth. The "pay now" route gets it done in one day (natural birth), the "pay later" route means a low grade insidious pain that can last beyond six weeks (epidural headache, backache, stitches healing, or worse after c sec). The biggest benefit of the "pay now" route is that you have a child with all the brain cells Nature intended for him/her. That is a reward that you reap for your whole life for just one day of courage.
Gloria Lemay, Vancouver, BC Canada
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