How does labor feel?  This may be the most-asked question out there pertaining to natural birth.  This is also the hardest question to answer.  The sensation of labor is just our perception of the uterine muscles pulling our cervix open.  No two women feel it exactly the same.  So, while I can’t tell you how it will feel to you, I can give you a general idea of what it will be like.  I do not like to refer to the feeling of labor as “pain,” so I will refer to it as “the sensation of labor” or just “labor.”

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During the first stage of labor, the stage before you push, the uterus is just starting to pull on your cervix.  This pulling is called a contraction.  You may feel just a slight tightening of the lower abdomen at this point, much like that of menstrual cramping or stomach flu cramping.  You may also just feel something like a dull pain in your lower back.  These pains start off anywhere between twenty and twelve minutes apart and are short.  Maybe lasting around thirty seconds each.

To me, normal labor, meaning labor that was not augmented by pitocin, feels pretty much like that throughout.  The feeling of the sensation increases gradually, as the time between the contractions decreases and the length of the contraction increases.  You will also begin to feel the sensation all the way across your abdomen, and possibly in your back.

Nearing the end of the first stage of labor is the toughest part of labor.  This is called the transistion stage.  The transition stage is when you will change from active laboring to pushing.  During this stage, contractions are at their longest and strongest, and you may not feel like you get much of a break between them.  Your uterus is just doing the last little bit of work to pull your cervix completely open.  At this point, many women throw in the towel and beg for the epidural.  I remember telling my husband with our second child (with whom I was induced), that I could not make it, when I got to this point.  Luckily, he encouraged me to hang in there, because, when you feel like you just can’t make it, that means that you are almost there! We had our second son about fifteen minutes after I declared that I could not go on.

Once you are completely dilated, the contractions may seem to lighten for a while.  This is a welcome break and a good time to rest for a few minutes.  If you are birthing with a doctor, they may instruct you to start pushing.  If you feel like it, go ahead.  If not, just wait, because the baby has not dropped low enough yet. When it is time to push, there will be no mistaking it!

Now, this may sound a little strange if you have not yet heard it, but I can describe the sensation of the desire to push in no other way.  It feels like you are going to have a bowel movement.  A very large one.  And there is no stopping it.  It does not hurt to push, but it does feel uncomfortable to not push when you are having this sensation.  It is quite exciting, and depending on how many babies you have had, you will probably have your new child in your arms in about five minutes to an hour.

In the third stage, you will also birth the placenta, but that is usually rather uneventful.  By that time you will be getting to know your little one, and you probably won’t care about anything else anyway.

So, now you know, but don’t just take my word for it.  This is something that you should really experience for yourself .  Let me know how it goes, or if you have birthed without medication previously, how it was for you.

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