[hzay]

Thanks for asking this -- your question made me realize I don't have much experience with pain at all! The answer is pretty run of the mill stuff -- I got my finger stuck in a door-crack-like spot. Ugh.

Childbirth pain is not horrible and sharp like that. It feels a lot more productive, so to speak. It's not right to use the word "pain" to describe both things actually. Without that pain, you'd have to depend upon a nurse to tell you when to push -- there would be a delay between her seeing the monitor and asking you to push. It all seemed very unlikely to work to me (but of course it works). But if you feel the pain yourself, you will know when to push.

Also it comes in waves. After each wave of "pain", you get completely pain-free rest periods. But of course towards the end when the baby actually comes out, the rest periods shorten and the pain periods lengthen so it all kind of rolls into one. Many women are not so lucky as me and have prolonged labour, lasting into days. Mine only lasted a few hours so it was fine.

I completely agree with the other person who replied to you. Personally I said no to anaesthesia because they put that in your spine -- shudder.