Does Labor Hurt the Same for All Mothers?
Asian Women Report Childbirth is Less Painful than Other Groups
Nov 13, 2009
One question that many women ask is if labor hurts the same for all mothers? Is labor always this painful? Do all mothers feel the same amount of childbirth pain?
Most childbirth experts today would likely answer "yes" to that question; however, new research shows that there may be groups of women or even cultural differences that may affect the level of childbirth pain.
Active Phase of Labor Is Longer for Asian Mothers
A group of anesthesiologists from Columbia University studied 100 births in sequential order as they occurred. All of the women who participated in the study were giving birth to their first babies. Each of the participants described themselves as belonging to one of the following ethnic groups: white, Asian, black, Hispanic or other.
One of the interesting results was that the women who described themselves as Asian had longer active phases of labor than any of the women in the other groups.
Labor Was Less Painful for Asian Mothers
Mothers who described themselves as Asian also reported that labor was less painful than all of the other groups of mothers. Is this due to a cultural difference in this group of women because of how they view childbirth? Or is it possible that labor is truly less painful for this population of mothers?
It may be possible that having a slower or longer active phase of labor allowed the mothers to cope more easily with the pain of labor. Perhaps an increased coping ability then affected their experience of labor so that this group of Asian mothers reported labor as less painful.
Mother's Weight May Cause Labor to be Longer
Another interesting finding was that the mother's weight played a role in the process of labor. Women who were heavier had labors that were longer. In addition, mothers who were heavier reported that the pain they experienced occurred later than what the other groups described.
Labor Inductions are Known to Cause More Childbirth Pain
It is not unusual to hear a mother describe her labor induction as causing more childbirth pain than having spontaneous labor. One of the reasons for this is that pitocin used in the mother's IV does not generate the same level of endorphins, which are pain blockers in labor.
How would you describe your own labor? Was it extremely painful or was it less painful than you expected?
References:
Debiec, J., "Mathematical Model of the Pain of the First State of Nulliparous Women," Anesthesiology, Volume 11, November 2009.
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