Why Labour is Painful

A common fear among pregnant women is labour pain. But many, despite the awaiting agony, look forward to it as proof of the strength of a woman; a natural process to motherhood that must be endured.

Labour pain is about uterine contractions, cervical dilatation and, when baby is coming out-expansion of the birth canal and the perineum(vaginal-anal-area).

Cervical Dilatation
The cervix is the entrance to the uterus. It is the bottom or neck of the uterus. It opens during labour for the child to come out of the womb and be born through the birth canal.

Cervical dilatation refers to the opening of the cervix during childbirth, miscarriage, induced abortion or gynaecological surgery. It  may be induced or may occur naturally.

Pain during dilatation is similar to that of menstruation, only that it is more intense During labour, cervical dilatation is the greatest contributor to pain. When the cervix is ripe, it is ready to give way for the baby to be delivered.

The pain of dilatation is much less because then the baby has matured. That is why premature labour and abortions are much more painful than full term delivery. There are ways in which this ripening can be achieved artificially, but if the cervix is forcefully dilated, it can cause vasovagal shock (shock due to intense pain) which can be fatal. It is therefore something that should not be handled carelessly whenever cervical dilatation is desired for a given purpose.

Labour
In late pregnancy, the cervix may have already opened by 1 – 3cm (more in rare situations). In labour, repeated uterine contractions lead to further widening of the cervix to about 6cm and eventually to full dilation of 10cm. This Is accompanied by effacement (thinning of the cervix) When effacement and cervical dilatation is complete, the delivery of the baby follows shortly During labour, there will be periodical examinations to assess the rate of cervical dilatation to assess progress. Without full and proper dilatation, the baby cannot be born vaginally . Cervical dilatation is, however, not necessarily an early sign of labour. Women can remain dilated at up to 4cm for weeks before true labour begins and can also go from no dilatation to natural child birth (unassisted child birth) within a few hours.

Once dilatation and effacement start in labour, the mother’s body is In charge. However, the service provider can do a lot to determine the quality and rate of the process and make the experience as easy as possible.

There are many artificial ways to make the mothers experience more relief.  Giving pain killers, for instance, can control pain of labour. For quicker and less painful dilation, the cervix can be made softer . The severity of uterine contractions can be moderated and controlled to alter the rate of cervical dilatation.

A signs of cervical dilatation
Classic sign of cervical dilatation is the loosening of the cervical plug (a thick plug of mucus that blocks the cervix during pregnancy and prevents ascending bacterial infection). The plug comes out as a mucus discharge which may be blood stained or not. We call this show. However, not all women experience this.

Self-assessment of cervical dilatation

This is a bad idea. It is difficult, uncomfortable and inconclusive The discomfort can actually cause premature labour. Inconclusive because in the position you will be in, you can hardly tell much. Best leave it to a qualified ‘other’ person.

Backward dilatation
This occasionally happens and is normal. It occurs when the baby’s presenting part (head in most cases) is not pressing on the cervix as before. If there is slowing down of labour with no contractions, the cervix may close up a little. However, contraction later causes further contractions and labour continues and the birth happens normally.

END: PG38/48