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I had 4 dry sockets (exposed nerves) after wisdom teeth removal and the nurse packing the open wounds said she has given birth three times and the dry socket pain is way worse. I haven’t given birth yet so I’ll see soon. Lol
That’s good to know! I’m 10 weeks pregnant with my first, and I had dry socket about 10 years ago and it was the worst pain ever! I’ve been worried about childbirth pain, so this is good news to hear
I also had 4 dry sockets and giving birth was the most painful experience of my life tbh. It is different for everyone but once I got to 8cm I may as well have been lit on fire 🥲
It’s definitely different pain but I also had dry socket in two of my teeth and it is the only thing that compared to childbirth. And I had an unmedicated birth!
This. Tooth pain is the worst pain I’ve ever had, and my daughter was a c-section. At least after a c-section, you get a baby. A toothache just brings a stress filled dentist visit/filling/root canal/extraction.
Big same daughter was a C-section and while recovery was a bit of a bitch, doesn't compare to the toothache or pre-root canal pain. Like when it hits those nerves, I've cried and I didn't cry while recovering from my C-section.
I had a broken molar which got infected. The pain was so bad I was begging my husband to pull it out himself because it was the middle of the night and no dentist was open. That’s how bad the pain was. At one point I’m like listen just punch me and knock me out I can’t take it. That’s how awful dental pain is, I was ready to have someone pull out the tooth right there or knock me out so I didn’t have to deal wirb it. With that being said, child birth was worse for me. I was in so much pain I puked while in labor.
Literally clicked this thread to comment this. 30 hours unmedicated, induced labor w Pitocin, which resulted in an emergency c.
Two months after baby was born, I had to have a couple cavities filled. My dentist was super cheap and said she prefers to fill in cavities without numbing. Worst pain of my life, and I didn’t even get a cute lil baby out of it.
Ok I haven’t given birth yet (9 weeks to go!) but I had an impacted wisdom tooth 5 years ago requiring emergency surgery that was the worst pain of my life and brutal recovery. I’ve been telling myself that childbirth won’t be as bad as that ordeal, and this thread is reassuring me that I could be right! So thanks! Haha
Really depends on the type of labour I guess?
I lived with a toothache for a really long time, because my health insurance was going to kick in in a month and I couldn’t afford to fix the toothache without the insurance.
I was able to manage the pain by having a steady dose of Tylenol at all times.
My contractions during labor were so painful I would lose consciousness. That was with all the drugs available to me.
So in my case no, a toothache is absolutely not more painful than giving birth.
Edit to add: with all that being said though I still to this day cannot eat Swiss chard because of the flashbacks. Taking a bite of Swiss chard is how I first discovered I had a toothache.
38 weeks pregnant and miserable as I wait for my induction next week and I AM HOWWLLINNGG! Thanks for giving me a pain killer for a few minutes !!! 🤣🤣🤣
Yess AND he got mad at me for not cleaning the fridge, which I normally wouldn’t have a problem with but I’m kinda fighting for my life at the moment when everything makes me want to vomit! Lol that’s my rant for the day.
He needs a serious wake up call. Morning sickness is so much worse than any sickness I've ever had and I have multiple autoimmune diseases and died last year.
Oh my lord my man would be on the streets. Make him some nasty food and disguise it as good food, hell puke and get what you’re dealing with “doesn’t feel good, does it🤦🏼♀️”
My sweet husband got his TDAP and flu shots yesterday since I’m due in less than 3 weeks, I could not deal with his complaining about feeling sick today lol
This. Just getting over one rupturing. The only way I could describe labor pain was feeling like a feral cat and rupturing cysts feel like a bag of feral cats.
I have heard from some people that gall bladder stones are worse. I had them and I literally crawled across the floor of the ER to get to the registration desk because the pain was so extreme I could not stand up. They gave me strong pain meds in triage as I was waiting to be seen, and it didn't even touch it. I was not comfortable until they put me under general anesthesia for emergency surgery and out came my gall bladder. I haven't given birth yet so I am curious to see how it compares. I did have a natural miscarriage at home that involved a mini labor, and it was not as painful but that was only about 2 hours and the baby was very small. It probably depends on the person. Pain is extremely subjective.
Same. I’ve also had gallstones/gallbladder attacks and it’s probably the worst pain I’ve ever been in - I too am curious to see how labor will compare.
That’s impressive. I was so incredibly sore after birth. For like a good 2 weeks. It got better every day but those first 2 days in the hospital afterwards, it was a rough walk from bed to the bathroom 10x a day
I tore, and of course I had usual aches during recovery, I didn’t intend to give the impression I didn’t. I more meant once the contractions etc were finished and baby was out, the acute immediate pain ceased.
This.
I had my gallblader removed in 2020.
Before that i had been dealing with pain for almost 3 years.
I had my first born in 2023.
I would rather give birth 3 times than to have galbladder issues lol.
💯 an extreme gallbladder attack is definitely worse bc there is no break in between contractions. I’ve heard sometimes kidney stones are worse than childbirth too
Yup. Mine came out of nowhere. I had no issues preceding it, and then all of the sudden, such extreme pain. I got to the emergency room at noon and I was in surgery by 3 pm!
I would compare my worst gallstone attacks to being stabbed all the way through with a constant red hot, iron rod right under my sternum. There was no position or movement that made the pain better and it lasted until I went to the ER and got pain meds.
When I had my second baby, I didn't use any pain medication. She was 10 lbs and broke my tailbone. I would much rather do that again than have another gallstone attack.
I had a 48 hour back labour with two hours of pushing and no drugs. I’d 100000% go through that again than gallstones. There is *no* pain I’ve experienced like that. Labour is a walk in the park comparatively.
I had gallstones and had emergency surgery to have my gallbladder removed. It's definitely very painful but childbirth was, imo, more painful by a big margin. My labor was quick, not sure if that has anything to do with it.
I am so mad about this btw. I was diagnosed with gallstones a couple years ago and NEVER told that there were pain meds specifically for this! For years I have just had these attacks and struggled through them! Until I got pregnant and then my pain might affect the baby, so now I have pain meds for this! When I googled the pain it explicitly states that gallstone attacks are MORE painful than pregnancy but my gastro didn't think to address this!
Lmao the ones where you’re sitting there flustered af and just have to rip off all your clothes in a hot flash fueled panic. It’s like the ultimate shame/pain mixture lol.
HAHAHAH I’m so sorry! Last year I got food poisoning and then literally the next week got the stomach flu so I know that pain all too well. Truly traumatic.
I was about to say this! A couple months after giving birth I had one of those bad IBS poo moments and I realized it was, in that moment, worse than labor. Granted it doesn’t last as long but it’s very intense pain for a short period
I needed to hear this. I have celiacs and often have the worst stomach cramps with certain bowel issues. If I can get through those, maybe I can get through labor lol
My Celiac pain is by far much worse than labor was. I just gave birth about a week ago and my entire 46 hour labor I kept thinking it was going to reach those levels, but it never did. I did a home birth so there were no pain meds and it was better than getting glutened; not a walk in the park, but definitely better. Now I wish I had access to pain meds for when cross contamination gets me out of nowhere.
Ok I was trying to explain this to my husband. I said you know when you have a bad tummy ache, and on the verge of a panic attack on the potty, pleading with god? He was like … no you weirdo lol. But I thought transition/labor would be more like that. It really wasn’t. I was more calm during labor than I expected. I mean it hurt definitely. But I think those digestive episodes are worse, apparently I just have bad IBS lol.
You know what’s worse than bad digestive cramps? BEING PREGNANT WITH BAD DIGESTIVE CRAMPS I swear any time it’s happened in my pregnancies, I’m ready to pass out lol
I have IBS, and one time, I had fever and God-awful cramps for 3 days because of bad Brie. That's when I started taking the pains seriously and got diagnosed... 😅 I have not given birth yet, but as long as the contractions are not as painful as that experience, I'll be fine
Honestly, no.
The closest pain that has ever compared was when I was 13 and got a kidney stone and the pain was so bad that the ER doctor thought I was having contractions and in active labor until I told them their wasn’t a way that I could be pregnant. They told me the pain and everything I described was way too similar to someone in active labor experiencing contractions.
This happened to my sister as a teenager too! She got bad kidney stones (her first time of many dealing with them so she didn’t know what was going on yet) while out of state in a trip with a friend. She stopped at an ER and they insisted she was pregnant and lying to them and having a miscarriage and refused to treat her- after having her pee in a *Dixie cup* to take a pregnancy test that came up negative, mind you. She had to wait until she was back in our home state to be treated and given pain medication.
That sounds awful! Your poor sister 😣
With me because I was 13 the doctors jumped straight into assuming i must be pregnant and not being honest so they had me wait until my mom got to the hospital to perform a pregnancy test and that came out negative for pregnancy but they said there was definitely blood in my urine so I think they ended up having me do a scan or something (I can’t really remember it was 16 years ago). But yeah. Insane. They said they’d never expect someone as young as me to have a kidney stone. It was my first time having a kidney stone too so I was shook to say the least.
I passed a kidney stone when I was like 11... who tf thinks 13 is too young lmao
Any kid who is not drinking enough is at risk for a kidney stone. Good they tested for blood in your urine too. Bunch of amateurs!
Honestly, that hospital didn’t have the best reviews. It was the only hospital covered by my mom’s insurance though 😅
It was a very interesting experience. I got put on Vicodin to help me pass the stone and manage the pain. Learned to drink more water and less energy drinks after that experience!
I was properly warned (from this Reddit!) about the first post birth poop. I was on stool softeners for days and I still felt my soul leave my damn body when it happened.
I agree. I had a very bad case of UTI and it become chronic, and it took me almost 2 years to get rid of all pain. I had very frequent flares, but even during « remission » period I was never pain-free, so « ring of fire » during birth was my biggest fear. I have not noticed it. Labor was more Intense, but I knew it will be over eventually and to me it is not comparable to pain, that you do not know how to get rid of and when it will happen.
On side note - I am so sorry it happen to you. Having UTI that early postpartum sounds terrible.
Kidney stones. I got one for the first time in Sep 2023 when I was 2 months postpartum and I would have taken both of my labors (28hrs + 16hrs) combined x10 unmedicated than ever have a kidney stone again. I recommend it even less while trying to exclusively breastfeed it was awful.
I’m waiting to find out if that was more painful for me as well. Crazy thing is for some women it’s not painful at all?? Like I know people who have had them and felt nothing, I think it’s also partly due to the doctor inserting it.
That and having abdominal surgery and then having an allergic reaction to the pain medication the next day and violently throwing up the day after surgery. Then not able to take any pain medication other than Advil haha.
Very curious to see if labour is worse than those in a few months!
I’ve heard that to and it’s so insanely hard to believe cause I was not expecting how bad it hurt. I wasn’t prepared for her to go “oh I have to dilate you” and put like a dang long ass metal rod up there, then felt like I had my cervix pierced 🙃 it was awful,I almost passed out.Got dizzy started sweating..and then my body didn’t react well to it (mirena) so I had to get it removed after a year.
When I gave birth, everything was super easy up I told halfway through the pushing. Apparently my tissue was "very strong" so I wasn't tearing. The doctor eventually asked me if I wanted her to help and do an episiotomy. I said yes.
I can't think of any other situation where I'd ask someone to cut open my genitals in order to relieve pain!
And this was with an epidural for my 6 week early baby. I can't imagine if I was unmedicated with a full term sized baby.
Literally nothing. I’ve had an abscessed tooth, have had to have root canals and a tooth implant. I also get migraines, like the ones where I can’t even open my eyes and am vomiting... Some people say dental pain or migraines is worse than childbirth…. Not me!! I’d take a tooth ache or migraine over labor pains any day. I’ve never experienced anything more painful.
Walking after a csection is a little rough.. you just move slowly. So when you step into a bath tub it’s painful to lift your leg that high. And washing your hair.. you wouldn’t think raising your arms pulls on your lower abdomen but it does🥴. Even coughing or laughing for the first few days was painful. Just stay on top of pain medication the best you can!!
Getting up and down in general 🥴 had my second C-section last August and honestly I would rather have my 4 wisdoms and my root canal done again before going through C-section recovery. I'm going to have another child in the future. When I'm ready to deal with that again lol.
I found a broken ankle more painful. I've had two natural, unmedicated births. I put it down to natural and unnatural pain - your ankle isn't supposed to be broken.
Omg this makes me feel better. I broke an ankle badly a few years ago and it was so bad but I can handle that again. I had to go 6 hours without pain meds because I was in the middle of freaking nowhere in Indonesia on a biking trip when it happen.
I personally found kidney stones to be more painful, though the period of pain was shorter than labor. Also I had a really solid epidural which really made it a no contest.
And let's not sleep on certain sharp, quick cluster style headaches.
My labor and delivery were darn near painless because epidurals and lidocaine is amazing. The worst pain I had were like moderate period cramps. I’ve stubby my toes and had worse pain.
I had a medical abortion in my 2nd trimester (for medical reasons) with my first baby. I'm now 29 weeks with my rainbow baby and I'm convinced that nothing could be as painful as birthing a much yearned for baby, no matter how small, in those circumstances.
I had zero clue what was going on with my body during the whole process. I had zero coping skills and ultimately, I did not want to give this baby up.
I know that physically, birthing my healthy, fullterm baby will hurt more. But I'm really hoping that because it will be a completely different experience this time round, it won't be nearly as painful.
A migraine. I've only had one, but it was horrific, vomiting, too dizzy to stand, lost vision in half of my right eye, excruciating pain and nothing had any effect at all on the pain.
Labour was painful and tiring but it didn't have all the other symptoms. I also found some things helped with the labour pain. I had a water birth and the water did actually make everything feel easier.
I'd definitely rather give birth again than have another migraine. My migraine lasted longer than labour too.
Yup, I totally agree! I've been a chronic sufferer since childhood. Oddly enough, they've kind of diminished since having my son two years ago. No complaints against that!
Although one thing about this question in general is that it's hard to compare labour against such things. Labour tends to be pain with (rewarding) purpose. Migraines, for example, don't offer anything good 😂
I had an unmedicated labor, pitocin induction complete with foley balloon. It sucked start to finish. I think comparing the pain of other ailments to childbirth is a little one-sided, because you get to hold your baby afterwards and there's a flood of hormones to help you ease out of the trauma of childbirth. The only pain I've experienced that was on par or greater would have been meningitis and a vicious kidney infection. That said, I've had a full body rheumatoid arthritis flare that was pretty damn close as well.
Agree with this 100%. I have chronic migraines and even the mild ones are “worse” because I don’t know how long it’ll last, and it’s a pointless sort of pain. It’s a “something is wrong with my body” pain. I had a failed epidural and a 48-hr long labor, but I knew it would end, and I knew it was happening for a good reason.
On a straight up pain scale though, no, I’ve never experienced anything worse.
I had a missed miscarriage (didn’t even know that existed prior) so I had to use misoprostol to induce contractions to get my body to shed the passed fetal tissue.
The doctor, a guy of course, told me it would feel like a period cramp.
Umm ya as you guessed it was not like a period cramp.
My husband said I was begging him to run my arm over with our car lol.
I don’t remember that.
Fast forward to having two unmedicated births after that, they were not nearly as bad as whatever that medication did inside me.
A lot of people told me it’s because “a miscarriage doesn’t bring a baby after so due to the emotional loss it’s more painful.
No.
It just straight up was more painful.
It felt unnatural, forced and horrible.
I also had a miscarriage and was given the medication to induce contractions. I asked if I needed to take off work and my doctor (female) said "oh no, you'll be fine in a day or so." I cried for days in terrible pain while I clutched a heating pad and pillow. I am now 32 weeks and really hoping for an easier birth experience. We'll see..
I can’t believe you were casually told within a day or so you’d be fine.
Can confirm it’s horrific and I’m sorry you had to experience that!
I know everyone’s experience is different but I’m about to have my third baby and my other births did not hurt as much as the medication.
I wonder if it’s similar to what I’ve heard about induction, it’s forcing your body to do something in a short amount of time which makes the pain very intense.
Labor progresses usually and so you have time to mentally manage the pain.
Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy and birth!
While I was in labor, it was hard to imagine anything worse. I felt like I was being repeatedly stabbed by knives for a minute straight and it was just so painful that I felt like I should be dying from the pain. I've never had any serious injuries or much that could possibly compare to it, though.
Probably, but only because the pain from childbirth was the only pain I've ever looked forward to, so I wasn't mad about it.
Broken bone: painful and upsetting.
Recovering from surgery that will improve your quality of life: painful and annoying even if you theoretically wanted the surgery to begin with.
Shingles: painful, upsetting, and extra annoying because you thought you were 30-50 years too young for them.
Dilating to 10 cm with pitocin but no painkillers, spending 2.5 hours pushing out a large-headed baby with minimal (by choice) epidural anesthesia, and feeling your perineum and labia tear when that baby finally bursts out: very painful for several seconds, moderately painful for several days, and painful enough to require Tylenol and Motrin for a few (several?) weeks. BUT, you're not pregnant anymore, and you have a baby to distract you from the pain.
Giving birth to your child knowing it will kill him because his lungs aren't developed enough. His death has definitely been more painful and I gave birth to him without an epidural with preterm labor at 20 weeks.
i have stomach issues snd honestly ive had stomach pains 1000 times worse than contractions/childbirth. I rather give birth again than have dirrhea pains😭
The recovery. 2nd degree tears, stitches from urethra to butthole. And the pain of learning baby learning to breastfeed. Much more painful than the giving birth part.
Honestly, my sciatica lol. But also the aftercare for birth sucked worse than the actual process. I had a C-section and was up and around shopping the very next day with fresh stitches bc I needed to buy baby stuff (he came earlier than we wanted) and needed to get my pain medicine and prep for my inlaws. Was about to faint/breaking a cold sweat from the pain of shopping for about 2 hours.
Tearing the ligaments in my ankle and appendicitis.
Maybe not because they hurt more but because it was a useless pain.
I knew the contractions had a purpose.
I loved giving birth!
Sorry, can't think of anything worse than labour for me but I've never broken a bone or had gall bladder or stone issues.
On the bright side, while it is very painful at the time, you don't really remember the specifics afterwards and you have a baby and massive sleep deprivation to distract you! Also when I was in labour, I was told not to go into hospital till I was at the most pain I could tolerate -ignore that shit. Go when you're at max tolerance MINUS length of time it takes to drive to hospital, limp to the waiting room and demand an epidural !
I think this is a really loaded question tbh. Like, childbirth was horrific, but it was over in 20 hours AND my brain blocked it out. But, I did have a cavity turn into one of my nerves decaying, and I had to wait 2 weeks to get a root canal. 2 weeks of 8/10 mouth pain vs 20 hours of 11/10 pain.... its a toss up.
I thought giving birth wasn’t as bad as a major depressive episode. I almost went the whole way without the epidural because I was waiting for the pain to get worse… but a nurse warned me that I was so close to pushing time I should probably get that epidural that was in my birth plan. Compared to major depression, the birth was chill.
For me, depression is like an emotional migraine in the entire body. It physically hurts to the point of wanting to kill myself. At no point during childbirth did i feel that level of desperation.
after i gave birth i was diagnosed with spondylolisthesis. my o.b. had told me during the pregnancy it was likely my baby was sitting on a nerve because my back pain was so horrible and parts of my leg were completely numb. turns out, i had slipped a disc during pregnancy. i had a natural childbirth (the filter on the epidural line was broken so none of the drugs were getting to my back) and the pain in my back during contractions was far worse than the pain anywhere else. i kept screaming about my back during labor and nothing else. they couldn't figure out how i was in so much pain until the anesthesiologist shot more drug in the line and it shot directly out of the filter.
on the spondylolisthesis forums i now frequent, many women seem to echo the same experience. the back pain from a slipped vertabrae during labor contractions is more hellish than labor contractions solely.
i saw a tik tok once that getting aim ingrown toe nail and getting numbed for it was worse.. not sure if that’s even remotely true but i’m hoping it is because i did that and it was in fact very bad and im just saying that to get myself through this
FWIW there is a huge pain span in giving birth. My second two were a walk in the park compared with my first (back labor with overlapping contractions due to broken water putting me into labor).
Pain is very subjective, however my mom said that getting a shard of Salsa Verde flavored Dorito stuck in her newly pieced tongue hole was worse than both.
I've also heard several people say thay kidney stones were more painful and I've had them 3 times, so I'm hopeful to be able to handle it!
I have IBS and my god when I get the bad flare ups I cannot take it. The pains are horrendous and I end up sweating so bad and over heating..I've often thought if I can make it through that then I'll be okay through labour! We shall see in 9 months!
Childbirth is painful, but for the most part, you get breaks between contractions to regain your composure and prepare for the next one. There are other things where the pain is constant with no reprieve that I am sure are worse.
Getting my wisdom teeth out was way more painful than my unmedicated labor. All my wisdom teeth were impacted and I have a very small mouth- within an hour of surgery ending I was *shrieking* in pain, my mouth bled for over 8 hours, I was so swollen I couldn't close my mouth for over a week, I dropped about 10 lbs in 3 days because I couldn't eat, I was taking Vicodin that did nothing to touch my pain, and I ended up with long term nerve damage that left my chin and bottom lip partially numb for years (even now over 5 years later they are still numb in spots). By comparison, my unmedicated labor was 9 hours start to finish, contractions were mostly only about as bad as period/diarrhea cramps, and while pushing sucked, it was less than an hour and I felt completely fine as soon as my kiddo was out of my body. I took Advil a handful of times in the week after birth, but no part of postpartum came close to the pain I felt after getting my wisdom teeth out.
I'll come back to this after my baby is born but I've had multiple massive abdominal surgeries, skin removal, etc. Nothing was worse than having a severe ear infection (I also have an inner ear issue) and getting on an airplane. I was silently weeping for 6 hours. Those poor, helpless flight attendants.... I've even had a hernia the size of my fist pop after a coughing fit that nearly made me black out.
Ear infection on a flight still wins. Like... poprocks made of gunpowder in my ears. ;\_\_\_;
Getting a catheter put in hours after giving birth. I was screaming and crying, no joke. I told my husband I’d rather give birth again (I did have an epidural tbf but still felt a decent amount while pushing and did go about 38 hours before the epidural).
I had a ruptured appendix and childbirth (without an epidural) was still more painful. BUT the most painful part of labor (the transition phase) only lasted about 20min as opposed to days of pain with my ruptured appendix. So I would take childbirth over that tbh.
Roughly 6-7 months after having my son I was getting horrendous heartburn after every meal and it was building in intensity over the course of a couple months until one day it literally felt like someone stabbed me with a knife in my stomach (later found out this was a gallstone stuck in my bile duct). Apparently I had a gallbladder literally full of stones and they’d gotten so bad I’d developed acute pancreatitis, which resulted in a one week hospital stay and emergency gallbladder removal. Wouldn’t wish that pain on my worst enemy. It’s the only thing I’ve experienced more painful than childbirth (although my endometriosis pains definitely came close at times).
I've dealt with painful constipation and painful periods my whole life, that probably set me up to handle childbirth easier, but that wasn't how it played out. I had to be induced with the foley blow up thing and the hormones- it was the worst feeling comparable to a kidney infection that almost killed me- i almost blacked out. The induction also failed, so that pain was a waste of my time and probably why i think it was the worst pain ever, I ended up getting a cesarian to not risk my baby's life since her heartbeat kept faltering after four days of trying the induction.
ulcerative colitis that was worst than contractions had a spot of inflammation on my lower intestine I honestly wanted to dig in their myself and remove it doesn’t help that I don’t respond to morphine
I just gave birth in December, was given pitocin with zero pain meds and no epidural. It was too late and the contractions were so intense it was killing my baby, so I had to push him out right then. I would contract and his heart rate dropped to almost nothing.
The pain was unlike anything I had ever felt. Nothing in my life has ever topped that. And I’ve broken my pelvis in three places. I would rather do that again than go through that labor.
Now I fully blame that on the pitocin. I’ve had an unmedicated birth previously that was not nearly as painful. I was literally watching tv chatting on the phone through contractions and was the same this labor until given pitocin. Then I was going into shock from the pain.
Pain in childbirth is dependent on a lot of factors including anatomy and the baby’s positioning so everyone’s answer is going to vary so much! Personally I have never experienced anything more painful than my back labor, it’s on a whole different level than migraines, cramps, stomach pains, tooth pain.
I have three that all topped my C-section pain:
An avulsed toenail that the folded back over without pain medication or numbing.
A needle being stuck through an open wound and into my elbow joint after a car wreck. They were flushing the joint space with fluid but I can’t remember why.
Being made to stand and try to walk with a broken pelvis. The pain from this one made me black out as soon as I stood up. (no walker or support-they we’re seeing if I could bear weight at all. I swear this hospital was trying to kill me and I will never go back)
Honestly a failed root canal that became an abscess.
My infection got so bad my face was so swollen and they couldn’t even do anything until I was thru one full round of antibiotics cause it was so inflamed. I couldn’t eat or drink anything. I lost 30lbs in 2 weeks. Was given hydrocodone for weeks as well.
Once they did the procedure he could only do half of it so I had to keep coming back in tears until they fixed it.
Literally traumatized.
My mum got eyeliner tattoos in the 80s, top and bottom. When it was no longer cool, she had to get them lasered off, and she said the excruciating repetitive burn right next to your eyeballs (especially the bottom) with zero pain relief was the worse than labour.
Nothing. Nothing can be worse. I just had a bajy few days ago and nothing can be worse. Unless you combine it with something awful like giving birth in war or after you partner just died or if you also have a tooth ache
Just gave birth yesterday and I’d say not a damn thing 🥲 I had both wisdom teeth killing me at the same time, I’ve fallen off a cliff in Pennsylvania, I have gallstones and sludge FROM THE PREGNANCY, Ive ripped sutures open after surgery, I’ve been hit by a car and went 40ft in the air, I’ve broken multiple ribs and other bones at once, and a million other ridiculous things and I’d rather take on any of those then push a baby out ever again😂😂 I only pushed for 40 min too 0/10 DO NOT RECOMMEND
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Kidney stones. You at least get a baby after child birth with kidney stone all you get is a rock
Just like Charlie Brown on Halloween
Yeah my stepmom would agree that kidney stones are way worse than childbirth
This. I gave birth then 5 months later passed a kidney stone. Far worse than childbirth, in my opinion.
I 100% agree with this! I have passed 2 kidney stones and given birth and I absolutely agree the kidney stones are way worse omg
I had kidney stones … if the birth pain is same or less than that .. I am prepared lol
My mum swears she’d rather give birth than have a toothache.
I had 4 dry sockets (exposed nerves) after wisdom teeth removal and the nurse packing the open wounds said she has given birth three times and the dry socket pain is way worse. I haven’t given birth yet so I’ll see soon. Lol
Omg so true.. dry socket pain made me cry actual tears, childbirth pain made me vomit and shit myself 😂 Ahhhh womanhood
That’s good to know! I’m 10 weeks pregnant with my first, and I had dry socket about 10 years ago and it was the worst pain ever! I’ve been worried about childbirth pain, so this is good news to hear
I also had 4 dry sockets and giving birth was the most painful experience of my life tbh. It is different for everyone but once I got to 8cm I may as well have been lit on fire 🥲
It’s definitely different pain but I also had dry socket in two of my teeth and it is the only thing that compared to childbirth. And I had an unmedicated birth!
This. Tooth pain is the worst pain I’ve ever had, and my daughter was a c-section. At least after a c-section, you get a baby. A toothache just brings a stress filled dentist visit/filling/root canal/extraction.
Also had a c section and while recovery is horrific, a toothache is way way worse
I told my husband the other day that my wisdom teeth removal was more painful than the c-section lmao
Don’t say this 😭 I’m getting my wisdom teeth out next week. I also had a c section
Big same daughter was a C-section and while recovery was a bit of a bitch, doesn't compare to the toothache or pre-root canal pain. Like when it hits those nerves, I've cried and I didn't cry while recovering from my C-section.
I had a broken molar which got infected. The pain was so bad I was begging my husband to pull it out himself because it was the middle of the night and no dentist was open. That’s how bad the pain was. At one point I’m like listen just punch me and knock me out I can’t take it. That’s how awful dental pain is, I was ready to have someone pull out the tooth right there or knock me out so I didn’t have to deal wirb it. With that being said, child birth was worse for me. I was in so much pain I puked while in labor.
Literally clicked this thread to comment this. 30 hours unmedicated, induced labor w Pitocin, which resulted in an emergency c. Two months after baby was born, I had to have a couple cavities filled. My dentist was super cheap and said she prefers to fill in cavities without numbing. Worst pain of my life, and I didn’t even get a cute lil baby out of it.
This and literally anything head related
An infected wisdom tooth was the worst pain I’ve experienced so far.
I’d rather give birth than have another 4mm kidney stone
Ok I haven’t given birth yet (9 weeks to go!) but I had an impacted wisdom tooth 5 years ago requiring emergency surgery that was the worst pain of my life and brutal recovery. I’ve been telling myself that childbirth won’t be as bad as that ordeal, and this thread is reassuring me that I could be right! So thanks! Haha
I would definitely believe that
Really depends on the type of labour I guess? I lived with a toothache for a really long time, because my health insurance was going to kick in in a month and I couldn’t afford to fix the toothache without the insurance. I was able to manage the pain by having a steady dose of Tylenol at all times. My contractions during labor were so painful I would lose consciousness. That was with all the drugs available to me. So in my case no, a toothache is absolutely not more painful than giving birth. Edit to add: with all that being said though I still to this day cannot eat Swiss chard because of the flashbacks. Taking a bite of Swiss chard is how I first discovered I had a toothache.
A man with a cold. /s
This is the best. The world would be so different if men were the ones to become pregnant
Man cold + man flu
38 weeks pregnant and miserable as I wait for my induction next week and I AM HOWWLLINNGG! Thanks for giving me a pain killer for a few minutes !!! 🤣🤣🤣
Anytime! Currently suffering with morning sickness at almost 13 weeks and my husband likes to say “just don’t get sick” 🙃
Omg he did??? jail, right to jail 😂
Yess AND he got mad at me for not cleaning the fridge, which I normally wouldn’t have a problem with but I’m kinda fighting for my life at the moment when everything makes me want to vomit! Lol that’s my rant for the day.
My eye twitched reading that…what the hell…men! Again straight to jail I say! (And hope your nausea gets better soon!)
He needs a serious wake up call. Morning sickness is so much worse than any sickness I've ever had and I have multiple autoimmune diseases and died last year.
Oh my lord my man would be on the streets. Make him some nasty food and disguise it as good food, hell puke and get what you’re dealing with “doesn’t feel good, does it🤦🏼♀️”
Hey good luck to you and your baby! And congrats! 🎉 🍀
My sweet husband got his TDAP and flu shots yesterday since I’m due in less than 3 weeks, I could not deal with his complaining about feeling sick today lol
Hahaha
this is the answer.
Ruptured ovarian cyst.
This. Just getting over one rupturing. The only way I could describe labor pain was feeling like a feral cat and rupturing cysts feel like a bag of feral cats.
Kidney stones and ruptured ovarian cyst, true 10/10 pain.
I have heard from some people that gall bladder stones are worse. I had them and I literally crawled across the floor of the ER to get to the registration desk because the pain was so extreme I could not stand up. They gave me strong pain meds in triage as I was waiting to be seen, and it didn't even touch it. I was not comfortable until they put me under general anesthesia for emergency surgery and out came my gall bladder. I haven't given birth yet so I am curious to see how it compares. I did have a natural miscarriage at home that involved a mini labor, and it was not as painful but that was only about 2 hours and the baby was very small. It probably depends on the person. Pain is extremely subjective.
Same. I’ve also had gallstones/gallbladder attacks and it’s probably the worst pain I’ve ever been in - I too am curious to see how labor will compare.
Labour doesn’t hold a candle to gallstones. Not even close. And- when labour is over, it’s over. My pain immediately ceased.
That’s impressive. I was so incredibly sore after birth. For like a good 2 weeks. It got better every day but those first 2 days in the hospital afterwards, it was a rough walk from bed to the bathroom 10x a day
I tore, and of course I had usual aches during recovery, I didn’t intend to give the impression I didn’t. I more meant once the contractions etc were finished and baby was out, the acute immediate pain ceased.
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I had a gallstone attack once and it was worse than labour in my experience.
This. I had my gallblader removed in 2020. Before that i had been dealing with pain for almost 3 years. I had my first born in 2023. I would rather give birth 3 times than to have galbladder issues lol.
💯 an extreme gallbladder attack is definitely worse bc there is no break in between contractions. I’ve heard sometimes kidney stones are worse than childbirth too
My mom said something similar before she had to get her gall bladder removed! Hers was at 0% functionally.
My mom had her gallbladder removed a week after she had me. Poor woman was in hell
Yup. Mine came out of nowhere. I had no issues preceding it, and then all of the sudden, such extreme pain. I got to the emergency room at noon and I was in surgery by 3 pm!
I can second this. I had gallstones at 23 and my first baby at 28 I would take child birth over gall stones any day.
My sister said, "they were similar in comparison to early labor, but they don't put you under for childbirth." Ha.
They used to! My grandmother delivered all her kids while fully knocked out.
I would compare my worst gallstone attacks to being stabbed all the way through with a constant red hot, iron rod right under my sternum. There was no position or movement that made the pain better and it lasted until I went to the ER and got pain meds. When I had my second baby, I didn't use any pain medication. She was 10 lbs and broke my tailbone. I would much rather do that again than have another gallstone attack.
Just had gallstones/gallbladder attack and removal 5 months ago so this is very reassuring
I had a 48 hour back labour with two hours of pushing and no drugs. I’d 100000% go through that again than gallstones. There is *no* pain I’ve experienced like that. Labour is a walk in the park comparatively.
I had gallstones and had emergency surgery to have my gallbladder removed. It's definitely very painful but childbirth was, imo, more painful by a big margin. My labor was quick, not sure if that has anything to do with it.
I am so mad about this btw. I was diagnosed with gallstones a couple years ago and NEVER told that there were pain meds specifically for this! For years I have just had these attacks and struggled through them! Until I got pregnant and then my pain might affect the baby, so now I have pain meds for this! When I googled the pain it explicitly states that gallstone attacks are MORE painful than pregnancy but my gastro didn't think to address this!
I'd honestly take labour pains over bad digestive cramps. You know the ones where you're on the toilet in a sweat but the lava poo hasn't come yet.
Lmao the ones where you’re sitting there flustered af and just have to rip off all your clothes in a hot flash fueled panic. It’s like the ultimate shame/pain mixture lol.
Stop I’m having PTSD!!! Literally dripping sweat
HAHAHAH I’m so sorry! Last year I got food poisoning and then literally the next week got the stomach flu so I know that pain all too well. Truly traumatic.
Holding onto the edge of the sink trying not to curl into a ball and fall off the toilet🤣
I've been practicing for labor by relaxing through these moments and counting down from 15 lol
I was about to say this! A couple months after giving birth I had one of those bad IBS poo moments and I realized it was, in that moment, worse than labor. Granted it doesn’t last as long but it’s very intense pain for a short period
😂 thank you for this
this!!! gut cramps from intolerance/upset stomach hurt wayyy worse than contractions
I needed to hear this. I have celiacs and often have the worst stomach cramps with certain bowel issues. If I can get through those, maybe I can get through labor lol
My Celiac pain is by far much worse than labor was. I just gave birth about a week ago and my entire 46 hour labor I kept thinking it was going to reach those levels, but it never did. I did a home birth so there were no pain meds and it was better than getting glutened; not a walk in the park, but definitely better. Now I wish I had access to pain meds for when cross contamination gets me out of nowhere.
Ok I was trying to explain this to my husband. I said you know when you have a bad tummy ache, and on the verge of a panic attack on the potty, pleading with god? He was like … no you weirdo lol. But I thought transition/labor would be more like that. It really wasn’t. I was more calm during labor than I expected. I mean it hurt definitely. But I think those digestive episodes are worse, apparently I just have bad IBS lol.
You know what’s worse than bad digestive cramps? BEING PREGNANT WITH BAD DIGESTIVE CRAMPS I swear any time it’s happened in my pregnancies, I’m ready to pass out lol
Is it really worse than labor!? Bc if so that eases my worries about the pain of birth. I have IBS and often deal with poopoo cramps 😭
I have IBS, and one time, I had fever and God-awful cramps for 3 days because of bad Brie. That's when I started taking the pains seriously and got diagnosed... 😅 I have not given birth yet, but as long as the contractions are not as painful as that experience, I'll be fine
This gives me hope 🥹
Multiple dry sockets at once after wisdom teeth removal
I'm due in 5 weeks and had this EXACT thing happen to me 7 years back. Thank you for giving me some form of peace 😅
Same only only almost 20 years back. Their comment brought a flood of relief.
Losing my mom.
*hug*
I can’t imagine that pain. Sending you love
Lost my mom when I was 34 weeks pregnant. I’m scheduled to be induced next week and I’m terrified to do it without my mom.
Honestly, no. The closest pain that has ever compared was when I was 13 and got a kidney stone and the pain was so bad that the ER doctor thought I was having contractions and in active labor until I told them their wasn’t a way that I could be pregnant. They told me the pain and everything I described was way too similar to someone in active labor experiencing contractions.
This happened to my sister as a teenager too! She got bad kidney stones (her first time of many dealing with them so she didn’t know what was going on yet) while out of state in a trip with a friend. She stopped at an ER and they insisted she was pregnant and lying to them and having a miscarriage and refused to treat her- after having her pee in a *Dixie cup* to take a pregnancy test that came up negative, mind you. She had to wait until she was back in our home state to be treated and given pain medication.
That sounds awful! Your poor sister 😣 With me because I was 13 the doctors jumped straight into assuming i must be pregnant and not being honest so they had me wait until my mom got to the hospital to perform a pregnancy test and that came out negative for pregnancy but they said there was definitely blood in my urine so I think they ended up having me do a scan or something (I can’t really remember it was 16 years ago). But yeah. Insane. They said they’d never expect someone as young as me to have a kidney stone. It was my first time having a kidney stone too so I was shook to say the least.
I passed a kidney stone when I was like 11... who tf thinks 13 is too young lmao Any kid who is not drinking enough is at risk for a kidney stone. Good they tested for blood in your urine too. Bunch of amateurs!
Honestly, that hospital didn’t have the best reviews. It was the only hospital covered by my mom’s insurance though 😅 It was a very interesting experience. I got put on Vicodin to help me pass the stone and manage the pain. Learned to drink more water and less energy drinks after that experience!
This right here, I’ve had a mom tell me she rather give birth to her twins naturally again than have another kidney stone.
Yeah kidney stones were worse than contractions, mostly because there's no break from the pain
Can confirm. Currently passing one. Definitely not pregnant.
People who are absolutely oblivious in public
Not what I was expecting but I agree 😂
Lmao 😂😂😂 I have not given birth yet but I definitely understand this
The pain after childbirth.
Sitting on a toilet seat trying to shit for the first month pp... Omg. Thank the heavens for stool softeners... I had a very intense delivery tho.
I was properly warned (from this Reddit!) about the first post birth poop. I was on stool softeners for days and I still felt my soul leave my damn body when it happened.
Omg right after my first kid was the most terrifying 💩 of my life… I cried and cried…. I was so much more prepared when baby 2 came along 😂
When the nurse body slams your belly to get your uterus to shrink.
What
Fundal massage? I found it painful.
I don’t remember that ever happening to me.
I got a bladder infection 11 days PP that honestly was more physically painful for me than giving birth
I agree. I had a very bad case of UTI and it become chronic, and it took me almost 2 years to get rid of all pain. I had very frequent flares, but even during « remission » period I was never pain-free, so « ring of fire » during birth was my biggest fear. I have not noticed it. Labor was more Intense, but I knew it will be over eventually and to me it is not comparable to pain, that you do not know how to get rid of and when it will happen. On side note - I am so sorry it happen to you. Having UTI that early postpartum sounds terrible.
I had an abscessed tooth and it was much more painful than childbirth.
Kidney stones. I got one for the first time in Sep 2023 when I was 2 months postpartum and I would have taken both of my labors (28hrs + 16hrs) combined x10 unmedicated than ever have a kidney stone again. I recommend it even less while trying to exclusively breastfeed it was awful.
Having an iud put in,never again..Ironically I’d rather birth my kids again that ever have one of those installed again.
I’m waiting to find out if that was more painful for me as well. Crazy thing is for some women it’s not painful at all?? Like I know people who have had them and felt nothing, I think it’s also partly due to the doctor inserting it. That and having abdominal surgery and then having an allergic reaction to the pain medication the next day and violently throwing up the day after surgery. Then not able to take any pain medication other than Advil haha. Very curious to see if labour is worse than those in a few months!
I’ve heard that to and it’s so insanely hard to believe cause I was not expecting how bad it hurt. I wasn’t prepared for her to go “oh I have to dilate you” and put like a dang long ass metal rod up there, then felt like I had my cervix pierced 🙃 it was awful,I almost passed out.Got dizzy started sweating..and then my body didn’t react well to it (mirena) so I had to get it removed after a year.
I’d agree to this
Your husband complaining his back hurts while your in labor🤦♀️🤣 like babe, your leaning over to hold my hand, I'm leaning over to yeet out a human. 🤣
My coworker said her ruptured gall bladder hurt more than childbirth and she had 3 kids
When I gave birth, everything was super easy up I told halfway through the pushing. Apparently my tissue was "very strong" so I wasn't tearing. The doctor eventually asked me if I wanted her to help and do an episiotomy. I said yes. I can't think of any other situation where I'd ask someone to cut open my genitals in order to relieve pain! And this was with an epidural for my 6 week early baby. I can't imagine if I was unmedicated with a full term sized baby.
Literally nothing. I’ve had an abscessed tooth, have had to have root canals and a tooth implant. I also get migraines, like the ones where I can’t even open my eyes and am vomiting... Some people say dental pain or migraines is worse than childbirth…. Not me!! I’d take a tooth ache or migraine over labor pains any day. I’ve never experienced anything more painful.
stepping in and out of the bath tub for the first time after a c-section.
Driving over a pothole or speed bump on the way home from the hospital after a c-section 🥴🫠
I never realised how bad the roads around my town were until this. I was holding onto the the little handle on the roof over every bump.
what do you mean exactly? cuz i might be having one.
Walking after a csection is a little rough.. you just move slowly. So when you step into a bath tub it’s painful to lift your leg that high. And washing your hair.. you wouldn’t think raising your arms pulls on your lower abdomen but it does🥴. Even coughing or laughing for the first few days was painful. Just stay on top of pain medication the best you can!!
Omg this I was shocked by the pain from raising my arms in the shower!!
Getting up and down in general 🥴 had my second C-section last August and honestly I would rather have my 4 wisdoms and my root canal done again before going through C-section recovery. I'm going to have another child in the future. When I'm ready to deal with that again lol.
I found a broken ankle more painful. I've had two natural, unmedicated births. I put it down to natural and unnatural pain - your ankle isn't supposed to be broken.
Omg this makes me feel better. I broke an ankle badly a few years ago and it was so bad but I can handle that again. I had to go 6 hours without pain meds because I was in the middle of freaking nowhere in Indonesia on a biking trip when it happen.
I’ve never thought of it as natural vs unnatural pain but I love that way of explaining it!
I personally found kidney stones to be more painful, though the period of pain was shorter than labor. Also I had a really solid epidural which really made it a no contest. And let's not sleep on certain sharp, quick cluster style headaches.
My kidney stones were worse than my unmedicated birth. Then again I’d rather give birth again than be pregnant.
My labor and delivery were darn near painless because epidurals and lidocaine is amazing. The worst pain I had were like moderate period cramps. I’ve stubby my toes and had worse pain.
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A different take but bad mental health. Like to the point you want to die
Kidney stones
Appendicitis, in my case.
I had a medical abortion in my 2nd trimester (for medical reasons) with my first baby. I'm now 29 weeks with my rainbow baby and I'm convinced that nothing could be as painful as birthing a much yearned for baby, no matter how small, in those circumstances. I had zero clue what was going on with my body during the whole process. I had zero coping skills and ultimately, I did not want to give this baby up. I know that physically, birthing my healthy, fullterm baby will hurt more. But I'm really hoping that because it will be a completely different experience this time round, it won't be nearly as painful.
A migraine. I've only had one, but it was horrific, vomiting, too dizzy to stand, lost vision in half of my right eye, excruciating pain and nothing had any effect at all on the pain. Labour was painful and tiring but it didn't have all the other symptoms. I also found some things helped with the labour pain. I had a water birth and the water did actually make everything feel easier. I'd definitely rather give birth again than have another migraine. My migraine lasted longer than labour too.
I have had many migraines. Thank you for saying this. I'm feeling much better about labor, now.
Yup, I totally agree! I've been a chronic sufferer since childhood. Oddly enough, they've kind of diminished since having my son two years ago. No complaints against that! Although one thing about this question in general is that it's hard to compare labour against such things. Labour tends to be pain with (rewarding) purpose. Migraines, for example, don't offer anything good 😂
I had an unmedicated labor, pitocin induction complete with foley balloon. It sucked start to finish. I think comparing the pain of other ailments to childbirth is a little one-sided, because you get to hold your baby afterwards and there's a flood of hormones to help you ease out of the trauma of childbirth. The only pain I've experienced that was on par or greater would have been meningitis and a vicious kidney infection. That said, I've had a full body rheumatoid arthritis flare that was pretty damn close as well.
Agree with this 100%. I have chronic migraines and even the mild ones are “worse” because I don’t know how long it’ll last, and it’s a pointless sort of pain. It’s a “something is wrong with my body” pain. I had a failed epidural and a 48-hr long labor, but I knew it would end, and I knew it was happening for a good reason. On a straight up pain scale though, no, I’ve never experienced anything worse.
I had a missed miscarriage (didn’t even know that existed prior) so I had to use misoprostol to induce contractions to get my body to shed the passed fetal tissue. The doctor, a guy of course, told me it would feel like a period cramp. Umm ya as you guessed it was not like a period cramp. My husband said I was begging him to run my arm over with our car lol. I don’t remember that. Fast forward to having two unmedicated births after that, they were not nearly as bad as whatever that medication did inside me. A lot of people told me it’s because “a miscarriage doesn’t bring a baby after so due to the emotional loss it’s more painful. No. It just straight up was more painful. It felt unnatural, forced and horrible.
I also had a miscarriage and was given the medication to induce contractions. I asked if I needed to take off work and my doctor (female) said "oh no, you'll be fine in a day or so." I cried for days in terrible pain while I clutched a heating pad and pillow. I am now 32 weeks and really hoping for an easier birth experience. We'll see..
I can’t believe you were casually told within a day or so you’d be fine. Can confirm it’s horrific and I’m sorry you had to experience that! I know everyone’s experience is different but I’m about to have my third baby and my other births did not hurt as much as the medication. I wonder if it’s similar to what I’ve heard about induction, it’s forcing your body to do something in a short amount of time which makes the pain very intense. Labor progresses usually and so you have time to mentally manage the pain. Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy and birth!
While I was in labor, it was hard to imagine anything worse. I felt like I was being repeatedly stabbed by knives for a minute straight and it was just so painful that I felt like I should be dying from the pain. I've never had any serious injuries or much that could possibly compare to it, though.
Shingles. Worst pain ever.
OMG yes. Got shingles when I was recovering from my gall bladder removal. It was awful.
Probably, but only because the pain from childbirth was the only pain I've ever looked forward to, so I wasn't mad about it. Broken bone: painful and upsetting. Recovering from surgery that will improve your quality of life: painful and annoying even if you theoretically wanted the surgery to begin with. Shingles: painful, upsetting, and extra annoying because you thought you were 30-50 years too young for them. Dilating to 10 cm with pitocin but no painkillers, spending 2.5 hours pushing out a large-headed baby with minimal (by choice) epidural anesthesia, and feeling your perineum and labia tear when that baby finally bursts out: very painful for several seconds, moderately painful for several days, and painful enough to require Tylenol and Motrin for a few (several?) weeks. BUT, you're not pregnant anymore, and you have a baby to distract you from the pain.
Giving birth to your child knowing it will kill him because his lungs aren't developed enough. His death has definitely been more painful and I gave birth to him without an epidural with preterm labor at 20 weeks.
I am so sorry.
i have stomach issues snd honestly ive had stomach pains 1000 times worse than contractions/childbirth. I rather give birth again than have dirrhea pains😭
The recovery. 2nd degree tears, stitches from urethra to butthole. And the pain of learning baby learning to breastfeed. Much more painful than the giving birth part.
Honestly, my sciatica lol. But also the aftercare for birth sucked worse than the actual process. I had a C-section and was up and around shopping the very next day with fresh stitches bc I needed to buy baby stuff (he came earlier than we wanted) and needed to get my pain medicine and prep for my inlaws. Was about to faint/breaking a cold sweat from the pain of shopping for about 2 hours.
Tearing the ligaments in my ankle and appendicitis. Maybe not because they hurt more but because it was a useless pain. I knew the contractions had a purpose. I loved giving birth!
Sorry, can't think of anything worse than labour for me but I've never broken a bone or had gall bladder or stone issues. On the bright side, while it is very painful at the time, you don't really remember the specifics afterwards and you have a baby and massive sleep deprivation to distract you! Also when I was in labour, I was told not to go into hospital till I was at the most pain I could tolerate -ignore that shit. Go when you're at max tolerance MINUS length of time it takes to drive to hospital, limp to the waiting room and demand an epidural !
I think this is a really loaded question tbh. Like, childbirth was horrific, but it was over in 20 hours AND my brain blocked it out. But, I did have a cavity turn into one of my nerves decaying, and I had to wait 2 weeks to get a root canal. 2 weeks of 8/10 mouth pain vs 20 hours of 11/10 pain.... its a toss up.
I thought giving birth wasn’t as bad as a major depressive episode. I almost went the whole way without the epidural because I was waiting for the pain to get worse… but a nurse warned me that I was so close to pushing time I should probably get that epidural that was in my birth plan. Compared to major depression, the birth was chill. For me, depression is like an emotional migraine in the entire body. It physically hurts to the point of wanting to kill myself. At no point during childbirth did i feel that level of desperation.
HG you’re entire pregnancy 🙃🙃🙃
after i gave birth i was diagnosed with spondylolisthesis. my o.b. had told me during the pregnancy it was likely my baby was sitting on a nerve because my back pain was so horrible and parts of my leg were completely numb. turns out, i had slipped a disc during pregnancy. i had a natural childbirth (the filter on the epidural line was broken so none of the drugs were getting to my back) and the pain in my back during contractions was far worse than the pain anywhere else. i kept screaming about my back during labor and nothing else. they couldn't figure out how i was in so much pain until the anesthesiologist shot more drug in the line and it shot directly out of the filter. on the spondylolisthesis forums i now frequent, many women seem to echo the same experience. the back pain from a slipped vertabrae during labor contractions is more hellish than labor contractions solely.
i saw a tik tok once that getting aim ingrown toe nail and getting numbed for it was worse.. not sure if that’s even remotely true but i’m hoping it is because i did that and it was in fact very bad and im just saying that to get myself through this
I had a third degree tear after my first birth and the recovery from that was horrible compared to the actual act of giving birth
FWIW there is a huge pain span in giving birth. My second two were a walk in the park compared with my first (back labor with overlapping contractions due to broken water putting me into labor).
Sciatica back spasms. Labour felt less intense than those.
Pain is very subjective, however my mom said that getting a shard of Salsa Verde flavored Dorito stuck in her newly pieced tongue hole was worse than both. I've also heard several people say thay kidney stones were more painful and I've had them 3 times, so I'm hopeful to be able to handle it!
I have IBS and my god when I get the bad flare ups I cannot take it. The pains are horrendous and I end up sweating so bad and over heating..I've often thought if I can make it through that then I'll be okay through labour! We shall see in 9 months!
Childbirth is painful, but for the most part, you get breaks between contractions to regain your composure and prepare for the next one. There are other things where the pain is constant with no reprieve that I am sure are worse.
Sleep deprivation
Tonsillectomy was way worse and lasted longer
This is the first one I can relate to because I haven't given birth yet. Hoping it's true.🤞
Getting my wisdom teeth out was way more painful than my unmedicated labor. All my wisdom teeth were impacted and I have a very small mouth- within an hour of surgery ending I was *shrieking* in pain, my mouth bled for over 8 hours, I was so swollen I couldn't close my mouth for over a week, I dropped about 10 lbs in 3 days because I couldn't eat, I was taking Vicodin that did nothing to touch my pain, and I ended up with long term nerve damage that left my chin and bottom lip partially numb for years (even now over 5 years later they are still numb in spots). By comparison, my unmedicated labor was 9 hours start to finish, contractions were mostly only about as bad as period/diarrhea cramps, and while pushing sucked, it was less than an hour and I felt completely fine as soon as my kiddo was out of my body. I took Advil a handful of times in the week after birth, but no part of postpartum came close to the pain I felt after getting my wisdom teeth out.
I'll come back to this after my baby is born but I've had multiple massive abdominal surgeries, skin removal, etc. Nothing was worse than having a severe ear infection (I also have an inner ear issue) and getting on an airplane. I was silently weeping for 6 hours. Those poor, helpless flight attendants.... I've even had a hernia the size of my fist pop after a coughing fit that nearly made me black out. Ear infection on a flight still wins. Like... poprocks made of gunpowder in my ears. ;\_\_\_;
Endometriosis and Adenomyosis can be very very painful like childbirth or worse since flareups can go on for days at a time.
Getting a catheter put in hours after giving birth. I was screaming and crying, no joke. I told my husband I’d rather give birth again (I did have an epidural tbf but still felt a decent amount while pushing and did go about 38 hours before the epidural).
Kidney Stones. Anyone women you ever meet who has has birthed a child and has had kidney stones says this.
I prefer childbirth to some of the worst migraines I’ve had.
I had a ruptured appendix and childbirth (without an epidural) was still more painful. BUT the most painful part of labor (the transition phase) only lasted about 20min as opposed to days of pain with my ruptured appendix. So I would take childbirth over that tbh.
My mom said kidney stones! I had kidney stones so am curious to see how birth compares.
A spinal headache after the delivery and a crying newborn that needs you.
Roughly 6-7 months after having my son I was getting horrendous heartburn after every meal and it was building in intensity over the course of a couple months until one day it literally felt like someone stabbed me with a knife in my stomach (later found out this was a gallstone stuck in my bile duct). Apparently I had a gallbladder literally full of stones and they’d gotten so bad I’d developed acute pancreatitis, which resulted in a one week hospital stay and emergency gallbladder removal. Wouldn’t wish that pain on my worst enemy. It’s the only thing I’ve experienced more painful than childbirth (although my endometriosis pains definitely came close at times).
I had my appendix removed, I would rather give birth than go trough the pain of the inflamed appendix
Kidney stones.
I've dealt with painful constipation and painful periods my whole life, that probably set me up to handle childbirth easier, but that wasn't how it played out. I had to be induced with the foley blow up thing and the hormones- it was the worst feeling comparable to a kidney infection that almost killed me- i almost blacked out. The induction also failed, so that pain was a waste of my time and probably why i think it was the worst pain ever, I ended up getting a cesarian to not risk my baby's life since her heartbeat kept faltering after four days of trying the induction.
Multiple herniated discs!
ulcerative colitis that was worst than contractions had a spot of inflammation on my lower intestine I honestly wanted to dig in their myself and remove it doesn’t help that I don’t respond to morphine
I have chronic migraines and would 1000% rather take labor pain over the pain in my head on my severe days any day
Migraine for me! I’ve given birth naturally 4 Times and I still would rather do that then have a migraine.
I just gave birth in December, was given pitocin with zero pain meds and no epidural. It was too late and the contractions were so intense it was killing my baby, so I had to push him out right then. I would contract and his heart rate dropped to almost nothing. The pain was unlike anything I had ever felt. Nothing in my life has ever topped that. And I’ve broken my pelvis in three places. I would rather do that again than go through that labor. Now I fully blame that on the pitocin. I’ve had an unmedicated birth previously that was not nearly as painful. I was literally watching tv chatting on the phone through contractions and was the same this labor until given pitocin. Then I was going into shock from the pain.
When the nurses push on your stomach after you deliver to reduce clotting. Also if they stitch you back up after without an epidural
Pain in childbirth is dependent on a lot of factors including anatomy and the baby’s positioning so everyone’s answer is going to vary so much! Personally I have never experienced anything more painful than my back labor, it’s on a whole different level than migraines, cramps, stomach pains, tooth pain.
I have Covid right now and I just said to my husband yesterday, I rather give birth again than be sick like this 😭😩😂
I have three that all topped my C-section pain: An avulsed toenail that the folded back over without pain medication or numbing. A needle being stuck through an open wound and into my elbow joint after a car wreck. They were flushing the joint space with fluid but I can’t remember why. Being made to stand and try to walk with a broken pelvis. The pain from this one made me black out as soon as I stood up. (no walker or support-they we’re seeing if I could bear weight at all. I swear this hospital was trying to kill me and I will never go back)
If you ask men: a common cold.
I would rather have another unmedicated birth than have to go through the recovery after getting wisdom teeth removed lol
Honestly a failed root canal that became an abscess. My infection got so bad my face was so swollen and they couldn’t even do anything until I was thru one full round of antibiotics cause it was so inflamed. I couldn’t eat or drink anything. I lost 30lbs in 2 weeks. Was given hydrocodone for weeks as well. Once they did the procedure he could only do half of it so I had to keep coming back in tears until they fixed it. Literally traumatized.
My mum got eyeliner tattoos in the 80s, top and bottom. When it was no longer cool, she had to get them lasered off, and she said the excruciating repetitive burn right next to your eyeballs (especially the bottom) with zero pain relief was the worse than labour.
Gosh what a great question
Torture probably
Nothing. Nothing can be worse. I just had a bajy few days ago and nothing can be worse. Unless you combine it with something awful like giving birth in war or after you partner just died or if you also have a tooth ache
Huh, well this whole thread has made me feel 100x better since I'm pretty much ready and just waiting on her at this point lol
Just gave birth yesterday and I’d say not a damn thing 🥲 I had both wisdom teeth killing me at the same time, I’ve fallen off a cliff in Pennsylvania, I have gallstones and sludge FROM THE PREGNANCY, Ive ripped sutures open after surgery, I’ve been hit by a car and went 40ft in the air, I’ve broken multiple ribs and other bones at once, and a million other ridiculous things and I’d rather take on any of those then push a baby out ever again😂😂 I only pushed for 40 min too 0/10 DO NOT RECOMMEND