The experience of pain is different for everyone. If you were to ask many women (who had had similar labour lengths and types of births), to describe their labour pain, each would invariably describe how it felt and how intense it was, in a different way. As the woman, so too will your pain be perceived, and so too will your opinion of the experience differ. Your birth story will be your own.
Some women feel that their labour was very painful, but still have positive feelings about the experience. Others feel that their labour was tolerable, but still reflect upon it with negative thoughts.
As the pregnant woman listens to friends, family (or even strangers) share their birth stories, she can often be left wondering:
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"What if that happens to me?" OR |
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"How would I cope if my labour was the same?" OR |
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"I hope my labour is (or is not) like that!" |
Listening to the many and varied birth stories throughout the pregnancy can be a useful learning tool. However it is another thing entirely to successfully separate unrealistic expectations or 'coloured' experiences that the storyteller imparts, from any emotional fears or concerns that may come up for you while listening to these stories.
One advantage of story telling is that it can be used to gather ideas and explore different support tools that you think might be useful to you during the labour and birth. More importantly though, try to resist the urge to make
THEIR concerns, your concerns!
For all the birth stories that the woman feels good and positive about, ask them:
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"What worked for you at different times during the labour" or |
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"What do you think made a difference for you?" |