Emotions for the partner or support person
The emotions that a woman feels, and her reactions to the pain she is experiencing, are very individual and uniquely her own. How she expresses her pain, and how others interpret her reactions to the pain, can mean very different things for the woman, her partner, support people and her caregiver(s).
Women from all walks of life can respond to labour by staying quiet or by groaning, moaning, rocking, yelling and losing control. These are all normal responses. An individual woman's responses lie within her mind and body, being generated from her innate, inherited knowledge of how to give birth to her children.
Women in labour are in a place in their lives that they have never been before. Even subsequent labours can be very different and can surprise the woman with feeling more, or less, intense than previous labours. Labour is painful for most women and with the labour experience comes vulnerability, anxiety, stress, and inner strength. The woman may draw on resources that she has never called upon before.
Most women will normally display varying levels of distress in labour. These responses are expected reactions to the process her body is going through. What the majority of people don't realise is that a woman will often show these signs, but actually feel like she is coping with her labour.
Emotions for the partner or support person
People supporting a labouring woman can feel and express their own vulnerability towards her pain. This can cause internal feelings of discomfort and directly impact on her reactions to her labour pain. The woman's partner (or support person) may become anxious and distressed as a result of witnessing a person they love and care for in pain. They may instinctively wish to 'protect and rescue' her, because they feel she is suffering.