Pain and its effects on women during labor

¶ … Birth and Dealing with the Pain

Describe the concept of pain as it relates to the woman in labor. For someone who has never given birth, it is natural to wonder about he pain that a woman goes through during labor. Men will never have to go through it, and many men are not even willing to be by their wife's side during labor. The technical reason for the pain a woman feels is in one respect based on the uterus pushing the baby down. There is stretching the opening of the uterus (cervix) that causes hurt. And very time the uterus muscles flex, the woman in labor feels a kind of powerful cramp, that is also painful; and as the vagina and cervix stretch to open wide enough for the baby to exit, there is a burning sensation, a definite pain that can last up to a minute. For a male, it is fascinating, thinking about how babies are conceived then actually brought into the world. But on the other hand it is not fascinating for a woman; it is painful and yet joyful when birth is complete and the baby is healthy.

What does the following statement mean to me: "Cultural values and learned behaviors influence perception and response to pain as do anxiety and fear, which both tend to heighten the sense of pain."

To me that statement means that every culture has its own approach to childbirth, and hence every culture in every part of the world has its own perception of pain based on what the elders have taught and shown to the young people. When it comes to pain, there are no doubt cultures in the world that teach their children not to show anxiety towards pain, not to physically shy away from pain, and not to complain when something hurts.

We learn behaviors from our parents, our teachers, from our siblings (especially our older siblings) and from the society in which we live. We are all products of our environment. If the culture we live in gives in easily to pain and open crying is acceptable for a man, then men will cry even when they get a flu shot or stub a toe getting into the bathtub. That's how I see it.

On the subject of pain and childbirth, I would imagine that a Mexican woman in her early 40s (named Maria) who already has had five children would not worry very much about the pain as she goes into labor for her sixth child. Her life has been a hard one. She raises the children, walks half a mile to a well in rural Mexico to fetch water every day. When she leaves three days a week to serve as a domestic in a nearby motel, her oldest daughter, 11, looks after the children.

Maria makes tortillas every morning and boils the water for purification. Her hands are strong, her skin is leathery, the result of a lifetime of hard work and painful experiences. Her husband is working in the fields in California so she doesn't see him very often, but he sends her money through Western Union so she can pay the rent on their little home. He knows a baby is expected but the grape crops in California must be picked when they are ready, so he can't leave to come home and be with his wife. His back is permanently painful from bending over to harvest crops.