Does pushing hurt? warning TMI

[Sheer Bliss]

Yup, it hurts! Well, the bulk of the pushing doesn't hurt itself but as said above it's not called the ring of fire for nothing! haha.

That being said...I had a local and episiotomy (tiny one) with my first due to me giving up and not pushing anymore and the vacume extractor thing going in was the thing that hurt the most!! I didn't notice her crowning as it was so quick and I guess the local was helping (was given the local so I didn't feel the cut). then with DS1 OMG that stung, then AMAZING relief once his head was out and it was almost over. DD2 (twin A) I breathed her out, involuntary pushing and I honestly don't remember it hurting at all. DS2 (twin B) yeah, I felt that, but that was ALOT more forced, as I started pushing him out before he was really ready and I wanted it to be OVER already.

Sorry for the novel!! Basically, yup it can hurt ALOT as bubs is crowning, but it's short lived (generally) and the relief after is wonderful!

[trishalishous]

I didnt find it that painful. I pushed for 3.5 hours and had zero pain relief in the 21 hours of established labour.
Im aiming for drug free next time too.

[ZumbaMumma]

I had a natural drug-free labour and I'm pretty sure I busted DH's ear drum screaming during the pushing stage. Yes, it was very painful. But the fact that I am still here, and back to normal, makes me confident in my opinion that anyone can do it if they really want to. Back in the day there was no option for pain relief, and you don't die from being in pain. If you want it, take the steps to prepare for it mentally and physically and don't worry about what it might feel like. The "birth high" I got from doing it naturally the way I wanted when everyone else told me I would ask for drugs was worth every single second of the labour.

[MummyHas3boys]

Pushing was awesome relief!!! It wasn't painful for me and I had 2 out of 3 totally drug free births
The only bad bit is the "ring of fire" when the bubs head is crowning but it dosnt last long, and when you feel that, you know bub is almost out

[drewid]

I was so focussed on breathing through the contractions and concentrating on what I was doing, that I didn't "feel" the ring of fire, or any of the pain while pushing. I just kind of put my head down and did it, and I was really quiet. And when the midwife said 'here comes the head', i was like, what, already, wheres the crazy pain? Felt a slithery feeling and out came baby.

I remember the most painful part of the whole process as the part BEFORE you start pushing - the contractions are intense and you feel the whole weight of the world bearing down on you. I was thrilled to jump up on the bed and start pushing!

[BigRedV]

For me, contractions hurt, pushing did not.

I had second degree tear with my first baby, had no idea until someone checked. No tears with my second.

[Babymay]

For me the contractions prior to pushing hurt lots more than the actual pushing. Like PP said - it's a relief, and it felt great to be doing something 'productive' if that makes sense! Rather than pain it was just very hard and intense work. The head crowning for me didn't really hurt, probably as my middie was great in coaching me with some panting rather than continuous pushing. I'm sure this helped keep my perineum in tact (only a first degree tear with DS2 which was amazing as I had a lot of scarring from DS1 with a tear plus an episiotomy which needed a repair but that's another story...).

[august]

With my bubs the pushing stage was painful yet awesome because its were i felt my body was in control and knew what it was doing.
I remember saying to DP in between pushing and contractions that ''the baby will be out in 2 more pushes'' and he was.

The contractions are way worse, when your pushing the baby out you know its near the end of labour.

[ElastiGirl]

Hell Yes! And then comes the Ring of Fire......

[sweetums89]

Yep it sure does, but at the time your more concentrating on pushing your baby out then the pain. The pain is so worth it. I would do my DD's birth a million times over. The emotional and physical empowerment afterwards is bliss.