It is amazing to know that a fetus that started out as the size of a kidney bean is now full grown and is ready to come out in this world. However, it will take a lot of stretching and pushing to move a baby that is the size of a melon through your cervical opening.

Childbirth pain can be exhausting and stressful. The stretching of the vagina, cervix, and the surrounding tissues as the baby passes through and makes his or her way out to see the wonders of the world causes childbirth pain.

During labor, your uterus contracts in order to pull the cervical muscle up out of the way so that the baby’s head can be pushed through. The ligaments and muscles in your pelvis are filled with pressure and pain receptors in this area. As the stretching continues, this produces strong sensations, which may be interpreted as pain, especially if there is a tension and stretching in the surrounding muscles.

In order to manage childbirth pain, you need to understand how childbirth pain is being perceived by your mind. As the contractions in your cervix begin, tissues that surround the cervix stretches, and tiny receptors in the nerves are stimulated. Impulses that are faster than lightning travel along the nerves up to the spinal cord. Pain receptors are then stimulated and the surrounding muscles tenses. In the spinal cord, these impulses pass through a gate where some are able to pass the gate and can stop some impulses and allow other impulses to pass through into the brain. These impulses are perceived as pain.

Bringing a baby in this world can be physically exhausting but the fact that you become part of the miracle of life makes childbirth pain bearable.