Just to be fair, women that go through C-sections still deal with stretching and pain. It's actually a longer process of healing post-birth.
http://www.acegraphics.com.au/articles/painlabour.htmlThat talks about where the pain comes from. Talks about the effects of oxytocin, adrenaline, etc.
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Where does the pain come from?
The basic source of the pain in labour is the action taking place in the cervix. The uterus is supplied with sensory nerves that can only register stretching and tearing. Tearing means a uterine rupture --- a very rare yet life threatening event for which a clear signal is necessary. Stretching of the cervix is the primary action during labour and indicates that labour is underway. The varying degree of stretch, and the resultant varying degree of pain provides a feedback mechanism to the woman so she knows how far the labour has advanced.
Since the uterus is surrounded by other structures within the abdomen, there may be sensory nerve messages, sometimes painful, from other sources, such as pressure on a full bladder or nerve compression due to the position of the baby's head. These sources of pain have a different quality and are usually present between the contractions, a clear indicator that something is amiss, and needs attention.
It really varies from woman to woman on that one. NO one labor and experience will be the same, which is pretty amazing to me. Personally, it was the contractions that were the worst. I did get an epidural, but due to the fast progression of my labor, it didn't kick in till after I had my son.
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