What It Really Feels Like To Give Birth

It will be something like this, says mum-of-three

- Milli Hill

When it comes to giving birth, most women’s bodies don’t conform exactly to set patterns. A labour may start slow, get fast, stall, do a bit more slow stuff, then get cracking like you’re riding the runaway horse in the Grand National. But if you’re pregnant for the first time, you’ve probably got one burning question at the forefront of your mind: ‘What will it feel like?’ To try and help give you the answers, I’ve divided labour up into 14 phases—yes, you heard me right, 14!

Trying to conceptualise one of the most mind-blowingly unique experiences of your life by dividing it into sections is a bit like trying to describe your wedding day in terms of car journeys, or measuring out your life in coffee spoons. In reality, all of these phases will probably blend and blur into each other. It will be different for you. But it will also be something like this...

The Nothing Doing Phase

In the days and hours before labour begins, you might feel the increasing intensity of this phase. You’ll be bombarded by well-meaning friends asking, ‘Anything doing?’ You might feel like the answer is, ‘Nope, nothing to see here’, but in fact, the dance of hormones is almost certainly beginning, and there may be internal changes that you cannot see or feel, like your baby moving further into position or your cervix beginning to thin. It feels boring, frustrating, exciting, heavy, cumbersome and filled with anticipation. Some women feel physically really uncomfortable, others are energised and agile. Many start to feel small urges to withdraw from day-to-day life.

The Maybe Something is Happening Phase