In the past, when medical technology was not yet developed, there was such a saying: when a woman gives birth to a child, it is like a ghost door closing.
Even now, a casual search on the Internet reveals a wide variety of articles and content about women's fear of childbearing. Especially when the word "vaginal birth" is mentioned, the first thing that comes to mind is pain, and it is severe and unbearable pain. Clinically, many women are afraid of pain and worried about the risk of vaginal delivery, and finally choose caesarean section.
The so-called vaginal delivery actually refers to the way the fetus is naturally delivered from the vagina. In the absence of exceptional circumstances, doctors will advocate that pregnant women choose the way to give birth naturally.
WHO has also recommended for childbirth that caesarean section should not exceed 15% clinically, with 5-10% being the best, after all, vaginal delivery is an instinctive condition that humans have and should not be over-intervened.
So the question is, what process do women go through during normal childbirth? And what kind of pain will it be?
1. Internal inspection first
Internal examination is one of the routine examination methods of gynecology, and it is also a must for women's prenatal examination. The doctor will put his finger into the woman's vagina for examination, which is used to observe the size of the cervix and the degree of opening of the uterine opening.
Through internal examination, doctors can better understand the situation of the pregnant woman, infer the morning and evening of the birth time, the baby's head and tail position in the womb, etc. If an accident occurs during the period, the doctor can also find it in time through the internal examination, so the internal examination must be carried out.
In most cases, during the internal vaginal examination, the woman does not have obvious pain, but only exposes the private part, which may be slightly embarrassing;
2. Begin contractions
Contractions are actually the contractile force of the uterus, the uterus will be regularly contracted, it is the main force of the production process, but also an important feature of labor. Usually, at first the contractions are irregular and weak in intensity, and then gradually become regular, more intense, longer in duration, and the interval is gradually shortened.
In clinical view, the appearance of contractions accompanied by pain is a precursor to imminent childbirth, when the contractions come like a wave, and the pain begins to spread to the lower abdomen, it means that the baby is ready for birth;
3. The uterine entrance is fully open
Uterine opening in clinical technical terms is "cervical orifice dilation". The reason why there is cervical dilation is because the uterus begins to contract regularly when the mother is about to give birth, which pulls the muscles and fibers of the inner cervical opening, causing the inner cervical opening to expand upwards and outwards, and the cervical canal gradually becomes shorter until it disappears.
With the continuous progress of the labor process, the external cervical opening can be expanded to about 10 cm, allowing the full-term fetal head to pass, and the process is to open the uterine opening. When the uterine opening is fully open, it means that production begins;
4. Side cutting
If in the process of childbirth, it is found that the baby's head is particularly large, the head pelvis is asymmetrical, or it needs forceps to assist in childbirth, the fetus cannot be born in the womb, or the mother has a disease that needs to shorten the second stage of labor, in order to ensure the safety of the mother and the fetus and avoid perineal tearing, the doctor will perform episiotomy surgery on the mother to ensure that the fetus can be born smoothly.
From the above content, it is not difficult to see that the entire vaginal delivery process of women is indeed very painful, and they have to bear the pain of contractions, fully open fingers, and even lateral cutting, in order to make the baby born smoothly.
However, fortunately, painless delivery has been clinically introduced, which can alleviate the pain of women during normal delivery and make the baby's birth more smooth. If the local hospital introduces a painless delivery, in the case of conditions, women can choose this mode of delivery.