Not trying to step on any toes here, but this is a "sore" point with me, so to speak.

Although I know that some women do not find it to be so, I would say that the vast majority of women experience true, and sometimes quite profound pain during childbirth.  Sometimes the most intense pain only lasts for a short time, sometimes it is prolonged.  How we deal with it is really the issue.  I had two unmedicated childbirths - very empowering and satisfying - but most definitely, painful.  I would never suggest to a woman that what she was going to experience during birth was simply "hard work".  I have worked very hard at many times during my life, but never have the sensations even approached what I felt during childbirth.  And when a mom tells me that she is experiencing extreme pain during breastfeeding, I believe her.
Warmly,
Sharon Knorr, BSMT, ASCP, IBCLC
Newark, NY (near Rochester on Lake Ontario)
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