Menstruation is a totally unfair period:for some women, it does not change anything since these women feel almost no pain, while for others, it is a few extremely painful days (which can be quite disabling). And generally, you have to “deal with it”. According to Dr. Dasha Fielder, an Australian general practitioner, this pain is actually a reflection of the level of pain that can be expected during childbirth. “The onset of labor is very similar to menstruation,” she explains. “Except that with menstruation the pain remains the same, while as the birth progresses the pain increases until the baby is born. »
The reason for this parallel? Periods and contractions come from the same organ:the cervix. Period pain comes from the contraction of the uterus to eliminate the superficial layer of the endometrium (the cervix can even open about a centimeter to promote its elimination!). These continuous contractions are sometimes soft, which explains why some women do not feel them, while for others, they are very violent (it is a question of nerve endings present at the level of the cervix). Thus, Dr. Fielder explains that some women do not necessarily realize that the labor of childbirth has started and present themselves to the hospital with the cervix already dilated by several centimeters. However, she specifies that from a certain level of dilation (7 centimeters), the pain becomes significant, even if you do not have painful periods.
Moms, do you confirm?
