at first, she'll have contraction pains, which will get more frequent & intense..
imagine that you have a stomachache, went to toilet, but nothing comes out, & stomach still hurts.. something like that..
during the delivery of the head, the vagina will feel painful, coz it;s being streeeeetched really badly..
but the delivery of the head is usually a very swift process..

of coz, the husband's hand will feel pain when kena genggam by the wife..

don't forget that their wallets will hurt for the next 20-25 years..
& sakit telinga, sakit tekak, sakit hati..

but anyway, childbirth is a very wonderful thing..

LOL, i'm XY la..
experienced from watching women in labour.. hehe..

hehe.. true enough, can't describe it from a 1st person view..
but from what the Mom's tell me.. & watching d birth process.. can kinda guess it.. not 100% accurate though..

well..
the same principle kinda applies..
your uterus is contracting to expel whatever's inside it..
sorry to hear about your 2 losses..
wishing u a safe & healthy pregnancy in d future!

OMG.. i'm not even married yet!
hehe.. have some experience of working in the labour room..
& talking to lots of parents..

hehe.. no prob.. no offense taken..
hmm..
well..contrary to what you see on TV, we actually don't encourage Moms to scream..
the actual birth process can be quite fast if the Mom knows the correct way to push..
& episiotomy can be avoided if the birth is conducted by an experienced doctor/midwife.. provided that the baby's estimated birth weight is small, & the mom's perineum (area between the vagina & anus) is not too short..

hehe.. at least the delivery shoulders are *usually* fast & with the birth canal being adequately stretched by the head..
but... i can't really say for sure.. gotta ask someone with *REAL* experience.. haha..

your shot could be Pethidine (an opiate based analgesia), used to calm the mothers down & relieve the labour pains when it's not time to deliver..

LOL, can't imagine my mum having a LYN nick of "budakjahat"..

yeah, i work at the Labour Room as a house officer, will be ending my posting over there soon..

well, the delivery of the head is solely the mother's effort.. hence the 'difficulty'..
whereas once the head is out, the midwife can then help to pull the baby out, while delivering the shoulders quite effortlessly..

contractions pains can occur any time, but to say that true labour has started, the pain has to be regular, & the cervix will gradually thin out & 'open'..
once the cervix has 'opened' to 3 or 4cm (depending on the Hosp), with adequate contractions (preferably 3-4 contractions in 10 mintes), labour will be allowed to progress for 8-12 hours..
it is expected that the cervix should be fully 'open' by then.. (correct term would be the cervical os)
after the oss is fully dilated, the mother is encouraged to bear down to deliver the baby..
usually the delivery process (the part where the Mum is asked to push) will be allowed to take up to 1 hour, but if the fetus' heart monitor shows that it is ok, then some centres may allow an additional 1 hour (provided that the Mother is healthy & not exhausted)

hehe.. the term 'labour' can be interpreted in many ways..
in medical terms.. labour actually means the period of time from when the Mom has regular contraction pains + dilatation of the cervix until delivery of the placenta..

there are 2 phases of labour:
early/latent labour: regular contraction pains, cervical dilatation <3-4 cm (3 or 4 cm depending on the health centre)
active labour: regular contraction pains + cervical dilatation >3-4 cm

labour itself can be divided into 3 stages..

stage 1: progressive dilatation of the cervix + regular contractions
this is the time when the Mom just lies down & endures contraction pains while waiting..
(maximum 8-12 hours)

stage 2: delivery of the baby once cervix is fully dilated: this is the PUSHING part..
(maximum 1-2 hours)

stage 3: delivery of the placenta
(maximum 30mins)

in any event when the time limit is exceeded, intervention may be needed, e.g.: instrumental delivery (vacuum/forceps), manual removal of the placenta, or even Caesarian Section..

LOL, not to mention messy..

anyway, nowadays we're trying to cut down on episiotomies..
have had some primids (first time Moms) delivering with an intact perineum..
of coz, conducted my a Medical Officer, baby's weight usually < 3.5kg, Mom not too short, perineum looks stretchable & not short too..

damn, no more working in maternity.. now doing Internal Medicine..

yeah, managed to get through O&G..
hmm.. depends lah, was posted to the labour room with 3-4 colleagues for a month, 7am-5pm, delivered about 2-5 babies per day.. coz my hospital has this practice of allowing midwives & nurses delivering the babies of mothers from the general ward (uncomplicated cases), whereas 2nd & 1st class mothers must be attended by a doctor..

otherwise, just on call 1-2 times per month in the labour room at night.. deliveries can range from 2-10..
total deliveries during my 4 months: 40-50? can't really recall..
yeah, quite busy, vaginal delivery rate is about 100 per week, i think..

at my particular centre, the Maternity Hospital is separate from the General Hospital.. but if in the case of Emergency Childbirth who mistakenly landed up at the Casualty Department, the doctor there would take charge..