As is well known, Adam didn’t feel pain, when Eve was born of his rib. God dipped the first man into salutary sleep - this was the first delivery anesthetization. And women were bequeathed “to give birth in the throes”, what they have been doing till now

As is well known, Adam didn’t feel pain, when Eve was born of his rib. God dipped the first man into salutary sleep - this was the first delivery anesthetization. And women were bequeathed “to give birth in the throes”, what they have been doing till now. Indeed, there’s an opinion that deliveries proceeded less painfully in a primitive society. This was connected rather not with good physical condition of women in childbirth, but with smaller size of baby’s cranium. However, Homo sapiens brain doesn’t change its size, and the smallest circumference of fetus’s head is 32 cm at the minimum. So, giving birth easy and painfully today, without resorting doctor’s help - is somewhere in the area of dreaming, alas.
There’s an opinion that pain while giving birth - is a physiologically normal thing, and there’s no sense to fight with it. But some women in childbirth suffer so cruelly, that violation of heart activity and breathing may appear. Moreover, long painful overstrain leads to early tiredness, violation of uterine tractions, hypoxia of fetus. Nobody needs talks like “everybody suffered pain, and you should suffer it”, groans and screams in labour wards. A modern level of midwifery allows woman to plan delivery without poignant pain.
Pain while giving birth appears because of stretching of cervix of the uterus, vagina, perineum and squeeze of soft tissues with a fetus head. But pain’s nature isn’t restricted to mechanical pressure of head. Sensation of pain appears only in our mind. So, a lot depends on woman’s psychological readiness to delivery, her understanding of situation.
Even temperament is of importance. For example, inhabitants of northlands try to bear pain frostily, while southerners relieve pain by screaming and don’t restrict themselves in display of emotions.
Self-training
Delivery pain is redoubled by ignorance, which is naturally. So, if you don’t want to suffer from strong pain while delivery, learn about the most important event of your life as much as possible, be ready to the trial both physically and morally. Don’t come to maternity hospital with terror in your eyes and complete incomprehension of the situation.
You can receive appropriate knowledge and skills from different literature, physio-psycho prophylaxis lessons in maternity welfare centers and on training courses for pregnant women. There you can receive both theoretical and practical information: learn system of breathing gymnastics, various methods of pain relief, auto-training. Women, psychologically ready to delivery, give birth incomparably better.

Delivery in water
Delivery in water is well-known. A warm bath relaxes you, draws you away, affects delivery activity well and even improves fetus circulation of the blood. Staying in a warm bath can significantly relieve woman’s condition on the fist stage of delivery, when opening of cervix of the uterus takes place. Giving birth itself, naturally, should take place “overland”.

Acupuncture
In some clinics they use acupuncture or acupressure (without needles). Acupuncture in appropriate points relieves pain during birth pangs and normalizes birth activity. The mechanism of the phenomenon is still not clear enough, but it cleared up that that the procedure itself is a good counter-attraction for woman.
Medicaments
In response to pain, organism starts producing natural “suppressors of pain” - endorphins and encephalin. They are jumped out to the blood in big quantities and reduce pain barrier significantly and even create a state of euphoria. Often, after giving birth, women don’t feel pain because of increased quantity of these substances in their blood, even when doctors are sewing up gaps.
Drugs, such as morphine and its derivatives (Promedolum), act the same way our internal endorphins do. Promedolum is often used while too painful birth pangs, usually in combination with sedative medications.
The defect of this method is that drug anesthetics affects fetus negatively. So, 2-3 hours before fetus birth, doctors stop administration of the medicines, so that fetus would be active.
Often, because of painful long birth pangs, women spent a sleepless night. Tiredness can hamper to focus efforts on the delivery. In such cases doctors prescribe medicaments sleep. Medicaments cannot bring absolute anesthetization, they just alleviate a poignancy of sensations.

Epidural anesthetization
This is the latest modern way of birth anesthetization. The reason of such popularity is that this method can completely remove pain, while woman keeps clear consciousness. The essence of the method is in localization of anesthetization in spinal cord, to be more exact - in its membrane. Right in epidural area, there’re nerve rootlets, through which pain impulses come to spinal cord, and from there - to our mind. To stop this flow, doctors inject anesthesia in epidural area (in small of the back). (The same medications as in stomatology are used). It’s impossible to injure spinal cord, as there’re only nerve rootlets in spinal canal on a level of lumbar vertebras).
As a result of disconnexion of these rootlets, a woman stops feeling a lower part of her body. Some women, indeed, may not like that their legs grow numb during epidural anesthetization. But this lasts only for several hours, and afterwards, after excruciating, painful birth pangs, torpor of legs is quite endurable. It’s wonderful that woman is perfectly aware of the situation with all this going on, she feels comfortable, can communicate with people and stay active. Directly before baby’s birth, doctors stop epidural anesthetization, so that a woman will be able to make a proper effort. Labours proceed painfully, but last only 10-40 minutes. If after delivery it’s necessary to sew up breaks of genitals, doctors renew anesthetization.
By the way, they can even carry out Cesarean section under epidural anesthetization, this gives a woman an opportunity to see her baby right after his birth.
Epidural anesthetization is carried out by an anaesthetist, who stays with a woman during the whole process of delivery. So, there’re 2 doctors, staying with a woman during delivery, - accoucheur and anaesthetist.