Contractions vs menstrual cramps

[melfy77]

As a teen I would get pretty bad period cramps, but when I hit my 20's it got better. So I thought (I was soooo naive) that contractions would kinda be like my periods pain as a teen, but ended up with 100% back labor. So period cramps (when I finally get AF back), are gonna be a breeze

 

[tinkerbelle93]

My labour started off feeling like a bad period pain, just in my back. By the end of it though it was nothing like a period pain, so much more painful that it's not worth making the comparison. I don't know why soo many say labours like bad period pains, maybe I've just never had really bad menstrual cramps? xx

 

[XJessicaX]

It really soooo depends on your labour! What position the baby is in and how long you labour for! My first was a back to back and HAH....menstrual cramps my arse. Bloody AGONY from go. Awful pain, hated every second. It was long and I was exhausted so the pain seemed so much worse. I compared it to having abdominal and back surgery without any anaesthetic!

2nd labour was I guess more textbook. The only non textbook thing was the speed! The cramps were indeed like menstrual cramps except I could actually feel my cervix opening, very concentrated sensation but not painful until right at the end where the pain was so intense I wasnt sure if I could survive 1 more contraction but then baby flew out.

 

[MummysMiracle]

I have always suffered from very bad period pain. Sometimes the cramps would be so intense I would get in bed with my hot water bottle, curl up in a ball and stay there for 2 days. But labour... I had a very quick, drug free labour for a total of 1 hour, lol. I thought because I was such a baby every month with my menstrual cycle I would be an absolute joke in labour and scream the hospital down, but i shocked the pants off myself and my OH!
Don't get me wrong, labour hurts but it's nothing like your period pains, you will most definitely tell the difference between the two no matter how strong your period pains are, it's a completely different sensation.

 

[amjon]

My contractions were no different than menstrual cramps.

 

[MaxNMom]

I had back labor-way more painful than menstrual cramps. I also had really bad menstrual cramps and the labor pains was nothing similar in sensation.

 

[lauren26]

So interesting that some women find it similar and some don't! Seems unique to everyone. I had severe endo that required me to take a handful of ibuprofen to get through days 1-3 of my period, so I always thought that if labor were 50 times as painful (as some women describe labor vs. cramps) that I would NEVER get through it. Based on what some of you are saying, though, maybe I have a nice preview of labor.

 

[patooti]

I have period pain requiring naproxen and heat pads etc. it is pretty bad. My labour was four days long and though the location and nature of the pain was similar the intensity was of another world entirely. I had back labour until the very end though so it was intense. I don't know like someone ripping out all my organs. Lol good think its just a distant memory two months later.

 

[nancy32]

very painful

 

[Krissys]

W my failed enducment my contractions felt like a push from the inside then it shot down to my vagina like cramps

 

[HopefulPony]

My early contractions were like bad period pains but once I got into active labour they felt more acute and stabbing. I also felt them in my back and thighs.

 

[ppgirlsteph]

For me, there is no comparison.
I get awful menstrual cramps but nothing compared to contractions, I couldn't talk or hardly breathe through them lol

 

[lozzy21]

I would sometimes get the most horrendous period pains, I would curl up into a ball, rock and cry my way through them, and that was after all the meds I could take!
Labour, on the other hand, I had no pain whatsoever.
I don't think the painful periods had any bearing on my ability to cope in labour, they are a completely different type of sensation - ie period pains hurt, contractions don't! Seriously, when I get period pains, there's just pain, nothing else, but the contractions were a sensation of tightening and tensing with no pain.

how did you get away with no pain in labour?!

I had no pain, it was uncomfortable but not painfull. The cramp in my leg i had during contractions hurt more than the contractions themself.

 

[The Alchemist]

My period cramps aren't too bad. When prelabor started, it felt like my usual period cramps. The more dilated I became, the more painful it got. I felt contractions in my lower back too, like period cramps at the back. So as the hours went, the sharp, burning, period-like cramps increased. My contractions weren't anything like pullings or pressure like some other ladies. Mine actually felt like period cramps that increased as the hours went by. Every woman experiences it differently.

 

[Blah11]

Imo theyre absolutely nothing like period pains but both my babies were posterior.

 

[2011Maybebaby]

I always had extremely painful periods where I would be almost fainting with the pain. Hot water bottles and strong painkillers were the norm. Contractions for me (induced) were completely different. The pain started down low and radiated up through me where I couldn't breathe, speak, sit or lie down. I had to stand. Am hoping next time I start labour naturally and things feel different! It just shows how everyone feels each labour so differently.

 

[CLH_X3]

My contractions felt exactly like period cramps ... Jut a lot worse then what I would get if I was on my period..
I never had any tightenings or back pain, just period pains that would come every few minutes

 

[d_b]

Mine were nothing like menstrual cramps.. I felt my contractions only in my inner thighs (weird!).

 

[amjon]

Mine were nothing like menstrual cramps.. I felt my contractions only in my inner thighs (weird!).

I did also, but that's normally where I get menstrual cramps anyway.

 

[katiefx]

When I first started my periods and for years after I had very severe period pains. So bad I'd be doubled over, vomiting, fainting and crying out with the pain. My contractions an hour before giving birth weren't as bad as that! They were intense but not to the point where I was crying etc. So it definitely helped having that experience, as I had learnt to breathe though the period pains and try and block them from my mind.