Giving birth is an amazing experience. However, you can not get away from the fact that it is painful. Exactly how painful it is will depend to a certain extent on the quantity & type of drugs you manage to get into your system during labour.

You should at least have a rough idea of the goodies on offer before you get to the hospital, since informed decisions are not something that are easy to make mid-contraction, especially when your birthing partner is trying to calm you with soothing words such as "You're doing really well" and you're desperately resisting the temptation to ram the Entonox cannister down his throat whilst shouting "How the hell would you know?"

Being induced is one of the things that pregnant women fear almost as much as stitches. The whole process is somewhat sterile and far from the beautiful natural labour that most crave, but it can’t be that bad can it...

It goes without saying that if you have something in you (read baby), and it’s so big that you have to spend a considerable amount of time and effort pushing it out, there is always the chance that something else might pop out too. If you're lucky, friends will warn you about this but if you don't know it can come as a humiliating shock...

Well, you didn't really think we'd be able to find a picture showing the real deal did you?

OUCH! Grit your teeth if you're going to read this page!