giving birth is one of the most painful things that can happen to a person, and i understand that brains/bodies can go in to shock during a traumatic event but still!! i’ve broken my elbow before and i have not forgotten that pain and wouldn’t do what i did to break it again, pls explain
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There is no “forget” chemical that causes amnesia.
Humans want to avoid pain but also have a compulsion to reproduce (a species that didn’t probably would not survive long).
Also, sex is fun. Not being glib. Really. We tend to forget the consequences when enjoying the moment (this is why people keep eating Taco Bell).
As you noticed, pain is also to let you learn what you have to avoid…. avoiding reproduction would be absolutely disastrous for a species/population 😉
So… if the body has to go through the pain he may at least take care that you don’t remember it so you don’t learn that you have to avoid this
The pain is worth what you gain, and for me, the memory of the intensity it fades. I know it hurt, I even with an epidural, and I remember how it felt, but it’s muted. As fun as sex is, if we didn’t have a way to get past that experience we wouldn’t keep having babies.
You know you don’t like pain, but you can’t remember how painful something was. If you think back to a happy memory you can still feel a chunk of that happiness. But you can’t feel your broken arm from 16 years ago that us if you fully healed properly.
Oxytocin is released while giving birth. It’s called the cuddle hormone. It’s also responsible for all those nice feelings while falling in love, having sex etc.
I don’t think you forget the pain of giving birth but you’re kind of rewarded by having your system flooded with feel-good hormones.
Nope. It’s just like any other pain, you remember it well close to the pain event and then, while you may remember you were in a lot of pain, you don’t have that “oh my gosh I’m never doing that again” feeling.
It doesn’t have to be *that* painful. Birth is driven by the hormone oxytocin, the love hormone. That doesn’t cause pain. The muscle contractions are exhausting, like a long run would be exhausting but shouldn’t be painful. However, lots of people also experience a degree of fear in childbirth, that causes adrenaline to be released and redirects the blood away from the womb to other parts of the body, causing the uterus to cramp because it’s de-oxygenated. Adrenaline also inhibits the production of oxytocin which can slow labour. Relaxation techniques and being informed can massively reduce fear, encourage oxytocin, and encourage a fairly painless labour experience. Exhausting, but not painful. This is the premiss of hypnobirthing which is riding in popularity.
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