the pelvic area, making it harder for it to open fully and the baby is born against the force of gravity. If you can move around during and between contractions, listening to and responding to your body, the pain is much more bearable. As the proud father present at all 4 of my childrens births I can confirm that Nitrous Oxide (NOX) is your best bet - not sure what the wife had but I was up the end where the NOX was and after a couple of snorts didn't feel a damn thing - mind you one time there was this little guy in a suit flying around in an upside down bowler hat not sure what that was all about intramuscular injection = terrible. I was absolutely fine and then they gave me an injection - I suddenly started getting paranoid - somebody said 'sonicaid' and I heard 'sellotape' and was terrified that they all had secret plans to sellotape the baby to the wall and sellotape the rickety NHS bed together. Screamed about them until the pethadine wore off. Wouldn't let anybody near me. Don't go near the pethadine. And be careful of the gas and air. It's like 3 gin and tonics, which is fine, so long as you don't want to make clear decisions about anything or feel in control. I found my first labour to be really painful. I was in hospital, and stressed, and the midwives kept telling me there was ages to