Why is childbirth still such a pain?

Updated May 19 2014 - 10:28am, first published April 21 2014 - 5:06pm
A caring touch: relaxing can help relieve pain during childbirth. Photo: Douglas Baker
A caring touch: relaxing can help relieve pain during childbirth. Photo: Douglas Baker

If medicine can perform miracles like organ transplants how come having a baby in the 21st century can still hurt so much?  I wondered about this through the long hours spent beside my daughter as she endured a labour that was even harder than my own experience 30 years before.