What It Physically Feels Like To Be Born

We can only experience what it feels like to die once in our lifetimes, and it's obviously something we're all yet to go through. However, there's a similarly monumental event at the other end of the spectrum: Being born. Childbirth can be a difficult experience for the mother, but how does it feel for the newborn baby to be squeezed by contractions and pushed through the birth canal? Surprisingly enough, it can be a fairly cozy ride, provided there aren't any issues. 

The mother will start to release the hormone oxytocin as part of going into labor. Oxytocin is associated with positive, bonding emotions. It helps the baby to remain calm during the birth process, and is actually a notable part of the chemical cocktail that makes up the newborn baby smell phenomenon. Because of this, the key sensation during a normal childbirth is a fairly understandable but not necessarily unpleasant sensation of tightness.

Fortunately, the sensory overload of exiting the womb and entering the world isn't too hard on the baby, either — visually speaking, at least. A newborn will only see a few inches away. Their eyes can only perceive the world in monochrome and aren't particularly sensitive to light, which is probably just as well considering the sudden visual barrage they'd otherwise experience. However, they have been able to hear sounds since 4.5 months into pregnancy, so entering the world may be quite an auditory experience. 

Of course, there's also a possibility that the experience of being born is genuinely uncomfortable, especially if something goes wrong. Research tells us that a newborn baby can feel pain, though they don't seem to mind the feeling of being constricted too much — after all, swaddling has been shown to be one of the ways that can lessen their discomfort during medical procedures. Still, it means that both parents and healthcare providers should take this into account while handling the baby. 

Regardless of whether you felt pain when you were born or not, you won't remember the experience. Bad memories can be edited even during adulthood, but when it comes to our early lives, our brains prefer a full-on mind wipe. Thanks to a phenomenon called childhood amnesia, we tend to forget the memories of our earliest two or three years as we grow up. As such, there's no real way for us to personally recall what it felt like being born.