Hormonal Effects on Pain Perception

To investigate if labor pain is affected by mother's hormone levels.

The hormonal effects of pregnancy are well documented. Although differences in pain
sensitivity between women and men are partly attributable to social conditioning and to
psychosocial factors, many laboratory studies of humans have described sex differences in
sensitivity to noxious stimuli, suggesting that biological mechanisms underlie such
differences. Some animal studies have suggested that sensitivity to pain decreases during
pregnancy because of the progressive activation of endogenous pain inhibitory systems. This
effect may be mediated by pregnancy-associated hormones, in particular progesterone.