There is a verse in Genesis that talks about pain in childbirth. The NIV version, “I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children.” And the King James version states, “Unto the woman he said, ‘I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children…’” Perhaps, like me, you believe this verse refers to the painful process as a baby travels down the birth canal and into the waiting world. But, ask any mother -- there is so much more pain to childbirth, childbearing, child raising, than only the pains of labor. I think of the pain of a c-section; the baby surgically removed from mom, often due to complicating and potentially threatening conditions for baby, mom or both. A dissecting scar to serve as a reminder of the pain. There is physical pain and emotional pain in nursing a new baby, and heartache when the baby will not nurse. Ectopic pregnancies, placental deficiencies, chromosomal defects, ultrasounds, spinal blocks, postpartum depression, diabetes each have an ache of their own.There is immense pain of birthing a tiny baby into toddlerhood, then again into a child, then a teenager, then into a tiny dorm room and one day a wedding gown. Those stab at a mother's heart. It is difficult to mother “your kids” who go home to their own families once class is finished. It’s almost tangible on their faces, the judgement and pain from our mom-guilt culture where every mom is surely not using the right sunscreen, feeding her child the most organic meals, providing the best education, the safest car seat, the birthday he always dreamed of, the most expensive smartphone. “Pain in childbearing” surely includes the gaping wound of not holding a child in one's arms while holding them inside your heart instead. There is pain in giving birth to a child another woman will mother and pain in mothering a child born of another -- complicated gut wrenching pain. But, my heart is most of all with the mothers who understand this road that I am walking, the mothers that have held the tiny lifeless body of their precious child, eulogized them, buried them and somehow continue living, loving and hoping. Surely, the immense pain of motherhood begins when that little one comes to life inside a mother’s heart and mind. The pain continues until we are reunited one day in heaven.
Many times, in the Bible the word pain means labor, toil or work. However, in relation to childbirth, the root word is typically used to address mental or psychological anguish (agony, sorrow, pain or pang.)
John Walton states, “despite the NIV’s translation, “childbearing” the Hebrew word in this first line is specifically concerned with conceptions, not with giving birth. The conclusion to be drawn from these observations is that the first half of the verse is an extended merism (two endpoints used to refer to everything in between) referring to the anxiety that the women will experience through the whole process from conception to birth. This would include the anxiety about whether she will be able to conceive child or not; the anxiety that comes with all the physical discomfort of pregnancy; the anxiety concerning the health of the child in the womb; and their anxiety about whether she and the baby will survive the birth process. The resulting paraphrase would be “I will greatly increase the anguish you will experience in the birth process, from the anxiety surrounding conception to the strenuous work of giving birth.”
The verse makes reference to increasing pain within childbearing --- meaning, pain was already part of the childbearing process before the fall -- but, with the fall of man, comes this curse, an increased pain, a heightened anxiety from before the conception of children until we are reunited one day in heaven. And I would say, us mothers, we are feeling the truth of that. This pain, this heightened agony, it serves as a reminder of the consequences of sin and that all humankind desperately needs our God to help heal the pain of this world.
For a mother, it is not only the pain of giving birth. Having a child, whether it is one you dream of, hold in your arms or long for in heaven, is a painful journey from beginning to end. But, oh, the joy that makes it all worth it, the only reason we do it again and again. This is a mother.
Photo: Meg Brock Photography
