The View star Whoopi Goldberg compares childbirth to 'passing a bowling ball through a STRAW' in VERY graphic debate about men's lack of empathy with labor and motherhood

The View's Whoopi Goldberg left her co-hosts in hysterics during Wednesday's live show when she shared a rather graphic analogy about giving birth to her only child.

Whoopi, 68, welcomed her daughter Alexandrea Martin in May 1974 and time clearly hasn't dulled the memory of that moment - with the TV host describing childbirth as like passing 'a bowling ball through a straw' - while suggesting that men could never understand that level of pain.

The Sister Act star's hilarious comment came about as the panel discussed a recent online post written by a woman who admitted that her husband told her to 'suck it up' when she was in labor - but when he was in pain passing kidney stones - and his wife made the same comment - the man was less than impressed.

Whoopi, who recently revealed why she chooses to remain single, explained to her co-hosts: 'He snapped and said, "suck it up and stop screaming!" So she let it go, she let it go! Until the sleep-deprived mom heard him screaming over passing a kidney stone, and then she said to him, "suck it up".

During Wednesday's episode of The View, Whoopi Goldberg claimed that giving birth is like passing 'a bowling ball through a straw'

Whoopi gave birth to her daughter Alexandrea Martin in May 1974. The duo are pictured together here in September 1986

Whoopi's co-host Sara Haines burst out laughing when the actor shared the graphic analogy

Sunny Hostin was not impressed when Whoopi shared a story about a man who told his wife to 'suck it up' while she was in labor

'She reminded him this was his advice to her when she was in pain and now he's a little annoyed and says she's being petty!' Whoopi added, as Sunny Hostin chimed in and stated: 'I guess I'm petty as hell because I would have said the same thing! He deserved peppermint petty right back!'

Mother-of-three Sara Haines then decided to share one of her own memories about giving birth in hospital and how her husband Max Shifrin supported her while she was in labor.

'When we had our third child, the chairs in the room weren't comfortable but Max found a way to fall asleep every time,' the 46-year-old revealed, as a photo of Max relaxing in the hospital room flashed up on the screen.

Sara revealed: 'The funny thing is, my epidural fell out because I'm not brave enough to do natural and I was primal, like making sounds I'd never heard before and Max said, "let me know if you need something", but he didn't even roll over!'

Comedian Joy Behar, 81, chimed in and commented: 'It just kind of shows you men don't know anything about women's bodies and so they should stay out of our body situation,' which was met with round of applause from the live studio audience.

Alyssa Farah Griffin, 34, then piped up and said: 'I've actually had kidney stones and not given birth, and that's extremely painful. But I'm convinced men have way lower pain tolerances than women. When a man has a tummy ache, it's like the end of the world!'

Determined to have the final say, Whoopi announced: 'Listen, we pass a bowling ball through a straw! That's what we're doing,' as a woman in the audience was heard saying: 'That's right!'

The Ghost star then joked: 'Now, you got a couple of stones? Yeah, push 'em, you gotta push 'em out! But never compare the bowling ball to the straw!' as the rest of the panel burst out laughing. 

The Sister Act star joked that men should 'never compare the bowling ball to the straw'

Comedian Joy Behar demanded that men should 'stay out' of women's body situations

Whoopi pictured in 2006 with her daughter Alexandrea and two of her grandchildren

Her childbirth comments come after she admitted late last year that she wishes she'd had the chance to have more children.

During an episode of The View in October 2023, the Academy Award winner got candid about her experience with menopause as she discussed hot flushes, low libidos, and vaginal dryness with her co-hosts.

But, for Whoopi, she said it was no longer having the 'choice' to conceive that 'irritated the hell' out of her the most.

Whoopi, who confirmed she was through the menopause, was 18 years old when she welcomed her daughter Alexandrea with her first husband Alvin Martin.

'You know the hardest thing for me, I will say, was when I realized that choice had been taken out of my hands,' she said.

'Because I always could control when I got pregnant, it was in my control. And I can say the only thing that really irritated the hell out of me was the fact that I woke up and I thought, "Oh I don't have a choice now. I'm not in charge of this anymore."'