A noun "throe" represents a severe pang or spasm of pain, particularly during childbirth or near death, often experienced as the pain of labor or suffering of death.

Any severe pang or spasm, especially an outburst of feeling; a paroxysm.

(figuratively, usually in the plural) A hard struggle, especially one associated with the beginning or finishing of a task.

Synonym of froe (“a cleaving tool for splitting cask staves and shingles from a block of wood”)

(transitive) To cause (someone) to feel throes, as if in childbirth; to put in agony.

(intransitive) To feel throes; to struggle in extreme pain; to be in agony; to agonize.