Synonyms for Travail (same or very similar meaning)
WordNet sense 1 (concluding state of pregnancy; from the onset of labor to the birth of a child):
confinement, labor, lying-in, labour, childbed, parturiencyWordNet sense 2 (work hard):
dig, drudge, grind, moil, toilWordNet sense 3 (use of physical or mental energy; hard work):
effort, exertion, sweat, elbow greaseFrom the ODE community, based on WordNetadd/edit