Everybody knows the process of giving birth is tough and exhausting. How many calories do you burn during labor is an interesting question.
You’ll feel more changes in your body when it’s closer to the due date. It doesn’t matter how fit you were before pregnancy or how much your current weight is; your body is preparing for the big challenge.
While you’re in physical and mental preparation, you should know that there are calories burned during labor, which may differ from person to person, depending on various factors.
Let’s find out more facts about meaningful childbirth!
How Many Calories Do You Burn During Labor?
According to some online sources, a woman can lose up to 50,000 calories during labor. No one can confirm if the number is correct since every woman is different.
Plus, many factors influence the consumed result, such as time, intensity, method of childbirth, and medication usage.
Do Calories Burn During Labor?
Yes, you’ll burn some or a lot when giving birth. It’s difficult to say the exact number since every mom is different. It can be more or less than others depending on your body weight, height, and metabolism.
For example, if you’re 150cm and 50kg, you’re likely to burn around 500 calories. If you’re 20cm taller and weigh 10kg more, your expenditure of calories can be up to 1500.
Moreover, the intensity, time, and whether you use medication or not also affect the number. When you give birth naturally, the longer you suffer from the process, the more energy you will give away.
If you need to go for a C-section without any labor struggle before, the burned energy is fewer. And you may experience hip pain after a pregnancy C-section.
Moreover, when you’re medicated, you’ll also spend less energy.
How Many Calories Does Childbirth Burn?
Though some said it might be unrealistic, the calories burned while giving birth is up to 50,000. However, as mentioned above, this number may vary for different reasons.
Some may feel less strenuous, and some may feel like they’re working out, running a marathon, or joining some athletic competitions. Nobody can say the exact number.
How many calories do you burn during labor and delivery? It’s almost impossible to calculate. You can try to estimate as follows, but remember, it’s just guesswork.
Choose a physical activity you usually do and look at your body size to see how many calories you spend for one hour. Then, multiply it by the hours of labor.
Once again, it’s not an accurate number. Every mom is not the same, and their body is also different during each time of laboring.
Is It Possible For The Uterine Contractions To Burn Calories?
The answer is yes. You can feel you’re burning it during every contraction. It’s when you start to bring your baby to life.
After each contraction, the cervix becomes thinner and opens little by little. When its dilation is around 10cm, you begin to push your baby out.
Every push-out is one time you feel that you’re burning some weight. The activity is somewhat painful but worth it.
Thinking about how you will see your little one and how much weight you can lose to get in shape after delivery is a good method to overcome and complete the process.
How many calories do you burn giving birth? Imagine each contraction is like one round of working out.
The more and longer you have, the more energy you will spend. The contraction burns energy means the extra fat reserved for your healthy pregnancy is going away.
Laboring Vs. Running A Marathon
How Long Does The Pain Last?
Besides how many calories do you burn in labor, you may be interested in how long you need to suffer from levels of pain. Again, it’s a question that is hard to answer exactly.
Some women have fast labor. You can hear the mom scream in the first second, and right after that, you can hear the baby crying. She had an almost zero calorie burn rate.
In contrast, some labor can last for hours, causing the mom to be exhausted. Most of the active labor lasts four to eight hours. It’s like you have a long workout, and the energy you lose is uncountable.
You also can choose to use pain relief, or the doctor can consult the best way to help you have safe childbirth by moving the natural method to C-section.
How Is The Pain Like?
Every mom describes the pain levels quite differently. 45% of them feel like they have menstrual pain or cramps.
16% think it’s like back pain and 15% say it can reach the level of a broken bone. Some even think about bowel movements when they try to push out the baby.
It’s understandable why the feeling is not the same. It’s like the process is easier for some moms than others. Even a mother can experience a difference between two times of giving birth.
Which One Burns More Calories?
Giving birth naturally means all the muscles of your body are under tension. It’s comparable to when you’re doing an intensive workout.
Not only may you feel the contraction pressure in the cervix, but also pain in surrounding areas such as thighs, bladder, etc. Some even last after that, such as foot pain after pregnancy.
How many calories does labor burn? You can compare it with running a marathon.
Laboring, especially vaginal delivery, makes all parts of your body engage and burn the same energy as if you were in an intensive running.
Your endurance is increased through pregnancy and delivery experience. Some studies even compare the pregnancy period with a 40-week marathon, which is definitely not an easy job.
FAQs
What Is The Average Weight Loss After Laboring?
It doesn’t matter if it’s vaginal labor or emergency C-section; when the baby is out with the placenta and amniotic fluid, an average woman will lose around 6-9kg.
After that, all retained fluids and blood come out of your body, helping you lose some more weight.
The rest of extra pounds during pregnancy will take some time to go away, depending on the person, lifestyle, healthy diet, and how hard it will be to take care of the baby.
Is Apple Watch Or Fitbit Allowed To Calculate Calories While Giving Birth?
To understand the intensity that your body goes through the delivery process, you can wear a smartwatch.
It helps measure your heart rates and calories during birth. Ask your doctor or health care workers in advance to make sure you’re permitted to do so.
Conclusion
How many calories do you burn during labor? When somebody asks this question, you can say it depends, but definitely not a small number.
Your body changes a lot during pregnancy, and you also suffer a lot during childbirth.
If you’re a first-time mother-to-be, don’t be scared but think about the sweet result after passing through all the pain of the process.
Your cute little one is waiting for you.
