Fact Check: No, pain during childbirth is not equivalent to 20 bones breaking; viral claim is false

A post in Tamil on Threads about the pain women go through during childbirth has gone viral. The post claims that women in labour experience ‘57 dels of pain, which is equivalent to 20 bones breaking at the same time.' The post claims that a human body can tolerate only '47 dels of pain.’

Fact Check

NewsMeter found the claim to be completely false. ‘Del’ is not a unit of pain.

Dr Srilatha Gorthi, consultant gynaecologist and infertility expert at Revive Clinics and Fertility Centre, Hyderabad, said, “There is no unit called del to measure pain. Further, labour pain differs from one woman to another. So, the claims are totally false”.

“Some women may feel pain like breaking of bones. But, the claim that the pain would be similar to 20 bones breaking simultaneously is utterly false. The medical and technological advancements have provided sufficient measures to help women during labour,” Dr Srilatha added.

Is it possible to have a universal measurement for pain?

Pain is a subjective experience, closely associated with emotions and is extremely difficult to measure.

Medical researchers use the ‘Hardy-Wolff-Goodell’ method of measuring pain on a 10-point scale with ‘dol’ as the unit, but even this method is not widely accepted or used.

“In some cases, women generate endorphins in response to pain which are natural painkillers and even give pleasure during labour. Pain need not be suffering alone, but can be pleasurable at times,” Dr Srilatha said.

“The 3Ps during delivery – passage (opening of the pelvis), power (contraction of the pelvis) and passenger (position of the baby) – are normal and women experience pain and trance during the same. Some advocates of normal labour say that women should encounter labour pain to emerge powerful and stronger post-childbirth,” Dr Srilatha added.

Complications during childbirth

Normal delivery among older women can become complicated due to a rigid pelvis while women with other complications face more pain during labour.

With the increase in complications in natural or vaginal childbirth due to environmental pollution, unhealthy food habits, chemicals and a sedentary lifestyle, women opting for caesarean deliveries have increased in recent years.