Do women's bones break during childbirth?
Mia Lopez
Updated on March 06, 2026
During childbirth, pressure from the baby's head can fracture the coccyx, or tailbone. A fractured coccyx can be quite painful and symptoms can take months to subside.
Do bones break when you give birth?
Bones That May Break During BirthAt birth, however, they are softer and more fragile than an adult's bones. While any bone can break during birth, the most common breaks include clavicles or collarbones. Other broken bones may include those in the leg, foot, skull, cervical spine, arm, and elsewhere in the body.
How many bones does a mother break during childbirth?
There were 35 cases of bone injuries giving an incidence of 1 per 1,000 live births. Clavicle was the commonest bone fractured (45.7%) followed by humerus (20%), femur (14.3%) and depressed skull fracture (11.4%) in the order of frequency.What happens to a woman's bones when she gives birth?
And—get this—those bones actually move back during the second stage of birth to widen the diameter of your pelvis, making room for baby's shoulders and easing their exit from the womb.Is childbirth as painful as breaking a bone?
The most common description of the level of pain experienced was extreme menstrual cramps (45 percent), while 16 percent said it was like bad back pain and 15 percent compared it to a broken bone.Viral Photo of the Visible Bone Shifts that Happen in Childbirth
What is the pain equivalent to giving birth?
Early laborYou may also experience a dull backache, feelings of pressure in the abdomen and pelvis, and sensations similar to those of intense menstrual cramping.