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why do some women shake after giving birth?

12K views 38 replies 38 participants last post by  mum2James&Bean 
#1 ·
i had an unmedicated birth last year. i remember shaking so bad afterwards. was it because of the shock of pain or some other reason. i just kept thinking to myself, wow! did that hurt.
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#27 ·
I shook at my last birth, but mine was trauma induced. I was shaking from the pain, and everytime the L&D nurses would "massage" my uterus it would hurt REALLY badly and I would start shaking again. I'd finally get the shaking to stop and it was like they took that as a sign I needed to be tortured again, and they would do it again, and the shaking would start up again.

That said, I lost more blood with the last delivery than I remember losing with previous ones, so that could have something to do with it.
 
#31 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by Pynki View Post
I shook at my last birth, but mine was trauma induced. I was shaking from the pain, and everytime the L&D nurses would "massage" my uterus it would hurt REALLY badly and I would start shaking again. I'd finally get the shaking to stop and it was like they took that as a sign I needed to be tortured again, and they would do it again, and the shaking would start up again.

That said, I lost more blood with the last delivery than I remember losing with previous ones, so that could have something to do with it.
It sounds like maybe the nurses were massaging your uterus so frequently because they were trying to slow your blood loss?
 
#33 ·
I was told that it was adrenaline related. Makes sense to me, going from pushing to just laying down post-birth, there's not much of an outlet for all that adrenaline so I shook like when I'm really freaked out or nervous, but much much more strongly.
 
#34 ·
I agree with fourlittlebirds--I think our bodies shake for different reasons.

I have never given birth, but I can almost guarantee that I will shake after I do. I'm just a shaker--I shake when I'm overly upset or when I'm overly happy or when I'm overly nervous. Anytime I feel my face flush and my adrenaline rush, I know I'm about to start shaking. And they're not just little shivers either, they're whole body shakes.


On the other hand, I worked as a veterinary technician for a few years, and the surgery animals always shook while waking up from anesthesia.

So, if I had to guess, I'd say women shake after birth because of either an emotional (adrenaline) or physical (change in temperature/low blood sugar) body response. I'm just guessing here, though.
 
#36 ·
I shook after both of my daughters' births but not my son's. I suspect hormones play a part because of that (different hormone rushes when delivering girls?). I also shook about twice as badly with my second daughter's homebirth, a very quick and intense delivery. If you are planning any future births I found that a combination of a warm towel draped over my head, Rescue Remedy cream rubbed on my forehead and pressure points, and accupressure done by my midwife settled me back down and helped me a lot.
 
#38 ·
I was freezing cold after all three of my births. I had a fever after each as well. I just couldn't control the shaking. I remember after the birth of the twins I had asked for orange juice and after drinking it I just started shaking and remember being so very cold. I had 4 blankets on me straight from the dryer and I still shook for a good while after they put those on me. It makes me tense just thinking about it.
 
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