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Q&A: Why do you get chills during labor?

Why do you get chills during labor?

Re: Why do you get chills during labor?

The Bump Expert

Chills or shaky, jittery feelings during labor are very common. Usually they happen as a woman is going through transition -- that's when her cervix is dilated about eight or nine centimeters -- or sometimes it happens after delivery.

The chills are probably caused by a number of things that are happening -- an endorphin release, body temperature changes and/or a reaction to anesthesia. The chills tend to go away about a half hour after labor.

Laura Riley, MD, ob-gyn, Director of Labor and Delivery at Massachusetts General Hospital and author of You & Your Baby: Pregnancy | June 17 , 2011 2:28 PM