Introduction: Prolonged labour pain is a challenging aspect of childbirth. This study examined how a woman's job affects her prolonged labour pain experience in India's diverse healthcare and socioeconomic landscape. Methods: The National Family Health Survey 5, a nationwide study conducted in India investigated the correlation between occupation and prolonged labour pain among 176,385 women aged 15–49 with a 97% survey response rate. Information on labour pain duration and intensity, alongside demographic factors was collected through structured interviews, medical records, and self-reporting. Occupation, age, education, religion, and wealth index were analyzed as predictor variables using cross-tabulation, chi-square tests and multivariate logistic regression. Results: Certain occupations in India, such as clerical, services/household, and agricultural, were linked to increased labour pain compared to women who were not employed. Among these, clerical workers reported the highest level of labour pain at 55.2%. The age group of 20–24 years demonstrated the highest prevalence of prolonged labour pain at 42.4%, and those aged 45–49 exhibited the lowest prevalence at 30.6%. Women with secondary education reported higher pain levels (41.6%) compared to others, this association did not remain significant in the multivariate analysis. Particularly, Hindu (41.9%), and Muslim women (37.6%), experienced more pain compared to other religions, while both the richest (41.7%) and middle-class (41.4%) women reported higher pain levels than other categories. Conclusion: The research unveiled a correlation between occupation and prolonged labour pain. Policymakers can utilize these current findings to enhance preventive planning strategies. It's imperative to give due consideration to the factors identified in the study that are linked with prolonged labour pain. More in-depth primary studies are warranted to explore this issue further.