Assistance is often provided to cows and heifers during calving by dairy producers and veterinarians to minimize morbidity and mortality. Even though calving is believed to be painful for both cows and calves, especially when strong assistance is provided, the animals’ discomfort is difficult to measure. Many research studies have used lying behavior as a non-invasive indicator of discomfort and pain in dairy cattle. The aim of our study was to evaluate the impacts of various characteristics of calving events on the lying behavior of dairy cows. The lying time of 153 Holstein cows was measured continuously for 10 d after calving using accelerometers, as part of randomized controlled trial on the timing of calving assistance. Of the 153 cows, 74 calved unassisted and 79 received assistance during calving. Among the 79 assisted cows, 56 received early assistance, defined as pulling the calf approximately 15 min after first appearance of both hooves, and 23 cows received late assistance, defined as pulling the calf approximately 60 min after first appearance of both hooves. For 57 of the assisted cows, information on the duration of the pull and the average force applied during the assistance was recorded using an electronic load cell. Univariable and multivariable mixed models that included a random intercept for animal and random slope for days after calving were used to assess the associations between lying time and calving event characteristics. Cows that were assisted during calving had significantly shorter daily lying times compared with cows that calved unassisted (P = 0.002). Among the 79 assisted cows, the timing of the assistance (early versus late) did not significantly influence the daily lying time (P > 0.05). Moreover, the length and force of assistance was not associated with the cows’ daily lying time post calving (P > 0.05). It appears that regardless of the timing, duration, and strength of pulling (within the ranges observed in this study), calving assistance may have reduced the discomfort of the dairy cows.