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5 questions about Braxton Hicks contractions

Speaking of Health

Friday, February 5, 2021

Topics in this Post

• Obstetrics and Gynecology

Some of the bodily changes during pregnancy can be confusing. For some women, Braxton Hicks contractions can be particularly puzzling. They are uncomfortable, but painless, contractions during pregnancy and are sometimes referred to as "false labor" pains.

Here are answers to 5 common questions about Braxton Hicks contractions:

1. What do Braxton Hicks contractions feel like?

Braxton Hicks contractions are mild, irregular contractions during pregnancy. They feel like tightness in your abdomen. Some women feel a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions, while some women don't feel them at all. They typically last less than 30 seconds, and they are uncomfortable but rarely painful.

These contractions also tend to occur more often and become stronger as you approach your due date. Finally, they're more likely to occur in the afternoon or evening, after physical activity, or after sex.

2. What is the purpose of Braxton Hicks contractions?

Braxton Hicks contractions help tone your uterus' muscles and prepare your cervix for birth.

3. How can you tell the difference between Braxton Hicks contractions and labor contractions?

There are three primary differences between Braxton Hicks contractions and true contractions:

• Pattern
  Time your contractions from the beginning of one to the beginning of the next. Look for a regular pattern of contractions that get progressively stronger and closer together. Braxton Hicks contractions will remain irregular.
• Duration
  Time how long each contraction lasts. True contractions last about 30 to 70 seconds.
• Change
  True contractions continue regardless of your activity level or position. With false labor, the contractions might stop when you walk, rest or change position.

Contact your health care provider if contractions become regular and steadily increase in strength.

4. How can you ease the discomfort of Braxton Hicks contractions?

For some women, Braxton Hicks contractions can be uncomfortable, and they tend to become stronger as their due dates approach.

Here are a few things to try to relieve any unpleasant feelings:

• Change your position, such as lying down or going for a walk.
• Take a warm bath.
• Get a massage from your partner.
• Practice your breathing exercises.

5. What happens if you go to the hospital and you're not actually in labor?

During pregnancy, expect false alarms. No one knows for sure what triggers labor, and every woman's experience is different. Sometimes it's hard to tell when labor begins.

Don't hesitate to call your health care provider if you're confused about whether you're in labor or if you are experiencing Braxton Hicks contractions. Preterm labor can be especially sneaky. If you have any signs of labor before 37 weeks, especially if you also experience vaginal spotting, consult your health care provider.

If you arrive at the hospital in false labor, don't feel embarrassed or frustrated. Think of it as a practice run. The real thing is likely on its way.

Amy Brien, M.D., is an OB-GYN in Mankato, Minnesota.

For the safety of our patients, staff and visitors, Mayo Clinic has strict masking policies in place. Anyone shown without a mask was either recorded prior to COVID-19 or recorded in a non-patient care area where social distancing and other safety protocols were followed.

Topics in this Post

• Obstetrics and Gynecology

Pausing to learn more about menopause

Cervical cancer: Pap smears and prevention

Too Embarrassed to Ask: Part I

how to distinguish training contractions from uterine tone - 25 recommendations on Babyblog.ru

The history of my birth.

As a result, I can say that forums are evil. You can not prescribe yourself treatment based on the opinions of other people. Especially for shy people like me. And even though I told myself, “don’t read,” I still went and read, read, and in the end decided that everything would not be like that in advance. The only thing that really helped morally was the girls' comments. Yes, thank you very much for this.

My Lenechka was born on the 18th of March at 10.42 am. But until now, there has been a history.

On the night from 16 to 17, at about 3 o'clock, I felt contractions. I had no doubt that it was them, but I immediately decided that they weren’t - just training ones. Or rather, I thought, “Oh, what the hell, 37 weeks only, what contractions, my suitcase is not packed.” I lay, thinking what to do, whether to pack my suitcase or not.

I have been in the hospital three times already, and according to the doctors of pathology, for nothing (well, not that they said it directly, but the words, "well, why did they send you here, you already have no tone / you have a short time to do something with fpn 1a and tp" definitely were). The first 2 times, I was very offended by my doctor, who, with terrible words, urged me to lie down, because there was the final preparation for the wedding, trying on dresses, etc. It was sad, because all the time I was waiting for a catch, that suddenly they would tell me that everyone ...

I waited even 3 weeks after the first ultrasound and the words "we don't do anything at such times, it's not known at all, maybe it's better if something goes wrong, usually nature is not just arranged like that, suddenly genetic abnormalities or something , come back in 3 weeks, and if there is silvering, then yes, everything is fine." I never went to this doctor again.

Conclusion 1: Now I know if you think you are pregnant, do a test and donate blood, you don't need an ultrasound until the 5th week.

After the ultrasound, it became worse for me to say frankly, I was looking for another gynecologist - bed rest, duphaston, vitamin e, folic acid.

Frightened by bad doctors, I found a doctor by recommendation. The doctor was expensive for the province, for us, not yet working - very much. But they decided that it was impossible to save on Lyalka, made a contract and I was observed further with her.

What can I say about paid doctors, medicine and so on. Paid medicine - yes, it's worth it, there are no queues, but only if the doctors are good. Mine was not bad, even I probably would have gone to her again, but I didn’t have enough explanations, I didn’t have enough time for myself and I felt the moment of buying smiles and goodwill. That is, we did not develop a trusting relationship, but this did not prevent me from being with her and, in the end, quite safely.

Conclusion 2: not every promoted doctor will be able to give you enough time, even for a fee.

After at 16 weeks was - tone and hospital for 2 weeks, at 23 - fetoplacental 1a and again for 2 weeks. And every time I thought at least to convey. At 23, I was very worried after reading about the diagnosis and so on, but then the sobriety of the hospital doctors played the opposite effect, and I thought that since it was not so scary for them, then maybe it is.

And then, the decree came and I decided that I would go to bed again, I would not even resist. Therefore, at the age of 33, I already reacted to sdf of the 1st degree somehow not strongly, although I also read everything and worried. The main thing was that they watched us, and there was confidence that we would not be lost here with the doctors.

The third time around, the doctors didn't seem so obnoxious. )) I even thought about giving birth for a fee at the head of pathology, but in the end it didn’t happen and I don’t regret it (She’s a good woman, in terms of professionalism, but she won’t lisp.) And everything turned out not bad for us anyway.

So I came to the very process of childbirth. As I said, when the contractions began, having seen and heard enough, I began to wait for a break of 5 minutes. And I had, then 10, then 7, 8 and again 10. I must say right away that if I had waited, I would probably have scared everyone along the way and in the receiver.

When nothing happened at 5 am, I went to take a shower. It also seems to relieve pain. The shower actually helped. The contractions became less frequent, once every 20 minutes. And I also followed the advice, if you can sleep - sleep. I slept until 8 o'clock, intermittently when the pain came.

It was Tuesday, and I had a choice, to wait for Thursday and a scheduled ultrasound according to my indications and an appointment with a doctor, or call her cell phone and ask for a personal appointment. I didn’t like this business, because there was always a feeling that they were doing you a favor and not always in the right form. I'm probably being overly sensitive about this. But in order to call without reception, I had to have something extraordinary already. Moreover, it didn’t hurt as much as at night, and I definitely decided that it was training. Remembering one of my neighbors from the hospital, who for 4 days, thought at night that she was giving birth, and in the morning she calmly had breakfast.

To gain courage, I called my mother and husband, who unanimously urged me to go to the gynecologist, I thought about whether to pack my suitcase and cancel the Internet connection scheduled from 10.00 to 14.00. But before I had time to do it, the master arrived, I had to tinker with him until 12. All this time, every 20 minutes (I spotted), there were contractions. They were more tolerant, they did not require the knee and elbow, unlike the night ones.

By one o'clock I got to the hospital, the doctor said that I was stupid and that I should have called an ambulance at night. I took the direction from her hands and thought that she did not understand anything from my training. I was already looking forward to how I would lie down for the standard 2 weeks, how, God forbid, stimulation, etc. She said that I would give birth soon, I began to complain that they would still be discharged and I would come.

I walked home, I was lucky. It’s a 10-minute walk to the clinic, 20 minutes to the perinatal one. But I ordered a taxi, I even managed to collect milk in the store, since I don’t eat half of the stationary. I decided not to take the baby. Firstly, a whole bag, and secondly, it seemed stupid to me to take it, since I do not give birth.

After lunch at the reception it's good, I know from experience there are different days, usually they send from consultations in the morning with a referral to the hospital and sometimes you can run into a queue of 5 people. Once, when a girl who was having contractions arrived, she was extremely unhappy when she saw that she had to wait in line of 5 people. I also thought that, well, yes, they are still waiting, like something like that, especially since some of them were sent to the delivery room in my presence, they sat calmly and did not frown, despite the fact that this meant an opening and the notorious 5 minutes, as it seemed to me from the outside.

Therefore, when there are no queues of 5 people, they do not like to be put in a hospital in pathology, as there are often no places. Here I was also lucky, I was registered, they took a CTG and even recorded a contraction, the nurse said that she would inform the doctor on duty. No matter how long I lay in pathology, I came across different doctors. And this time there was another in which I was not observed. From the outside, she seemed to me not a bad doctor before, and somehow I calmed down until it came to the chair. Seriously, they didn’t look at me so painfully, even after when the disclosure was 3 fingers. Her verdict, 1 finger is open, the neck is soft, the bladder is intact. A comment in a conversation with a nurse who should somehow write down my admission, something like "what the hell she was sent again, she was lying 2 weeks ago, far from giving birth, write a second admission." So I sat after that and thought that if I was such an observer, I would write a refusal or go and pay for the birth of the head, if only not with her.

Returning to the ward, I was hysterical to my mother on the phone, as she remembered her neighbor that she had not slept for 4 nights with contractions, looked at the 5-bed ward, instead of the usual 2.

By the way, the perinatal center itself in my small town of Seversk is excellent, I realized this already looking back. In general, most often there are 2 chambers in the pathology, with a shower and a toilet in each room, well, except for 1 chamber on the 2nd floor, which I happened to get into at the end. The birth itself includes a free separate birth with a ball, with a cool couch in terms of convenience it cannot be compared with beds (it would be worth estimating it was strength), which still somehow ceases to be a birth, the free presence of a husband or mother, etc.

The maternity ward is just sweet, the main thing is to get there.) Pathology is also not bad, but few people like to lie there, some have to stay for a long time.

By the time after supper, it became painful to wait out the contractions. At home, I did it in the knee-elbow, here it was not convenient with the neighbors, after a couple of hours, I didn’t care about it, I waited while standing, bending over. I measured contractions all the time, the time was different, on average, the interval was 9 minutes.

Another girl arrived at 6 o'clock, at 8 she was already sent to the delivery room, she calmly hung out with us, when asked if she was in pain, she answered in the affirmative, noting that she did not even scream during the first 2 births. I thought then, maybe it doesn’t hurt me so much, or I’m not right if the girl who was sent to give birth has the opportunity to endure, but I don’t.

Then, by chance, during the evening measurement of blood pressure, they noticed that I had 150 over 95, then, of course, a new doctor on duty immediately joined, fortunately they changed it, gave me pills for pressure and said that since there is no clear interval, there will be pills that will let me sleep. And the truth from the pills began to seem that you were flying somewhere into space, so from 22.00 to 02.00 I overslept, in a sick dream. I woke up to contractions that became less frequent, like the day before after a shower. But at 2 o’clock my sleep stopped, until 4.00 it periodically turned off, and then the lafa ended.

It was a bit uncomfortable for those who are awake because of me, but what can I do. During this time, and indeed during these days, I ran to the toilet 8 times, although during pregnancy it was a whole thing to go to the toilet in this way, so I don’t understand the adherents of the enema. It's not needed at all, in my opinion.

I usually knew that midwives get busy at 7 o'clock in order to send someone to the delivery room before the end of the shift, etc. She didn’t endure until 7, she came at 6.00. She woke up, saw that, to put it mildly, I wasn’t very good, she said that she would come and count the contractions. And in general, thanks to this girl, even in the evening, a not very pleasant feeling returned to me that they would not leave you. Because she is on my complaints, "the contractions are going on, but since they are not regular, it means that I am not giving birth and the doctor said that everything is deaf on the chair. " She answered me that I should not worry and that I might still give birth, and if it hurts a lot, then she told her.

So, despite the absence of 5 minutes, it hurt a lot, about 7 minutes of bleeding, I was already walking along the walls, frightening all the girls in the pathology department with my appearance. And now it was time for a chair, we counted the contractions, it seemed to me that there was no correct interval there, but the midwife told the doctor. Despite the fact that I would no longer be able to follow the contraction counter ... I was at the doctor, to whom they brought me at 23 weeks, and then it seemed to me that she did not tell me anything, and this greatly offended me. Immediately, I was happy that they sent it to me.

I was very afraid that they would prescribe drugs that cause the cervix to open, or even worse, oxytacin, in fact, I was afraid of it most of all.

Well, probably still give birth, like my girlfriend 24 hours without disclosure, etc.

Then I was told "3 cm - dilatation, we are converting to generic, go get ready. This is just the beginning." - magic words. To be honest, there was no realization that I would not give birth soon, I was still mentally preparing for days of hellish pain, etc. And the pain was already unbearable and I began to howl. I gathered in fragments, in the breaks of the ebb of pain. As a result, the midwife helped to get through. Through the stops and the wall I got to the delivery room.

Everything seemed different to me in the new department, a large room and a very comfortable couch. They told me to walk, pointed to the ball... But it's impossible to use the ball when it hurts so much. At first, I could endure in some strange position, standing with my leg up on the bed. I read somewhere that if you scream, then the pain is easier to endure, at first I screamed because of this, then because of the pain.

I counted the minutes, they rarely visited me, but I didn't expect it to be fast. I was afraid that if the disclosure was not sufficient, they would leave me again, there. CTG was connected a couple of times, I understood with my brain that the more I walked, the faster the process would go, but after the contraction I could only curl up on the bed and pass out for 3-4 minutes, it was terrible to fall asleep at once and wake up already with wild pain. The waters were there. And when the girl's waters broke in the next room and the doctor said that she would give birth within 2 hours... And I couldn't stand it anymore and the waters were there. I thought I was going crazy, I wanted to ask for painkillers, but there was no one, everyone had gone somewhere, apparently someone was giving birth in the next room. I even thought that if you tell me that it will be a caesarean, I will be damn happy, if only it doesn’t hurt. I honestly admire girls who in a similar situation think about a child and so on, I could only think that everything would end faster, so that it would not hurt, and that he would be born.

The doctor who delivered the baby was cursing that I was yelling and the baby was bad, he lacked oxygen, I could only say that I couldn't do it any other way and screamed harder. They swore, but somehow I would not say that it was vicious and harsh, and to be honest, I was not up to it.

When the doctor once again asked if she wanted to go big, at first I thought, well, really, she will offer me an enema right now ... At that moment I stupidly lay on my back, rolling on my side when it was in complete pain. When she left, it dawned on me that she had something completely different in mind, and I would be glad if that was the case. After 3 contractions, my water suddenly broke. There was no one nearby, and although they repeated to me 3 times to tell me when this would happen, I could not do it. Screaming that the waters had receded while still was not for me. When, through the fight, I felt what they asked me about and a sharp desire to push out, which I could not suppress. It's like a wave, I realized that I was pushing, I was pushing myself and I became scared, then I began to scream that I was giving birth, help, etc. When the brigade came to my family, they waited for the contraction and watched the opening, which was complete. They scolded me again, they said that my strength is too much when the child is so small. To which I replied that I could not, I simply could not do it any other way. The doctor said do what you can. Between themselves, they decided that I could not wait any longer. I did not understand then what they meant, but now it seems to me that it is most likely that there is a phase in labor before the attempts, when the child descends. It turns out I missed it ...

At some point, the attempts became less painful and uncontrollable, and I realized that I had to give birth somehow. It didn’t work out right away, apparently the head didn’t come out completely, I decided to gather with all my strength and gave birth in 1 contraction, immediately the head and everything else, since the child was only 2360g.

Probably the most memorable when they took him out and put him on my chest. Honestly, I couldn’t believe that I was pregnant, walked, walked, and he was a man.

The afterbirth went unnoticed, the most painful thing was checking with cervical mirrors, then internal tears came, as I understood, because I could not stand the time.

And after that everything is fine. Yes, the baby has a small weight, but after the whole history of childbirth, here he is alive unharmed and this is the main thing.

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