Signs of labour

 

Most women spend the last weeks of pregnancy looking for signs (any sign!) that labour is starting. For many women this time can drag and every ache and pain is analysed for its meaning. Some women have no sign of labour will begin, they may wake up in the night with regular strong contractions, others have a few warning signs that labour will begin in the next days or weeks.

 

Contractions

This is one of the most commonly felt signs of labour starting. To start off contractions need not be very strong, close together or regular. At first you might believe that you are having Braxton Hicks contractions, However if the contractions continue for more than about an hour and they get closer together as time goes on then you may be intrue labour. Another sign of labour is if the contractions get progressively more painful. Contractions and how they feel (especially in early labour) vary from woman to woman. They are described as anything from sharp pulling pains to period like cramps spreading from your stomach through to your back and legs.

If you believe you are in labour measure the time from the start of one contraction to the start of another at the start of the first stage you may be getting one contraction of 40 or 50 seconds every 10 minutes. At the end, each contraction will last longer than a minute, and there will be a gap of no more than a minute between each one.However, not every woman follows the same pattern.If they are less than 5 minutes apart it is time to head for the hospital!.

 A Show

The show is the loss of the mucous plug.. This is jelly like and often stained pink with blood. If it is bright red or contains clots contact your doctor or midwife straight away. This is not a very good sign of labour as it can occur days or weeks before labour begins, some women do not experience it at all.

Ruptured membranes (waters breaking)

At some point either before or during labour your waters will break. Amniotic fluid is urine coloured but sweet smelling. If your waters break you will probably go into labour within 24-48 hours, you should inform your doctor or midwife if you suspect your waters have broken.

Other signs of labour include:

A bout of diarrhoea and possible vomiting

A headache

Feeling ‘flu-like