Women often describe Braxton Hicks contractions as feeling like mild menstrual cramps or a tightening in a specific area of the stomach that comes and goes. You feel the urge to nest. No more weight gain. Your cervix dilates. Worsening back pain. Loose joints and increased clumsiness. As your cervix dilates during pregnancy, a mucus plug forms to seal the opening. In the third trimester, your cervix may dilate up to 3 cm, and the mucus plug could be released in one piece or as a thick discharge.
You might not see this until right before your water breaks. Signs of labor include strong and regular contractions, pain in your belly and lower back, a bloody mucus discharge and your water breaking. Try breathing and relaxation techniques to combat your growing discomfort. Use what you learned in childbirth class or ask your health care team for suggestions.
Unless you need to be in a specific position to allow for close monitoring of you and your baby, consider these ways to promote comfort during active labor:. If you need to have a C-section, having food in your stomach can lead to complications.
If your health care provider thinks you might need a C-section, he or she might recommend small amounts of clear liquids, such as water, ice chips, popsicles and juice, instead of a large, solid meal. The last part of active labor — often referred to as transition — can be particularly intense and painful. Contractions will come close together and can last 60 to 90 seconds. You'll experience pressure in your lower back and rectum. Tell your health care provider if you feel the urge to push.
If you want to push but you're not fully dilated, your health care provider might ask you to hold back. Pushing too soon could make you tired and cause your cervix to swell, which might delay delivery.
Pant or blow your way through the contractions. Transition usually lasts 15 to 60 minutes. How long it lasts: It can take from a few minutes up to a few hours or more to push your baby into the world. It might take longer for first-time moms and women who've had an epidural. What you can do: Push! Your health care provider will ask you to bear down during each contraction or tell you when to push.
Or you might be asked to push when you feel the need. When you push, don't hold tension in your face. Bear down and concentrate on pushing where it counts. If possible, experiment with different positions until you find one that feels best. You can push while squatting, sitting, kneeling — even on your hands and knees. At some point, you might be asked to push more gently — or not at all.
Slowing down gives your vaginal tissues time to stretch rather than tear. To stay motivated, you might ask to feel the baby's head between your legs or see it in a mirror.
After your baby's head is delivered, the rest of the baby's body will follow shortly. His or her airway will be cleared if necessary. Your health care provider or labor coach will then cut the umbilical cord. After your baby is born, you'll likely feel a great sense of relief.
You might hold the baby in your arms or on your abdomen. Cherish the moment. But a lot is still happening. During the third stage of labor, you will deliver the placenta. How long it lasts: The placenta is typically delivered in five to 30 minutes, but the process can last as long as an hour.
What you can do: Relax! By now your focus has likely shifted to your baby. You might be oblivious to what's going on around you. If you'd like, try breast-feeding your baby. You'll continue to have mild contractions.
They'll be close together and less painful. You'll be asked to push one more time to deliver the placenta. You might be given medication before or after the placenta is delivered to encourage uterine contractions and minimize bleeding. Your health care provider will examine the placenta to make sure it's intact.
Any remaining fragments must be removed from the uterus to prevent bleeding and infection. If you're interested, ask to see the placenta. After you deliver the placenta, your uterus will continue to contract to help it return to its normal size. You might not be ready for the baby just yet still haven't picked out that nursery color? Braxton Hicks contractions are a bit like a dress rehearsal: Your uterine muscles are flexing in preparation for the big job they'll have to do in the near future.
Keep in mind that while they can be hard to distinguish from the real thing, they're not efficient enough to push your baby out the way actual labor contractions are. Braxton Hicks contractions start as an uncomfortable but painless tightening that begins at the top of your uterine muscles and spreads downwards. They cause your abdomen to become very hard and strangely contorted almost pointy. Once you get closer to your estimated due date , they will become more frequent and intense.
If you're a novice mom-to-be in your first pregnancy, you may not notice them as much or even at all or wind up feeling them as intensely as those who are pregnant for the second time.
But even first-timers are sometimes aware of them. Braxton Hicks contractions can begin any time after week 20 of pregnancy in the second trimester, though they're more noticeable in later months, in the third trimester. They'll increase starting around week 32 all the way until real labor starts. Your pregnancy hormones are hard at work, sending messages to your body to slowly start the process of childbirth. Braxton Hicks contractions generally only last between 15 and 30 seconds, though they can be as long as two minutes.
To help you distinguish between true and false labor, which usually means Braxton Hicks contractions, look for the following signs of each to see what you might be experiencing if you're not sure. The difference is usually connected to the frequency, intensity and location of the contractions.
Having no Braxton Hicks contractions is completely normal, and it won't be a problem when it comes time to deliver your baby. Some pregnant women, especially first-timers, don't notice their Braxton Hicks. Others may not know what they are when they do feel them. While they're quite intense in some women, especially those who've had a baby before, they can be so mild in others just a slight tightening of the abdomen that they're overlooked.
In any case, don't worry if you're not experiencing Braxton Hicks, as you simply may not be tuned in to them, or you may get them later in your pregnancy. Some women feel Braxton Hicks in the second trimester, others in the third.
0コメント