All women are well aware that the birth is preceded by labor. As a result of contractions of the uterus, its neck opens, through which the baby is born. From the middle of pregnancy, women often experience training contractions. How much before birth they arise and how to recognize them is described in this article.
Training bouts - the norm or an occasion to sound the alarm?
The uterus is an organ composed of muscle tissue. Its contractions are a natural physiological process. During pregnancy, the uterus may contract, but women often do not notice it.
Long before birth, pregnant women may experience aching abdominal pain. In this case, the uterus, when palpating, can either harden or relax. The resulting spasm resembles prenatal contractions, but in fact the body is only preparing for childbirth. In this case, the cervix does not open.
Training fights were first described at the end of the 19th century by a British gynecologist named John Braxton Hicks, after whom they were named. Another common name for training contractions is false contractions.
Doctors in some countries view training contractions as a threat to preterm delivery and, with the first symptoms, hospitalize a woman to stop the activity of the uterus and relax her muscles.
Braxton-Hicks contractions - a natural physiological process, indicating that the pregnant woman’s body is preparing for childbirth and no medical intervention is required.
Over the past more than a hundred years, medicine has studied in detail what training contractions are, how much before birth they can occur and how to recognize them.
How to determine
It is very important that every pregnant woman in the early stages find out information about training fights. Women who have undergone theoretical training are more attentive to their health and observe the changes taking place. They themselves can recognize when training contractions occur and they know how to react to it.
The main symptoms of training fights:
- Feeling of constriction and aching pain in the groin and lower abdomen.
- Irregularity and irregularity of contractions.
- Manifest in only one area of the abdomen.
- Reductions can occur up to 6 times per hour.
- False contractions do not give in the back, as is the case with real fights.
- Do not cause severe pain. Inattentive women may not even notice such contractions.
- Gradually disappear. After a small amount of time, the uterus calms down and becomes soft.
Some pregnant women calculate the date of birth, paying attention to training contractions. How much before birth they arise, it is difficult to determine exactly. Usually training contractions appear in the second and third trimester. How many births after training fights, it is impossible to answer. The presence or absence of false contractions is not an indicator by which to judge the course of pregnancy.
Fight Duration
Any woman can determine false contractions without the help of a doctor. To do this, you should know how long the training fights before childbirth last. With such contractions of the uterus, the duration of muscle tension can be up to 2 minutes. Usually training fights last no more than a minute. And their frequency of manifestation is up to several times per hour.
False contractions do not increase in frequency or intensity.
Reasons for the appearance
Often, the Braxton Hicks contractions cause a certain behavior of a pregnant woman:
- excessive activity, physical activity;
- psycho-emotional stress (for example, experiences and worries due to future childbirth);
- holding a full bladder;
- sexual arousal, intimate contact.
In most cases, a woman can avoid training contractions of the uterus. Doctors advise pregnant women to drink the required amount of water, not to be nervous, and to remain calm until their birth. These recommendations should be followed when training contractions appeared. After how many births, doctors determine in the early stages. Compliance with medical recommendations allows you to normally carry the baby and give birth to him at the prescribed time.
False contractions in the early stages
In medicine, there is no exact definition of when training contractions should appear. How much contractions begin before childbirth depends on the organism of the future mother. Often there are cases that false contractions appear in the first months of bearing a child.
False contractions at the beginning of pregnancy are almost not felt. Their intensity and frequency increases already closer to childbirth. In order to exclude and prevent the development of dangerous pathologies, with slight discomfort in the lower abdomen, you should consult a doctor.
What to do when training contractions begin
No matter how much before the birth they may appear, a pregnant woman should not panic. False contractions provide an opportunity to prepare for real fights. So, during an attack, a pregnant woman can practice breathing systems that are used during childbirth:
- Take frequent shallow breaths during the next bout. This exercise trains the lungs and facilitates the passage of an attack.
- After the end of the bout, take a deep breath and inhale, and exhale slowly during the bout.
- Take slow breaths through the nose and exhale sharply through the mouth.
Even to facilitate training fights, you can try to reduce the discomfort in the following ways:
- lie down on the bed and take a comfortable pose;
- to drink water;
- take a walk;
- take a warm shower;
- turn on relaxing music.
- calm down and tune in to positive thoughts.
Alarms
There are symptoms that require medical attention. In some cases, the threat of gestation can be identified when training contractions arise. For how much before the birth and how intensively the uterus contracts, the presence of secretions should be observed by all pregnant women.
Symptoms, the manifestation of which signals the need to see a doctor:
- severe pain in the back and lower abdomen;
- bloody, mucous, or watery discharge;
- decreased fetal activity;
- increased frequency of cramping.
False contractions before birth
In the last weeks of pregnancy, training fights intensify. After how many births begin, in the later stages only a doctor can accurately determine. False contractions in recent weeks are more painful and because of this, it seems to women that they are already starting to give birth. The onset of labor can be established by the frequency and intensity of labor, which the cardiotocography method accurately calculates. With it, you can set the exact number of contractions of the uterus, their strength and duration.
Training fights in recent weeks are a harbinger of childbirth. Most often, such reductions are observed in the mornings and evenings.
False contractions are very important for labor, as they help smooth and soften the cervix and prepare it for the upcoming birth.