Childbirth is a crucial moment in a woman’s life, the moment of becoming her mother. It seems to an inexperienced expectant mother that it is possible to skip the beginning of this process. This is not so, but it is better that the signs of labor are not taken by surprise. A great help in this case will be training courses for expectant mothers. They will teach what to do, how to react and how not to miss the obvious signs of childbirth. During the first pregnancy, this is especially true and excites young women. You can also consult a gynecologist at the district consultation on this topic.
The first signs of childbirth in primiparous and multiparous women are somewhat different. The difference most often lies in time, since during the second pregnancy, usually all the precursors appear later, and the processes are faster.
Training fights
One of the very first signs of childbirth that appears early enough is training (false) contractions. During their uterus contracts, but its neck does not open. Training fights are designed to prepare the female body for one of the most important moments in life. Most often, they occur after 38 weeks, but can begin earlier, although many women simply do not notice them. Pain sensations from such contractions are different, depending on the health of the woman and her pain threshold.
Distinctive characteristics of false contractions is their:
- irregularity;
- short duration;
- comparative painlessness, since pain does not increase.
In multiparous training fights proceed in the same way, but they begin much later in time or may be absent altogether.
Abdominal prolapse
For a woman who is in an interesting position for the first time, her stomach drops about 36–37 weeks. The child, preparing for the soon birth, takes the position head down. A woman will notice this visually in the mirror, as well as in her sensations. It will become much easier to breathe, bouts of heartburn will subside, as the uterus ceases to put pressure on the chest and stomach. But urination will become more frequent, because now the uterus presses on the bladder.
In some women, drooping the fetus causes pain in the groin and lower back, a strong feeling of heaviness in the abdomen. Therefore, it is impossible not to notice such painful first signs of childbirth. In multiparous women, lowering of the abdomen usually occurs one day or just before the birth.
Change stool and bowel cleansing
The first signs of labor also include body cleansing. Hormonal changes relax the muscles of the intestines, which manifests itself in an upset stomach, the stool becomes more fluid. Frequent urge to defecate is also noted.
This is the first sign of childbirth in multiparous babies, too, but in them the cleansing of the body begins a day or two before the planned date, in contrast to the primiparous babies, where this process begins in a week.
Weight loss
During pregnancy, a woman gains weight due to the fact that fluid is retained in the body. This leads to edema. Closer to the "finish line" excess fluid, on the contrary, will go away. This happens due to the female sex hormone - estrogen. Reducing edema reduces weight to 2 kg.
With women, this happens the same no matter what kind of birth. The first sign that the swelling is gone will be the ability to easily put a ring on your finger or shoes that did not fit during pregnancy.
No appetite
This is also one of the stages of preparing the body. As mentioned above, before the birth, the body is cleaned, so most often the expectant mother completely disappears desire to eat. This harbinger is the same for all women.
Changeable mood
For 9 months, a woman is tired of the state of pregnancy, it is hard for her to move, bend over, even lie hard. Therefore, she is impatient to give birth, especially if this day never comes. She becomes irritable, then calm. Emotions instantly replace each other, this is due to hormonal changes. “Nesting syndrome” may appear when a pregnant woman begins to clean, wash, sew, equip a nursery.
In primiparous, this can happen more emotionally, women for whom it is a second birth, treat the first sign of this type with understanding and try not to be nervous.
The child begins to move a little
As the date of birth approaches, the baby calms down, his physical activity is markedly reduced. This is because the baby has already grown a lot and gained weight. He becomes cramped in his stomach, nowhere to move. Many mothers are afraid that the child is quiet, but there is nothing to worry about. For peace of mind, you can go to an ultrasound or CT scan.
Multiparous mothers are aware of this phenomenon, therefore, having discovered that the baby has quieted down by the end of the term, they do not worry.
The first signs listed above before childbirth are quite subjective and any very impressionable pregnant woman is able to find a couple, even if in reality they are not. However, only the following ones are considered as incontrovertible evidence that childbirth is close.
Amniotic fluid
The discharge of water is a convincing first sign that labor is beginning. But it is not always possible to judge by it, since only 25% of women have water left before childbirth, while the rest they can leave during the process or not go away on their own. In this case, the doctor punctures the amniotic fluid with a special needle. But if, nevertheless, the fetal bladder bursts and the water is removed, you must immediately go to the maternity ward. Since the child cannot be without water for a long time, which is his protection against surrounding infections and allows him to breathe. The amount of amniotic fluid that spills from the vagina is also different for everyone. It can be either a few drops or rather copious discharge.
If the outflow of water happened at home, a woman should remember the color, quantity, smell, so that then all this data should be reported to the doctor.
During the first pregnancy, water most often departs slowly or simply leaks; in multiparous women, water usually departs rapidly and immediately. After which begins active labor.
Cork
A mucus plug is a clot of white or possibly bloody streaks of mucus. Blood appears due to ruptures of small vessels in the uterus and in small quantities is the norm. The cork serves to protect a woman's body from getting various infections in it.
At the end of pregnancy, the actively produced hormone estrogen softens the cervix and the cork departs. This usually indicates the onset of labor, but sometimes if it leaves too early or there is a lot of blood in it, it is best to consult a doctor.
This sign of childbirth during the first pregnancy is easy to miss, since an inexperienced woman in labor can confuse the mucous plug with normal secretions. But the mother, waiting for the second child, do not miss this moment, since in the multiparous she usually leaves quickly and completely. Since the cervix remains slightly ajar after the first pregnancy, the cork is larger. In primiparas, this process can take several days.
Uterine Cervix
If the gynecologist noticed an opening during the examination, the expectant mother will soon see her child. This factor relates directly to the first signs of the onset of labor, and ideally at this stage the pregnant woman should already be in the hospital. The onset of labor is marked by an opening of 1–2 cm, while the cervix is shortened, the child becomes closer to the birth canal.
The next stage of the birth process is latent. At this time, the uterus opens 4 cm or 2 fingers, as some obstetricians say. This stage lasts about 6 hours.
After it, the active phase of childbirth begins, the opening of the cervix reaches 8 cm, in primiparous and multiparous babies it lasts about the same time: 3-4 hours.
After the opening of the uterine pharynx reaches 8 cm, labor can seem to subside, contractions will weaken and so will be until the cervix fully opens (10-12 cm). This last stage lasts about an hour, and women with a second pregnancy may not have this first sign of childbirth at all.
After the cervix opens to its final position, the baby should be able to freely pass through the birth canal.
In general, in primiparous women, the opening of the uterine pharynx fully lasts about 12 hours, in women with a second pregnancy - 7-8 hours.
In some cases, self-disclosure may not begin in women in childbirth, although by the time it should have already happened. Then the doctor prescribes the stimulation of labor. It can be drug and non-drug.
The beginning of real fights
Sometimes women are afraid that they will not notice when they begin to contract the uterus, especially those who have only the first birth. The signs of contractions are actually very difficult to confuse with something else. Typically, the amplitude of the increase in the force of contractions is proportional to the increase in the opening of the cervix. When the fights really begin, it will immediately become clear that it is impossible to confuse them with false contractions. At the beginning, real contractions are like severe cramping during menstruation and their regularity is equal to 1 uterine contraction in 20-30 minutes, but the contraction itself lasts no more than 10 seconds. The stomach is stony at this time, and at the end it relaxes. Doctors recommend time tracking. If the cramps are repeated at a certain interval, but the time between them is gradually reduced, it's time to call a taxi to the hospital.
During labor, the contractions will intensify, they will be up to 1.5 minutes in time, and the range of breaks between them will be reduced to 30 seconds.
In multiparous women, contractions begin earlier, they can more quickly distinguish their appearance from training contractions or any other painful sensations. If the first child was born relatively recently, the body still “remembers” those feelings, in any case, the interval between contractions will be less than that of primiparas.
It must be borne in mind that not everyone has the same first signs of the onset of labor, what one pregnant woman may not have another. Even two pregnancies in one woman can absolutely differ during the process. But if there are at least two harbingers of an early birth, then it is worthwhile to mentally pack up yourself and make bags. And if symptoms are already present, such as amniotic fluid, openings of the uterus or real contractions, then it is strongly recommended to hurry to the hospital under the supervision of a doctor.