How long your health practitioner is comfortable waiting before inducing will depend on your individual situation. Be sure to tell your health care team if your "water" isn't clear. If your amniotic fluid is greenish in color or smells bad, it could signal either an infection or meconium essentially baby feces , either of which could cause problems for your baby.
Also, if you're leaking liquid but aren't sure whether it's amniotic fluid or urine some pregnant women leak urine at the tail end of their pregnancies , you should have it checked by your health practitioner so you know what you're dealing with. Contractions are strong, rhythmic, regular cramps that feel like a bad backache or extreme menstrual pain.
These little doozies, if they're the real thing, are the most reliable of all the signs and officially mark the onset of labor. A contraction occurs when your uterus tightens and then relaxes. Real contractions usually start in the back of your body and move toward the front.
These movements open the cervix and help push the baby into the birth canal. True contractions come closer and closer together in a predictable pattern and last around 30 to 70 seconds each.
They get steadily stronger and keep coming, regardless of what you do. You and your health practitioner should come up with a game plan ahead of time about when you should call and what you should do if you suspect you're in labor. Most practitioners will probably tell you to call when you have contractions that last for around one minute and occur every five minutes for about an hour, but this could vary greatly depending on your health history and past pregnancy record.
Women who have given birth before may have a quicker labor the second or third time around, so it's important not to wait too long to call if you think things might go quickly. Be sure to discuss this with your doctor or midwife. To time the frequency of contractions, start at the beginning of one and count until the beginning of the next one.
When in doubt, call your practitioner. Even if you're not sure if your signs add up to the beginning of labor, it doesn't hurt to check in. Your doctor or midwife can give you concrete advice and help you determine if this is the moment you've been waiting for. American Pregnancy Association. Signs of Labor, Mayo Clinic. Signs of Labor: Know what to expect.
May 14, Whitsett, J. New England Journal of Medicine. Volume For example, if you're less than 3 centimeters when you arrive, are not in a lot of pain, and are not planning to use an epidural , going home may be the most reasonable and comfortable option.
However, if your water has broken, you're in a lot of pain, or have special medical needs, staying may be the better choice, even if you're less dilated. Generally speaking, once you are dilated past 5 or 6 centimeters and having regular contractions, most practitioners want you to you remain in the hospital or birth center until your baby is born.
Sometimes a contraction may not be the sign of true labor. If a contraction is erratic in frequency and strength, it may be something called a Braxton Hicks contraction , also known as false labor. Here's how to spot the differences between the two:. While it's easy to mistake a Braxton Hicks contraction for a real one, always watch the pattern to decide whether you're experiencing true labor.
Knowing the difference can save you an unneeded trip to the hospital. Get diet and wellness tips to help your kids stay healthy and happy. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. How to tell when labor begins. Updated May Diagnosing onset of labor: A systematic review of definitions in the research literature. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. National Institutes of Health. What are the stages of labor? Reviewed September 1, Penn Medicine. The three stages of labor. Updated August 20, Stanford Children's Health.
Overview of labor. Association of cervical effacement with the rate of cervical change in labor among nulliparous women.
Obstet Gynecol. Is it normal to feel fake contractions? Updated October Your Privacy Rights. To change or withdraw your consent choices for VerywellFamily. At any time, you can update your settings through the "EU Privacy" link at the bottom of any page.
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I Accept Show Purposes. You may want to recruit a support person to help keep you steady. Insert your index and middle finger and push your fingers deep inside as far as you can to reach your cervix. You'll want to be as gentle as possible so as not to cause any bruising or complications.
Check dilation. You're considered 1 centimeter dilated if one fingertip fits through your cervix, 2 centimeters if you can fit two fingers, and then you can measure how far apart your fingers can spread and measure from there.
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