When am I acutally in labor?

The Pregnancy Book for later.

Many times women find themselves returning from the hospital with the baby still in the belly. The signs for labor are quite tricky, especially for first-timers, and in some cases you can only know for certain if it is or isn't your day of labor by getting checked in the hospital. So how will you tell when the time comes to be on your way to the maternity ward?

There are a number of changes that occur around the time of labor, and there are two clear signs for labor: regular contractions and water breaking. In this article we will specify both kinds of signs.

What happens in the weeks and days before labor?

In Labor First of all, your tummy drops as your baby gets into the proper position for delivery at the end of the third trimester. You might notice yourself breathing more easily, however the pressure on your bladder may increase. The second sign is a bloody discharge from the vagina. This is actually the defending layer of the uterus releasing itself hours or days before the actual labor begins.

Why are Contractions so Tricky?

Throughout the pregnancy many women experience contractions called Braxton Hicks. These contractions are part of your pregnancy from the very beginning, but may be sensed only in the second half of your pregnancy. The Braxton Hicks contractions may cause some discomfort at times, but for most women they are not very disturbing. Your uterus tightens up a bit and hardens until the contraction relaxes. These "false" contractions and other phenomena may make you think you are in labor before you actually are.

The best way to tell the difference between contractions which predict delivery and those which don't is regularity. If contractions occur in regular intervals, it is a sign that you should be on your way to the hospital. The length of time between the contractions does not necessarily suggest delivery. You may have contractions after three minutes and then after ten minutes – this is a sign that you are not in labor, however regular contractions every 8 minutes are a sign that the baby is on the way. Going to the hospital when uncertainty arises is possibly the best option, since in many cases only the hospital monitor can tell if you really are really in labor.

Water Breaking

This is probably the clearest sign for pregnancy, although even this sign could be sometimes mistaken. If you are used to problems of incontinency, or even if not, you might mistake water breaking with leaking urine. Water breaking is a distinct gushing that can not be mistaken. In any case, if you think your amniotic fluid is leaking or coming out, you should go to the hospital. The amniotic fluid is what protects you and your baby against possible infection, so the fact that it is coming out, even if labor hasn't began, needs to be monitored by your healthcare provider.

Trying to assess when exactly you are in labor is the first in a long chain of decisions you will have to make, in which certainty is less than obvious.