Learning About False Labor

12/7/09

Last Thursday I began having consistent contractions, so my husband and I started timing them. They continued for an hour and ten minutes at a steady interval of five minutes apart. I called my doctor’s office with the details, and was told to proceed to the hospital. The only thing was, I could still talk and walk during these contractions, but I followed my physician’s advice and went to the hospital with my bag and exercise ball in tow. The result was the nurse sent us home after monitoring me and baby (we were both fine) and checking my cervix, which had not started to dilate. 

In the days following, I’ve done some research on this event known as false labor or pre-labor. Baby Center has an article about it, which explains that it’s common for Braxton Hicks contractions to get more intense and more frequent as the due date approaches. Contractions may even become intermittently more rhythmic, relatively close together, and even painful (a lot like real labor), but unlike true labor, the contractions do not grow consistently longer, stronger, and closer together. The key word there being consistently. Of course, talking with your doctor about what’s going on is never a bad idea, but keep in mind that time and degree of pain is a pretty solid indicator of when you’re dealing with false labor versus real. 

It was also good to find out there is a positive side to these pre-labor contractions—they generally help the cervix soften, thin out, and even dilate a bit, making real labor when it actually happens shorter.