How Will I Know if I'm in Labour?

Prelude to Labour

Before you actually go into labour, you may experience some signs alerting you that your body is preparing for baby to be born. These are not events that will happen to everyone, but about 2-3 weeks before baby is due, one or more of the following may occur:

• Lightening - the engagement of baby's head in your pelvis. You may notice that you can breathe more easily, and that you are urinating more frequently. Others may tell you they see a change in your shape, commenting that you’ve "dropped".

• Increased Braxton-Hicks contractions - irregular contractions of the uterus which women describe as strong but, not painful. For some women, they begin early in pregnancy becoming more frequent as the months of pregnancy pass.

• Increased vaginal discharge - a creamy white discharge from the vagina which begins during the middle part of pregnancy.

• Loss of weight - a 2-3 pound weight loss believed to be related to a shift of fluids in your body.

• Decreased activity of baby - an opportunity for baby to conserve energy before the work of labour and delivery. Contact the doctor if baby stops moving for a day.

• "Nesting instinct" - a burst of energy as you prepare for baby’s arrival

Onset of Labour

Labour has begun if you experience one of these 3 signs: 

• Contractions

As labour begins, contractions may be felt as mild menstrual-like cramps, gas or intestinal upset. It is easy to confuse these early contractions with intestinal upset because soft bowel movements often accompany the beginning of labour. You may feel these contractions in the back or in the front, just behind the pubic bone. At first, these contractions may be irregular, but as they continue they will become stronger, longer, more frequent and develop into a regular pattern.

• The "water" breaks 

The amniotic sac may rupture releasing the fluid in a gush or a small trickle. This can happen at any time during labour.

• "Show"

The vaginal discharge may become pink-tinged. This bleeding is from small blood vessels in the cervix which break as it opens.

False Labour or Pre-labour

During the last weeks of pregnancy, some women experience false labour which would be better named pre-labour because these contractions prepare a woman's body for labour.

Despite the benefits, the disadvantage is in distinguishing prelabour from labour. A pregnant woman can be fairly confident that you are experiencing pre-labour if:

The contractions tend to be irregular, and are not increasing in either frequency or strength   The contractions stop if you become active or change position   Your "show", if any, is brownish and probably caused by some earlier bleeding from the cervix because of a vaginal exam or intercourse.