Heralds of Childbirth – Is It Already? Check when to go to the hospital!

Childbirth can be predicted by characteristic symptoms. Sometimes they occur all at once, but even a few of them can alert us. Two days before childbirth, there is often anxiety, anger, extremes from lack of energy to bursting with vitality. Since you must conserve your strength for the birth, you should not succumb to them.

Your child will certainly not be as mobile as before due to the limited space. What else tells us that childbirth is imminent?

Heralds of childbirth

• The abdomen is lower than before because the bottom of the uterus, which is the highest part of the uterus, is lowered. This condition should occur several days, hours and even up to four weeks before birth. As a result, taking breaths will become easier.
• Dull pain in the back, groin and thighs results from the pressure of the baby’s head in the birth canal on the nerves. Sometimes there is abdominal pain characteristic of menstruation.
• Vomiting and diarrhea occur. It is completely natural that the body can try to cleanse itself for childbirth, which is sometimes accompanied by a weight loss of up to a kilogram.
• You should not be surprised to find pinkish or colorless mucus in large quantities.
• Sometimes the feeling of hunger intensifies because the body demands energy for childbirth, but it also happens that the mother-to-be is unable to swallow anything.
• Spots of blood appear a few hours earlier as a result of dilation and shortening of the cervix.
• The breaking of the amniotic fluid dispels any doubt that labor has begun for good. This occurs during strong uterine contractions, and sometimes before them.
• On the other hand, regular contractions should put you on alert. They usually start from the upper part of the abdomen and extend down to the lower part of the back. They get stronger over time. They start from 15 to 30 seconds, appear every 20 minutes at most, then increase to a minute and a half, with five-minute intervals between them. They appear regardless of the position you take, also when you are walking. Their strength makes it impossible to talk on the phone.

Time to go?

You don’t have to worry in advance, the doctor will tell you when you should go to the hospital. It is generally recommended to wait until contractions begin to last a minute and occur at 5-7 minute intervals.

Researchers at Yale have studied the mechanism that triggers the course of labor. It turns out that some of us have a genetic predisposition to premature birth. Ask your mom and grandma how their birth went, so you’ll probably know what to expect.