Labour: is it or isn't it?

Your due date's fast approaching, and suddenly you're hyper sensitive to every twinge and movement... but is it really labour? Check out our simple guide below.

Symptom What is it? Is it labour?

Vomiting and diarrhoea


It's your body's natural way of having a clear out to before labour.

Getting the runs isn't pleasant, but it does save you the embarrassment of pooing in labour.
It's a sure sign that labour is on the way, but it could be minutes or hours away.

A show  
 A protective plug of pinky-white mucus streaked with a little blood that has been plugging the cervix during pregnancy.		    It's not always a sure sign. It's merely an indications that your cervix's beginning to open up a little and could happen a few weeks before you go into labour.
 
Waters breaking
 For around 10% of women, waters breaking is the first sign they're in labour. The membranes surrounding your baby have been pressed down, the pressure builds up, and the bag pops. You'll feel a slight pop and then a gush or trickle of warm, clear fluid.		 Whether it's a gush or a trickle you should call your midwife, who'll advise you whether you need to go into hospital yet or not. Once the protective membrane sac has broken, both you and the baby are more at risk of infection.
Contractions
   Getting contractions is probably the most common way of going into labour. Your practice contractions - Braxton Hicks - may have begun a couple of weeks earlier. Your real contractions may begin irregularly - you may get several then none for about half an hour. They usually feel like a tight belt under your bump and around the small of your back, being drawn tighter, gripping for around 20 seconds and then released. 		 When these contractions hit a regular pattern, every two to five minutes or less and last 60 to 90 seconds or more, you know your labour is established, becoming stronger and more intense as the interval between them gets shorter. This is the time when you should call your community midwife or the hospital and let them know what's happening.

Cervix dilation
   The cervix is a thick-walled canal, about two centimetres long and firmly closed. In the last few weeks of pregnancy, hormones may soften your cervix, with the help of your Braxton Hicks contractions. 		The intense contractions of first-stage labour are needed to dilate and thin the cervix. Dilation is measured in centimetres from 0-10. Your cervix will dilate to about 4cm in the early stages of labour, progress to 8cm in the next, active phase, and then becomes fully dilated during the final, transitional phase. This is when you're ready to push your baby out.

Alex Antoniou
Courtesy of Pregnancy & birth magazine