Signs of Labour: Some Things You Can’t Miss

At an advanced stage of pregnancy, every little move in your body can trigger signs of labour. These may or may not turn out to be the final push, and there really isn’t a way to tell the difference until it happens. However, this final stage of pregnancy is not as frightfully risky as many first-time mothers picture it either. In short, your body will know when the time is up, unless otherwise provoked.

The Signs

For first pregnancies, the early signs of labour will appear a few weeks prior to actual delivery. This is almost nature’s way of declaring that the baby is ready for the world, but is simply sitting tight for the moment until the weather clears up a bit.

This announcement is most pronounced in the descent of the foetus into the pelvic region. You will experience a palpable ease in breathing as well as an absence of heartburn, because your thorax finally has enough space for air and gastric juices to take their rightful throne. Your uterus will literally soften up as it braces itself for labour.

But there is now even less room in your abdomen, to the extent of continual aching. You will be visiting the bathroom for all sorts of reasons even more often, and your limbs will start to swell up a bit due to circulatory changes.

Vaginal discharges at this stage should increase, with a clear or pink tone. Phlegmatic colours may indicate an infection and requires an immediate visit to your doctor.

But the most unnerving sign of labour is early contractions. Essentially, your uterus is performing a dress rehearsal by contracting from the bottom upwards. This could occur as early as three or four weeks before the due date, but unlike actual labour, lying down usually makes it go away.

The final curtain call is the water breaking, even though contractions may not occur. In this case, these have to be induced artificially. If there is one definitive sign of labour, this is it, and nothing else matters.