Your pregnancy has been going on for several months now. With anxiety and apprehension you are waiting for your baby. Of course, he will be the most beautiful, healthy and intelligent. For this to happen, you need to prepare in advance for childbirth, for this you need to know how to recognize the harbingers of childbirth and be able to determine their symptoms yourself.
What are the harbingers of childbirth?
The harbingers of childbirth are the totality of all those physiological changes that occur in your body just before childbirth. The process of the emergence of a new life is accompanied by such physiological processes as the opening of the cervix, the movement of the baby's fetus along the birth canal, and your body must prepare in advance for this. For the successful course of labor, it is necessary that the tissues of the birth canal become sufficiently elastic, the cervix must take the correct prenatal position, and its length must be halved. Before childbirth, the head of the fetus is lowered and pressed against the entrance to the small pelvis. All these changes in the body take place a few days before childbirth. The beginning of these changes are the first harbingers of childbirth.
False precursors of childbirth
For the beginning of the harbingers of childbirth, you can take a change in the hormonal background of a woman. In the body of a pregnant woman, the production of the hormone progesterone is sharply reduced, which ensures the normal course of pregnancy, good tone of the uterus, the production of cervical mucus and other necessary functions. Instead, the body increases the production of female sex hormones - estrogens. Female hormones are responsible for the elasticity of a woman's birth canal, and when a certain concentration of these hormones is reached in the body, a nerve impulse appears, which serves as a signal for the start of labor pains.
I would like to warn suspicious women that all the symptoms of precursors of childbirth can pass in a weakened form, when pregnant women may not notice them against the background of their emotional or physical state. The absence or imperceptible for a woman the course of symptoms of precursors of childbirth is not a pathology and cannot serve as a reason for an emergency visit to a doctor. The very appearance of the harbingers of childbirth is not a guarantee that in the next hours or days you will become a mother. It all depends on the individual structure of the body, the course of pregnancy and many other factors. As practice shows, after you have the first harbingers of childbirth, it can take from two hours to two weeks before the baby is born.
Dangerous symptoms that require an urgent visit to a specialist
- severe abdominal pain
- bloody discharge from the genital tract (regardless of their amount),
- high temperature (above 37.5 ° C.),
- a jump in blood pressure above 130/80,
- headache,
- nausea,
- vomiting
- visual impairment
- increased heart rate (over 100 beats per minute),
- a significant increase in edema,
- suspicion of leakage of amniotic fluid,
- cessation or a sharp decrease in fetal movement or a sharp increase in its activity.
How to recognize the harbingers of childbirth?
Weight loss. A well-controlled indicator of the first precursors of childbirth is a decrease in body weight, which occurs due to a decrease in the production of the hormone progesterone, which is responsible for the accumulation of excess fluid in the body. The reduction in fluid loss can be easily seen when you find it easier to put on your shoes or easier to put on a tight ring on your toe. Weight loss before childbirth can reach 2.5 kg.
Stool change. Loss of fluid can be accompanied by relaxation and increased frequency of stools up to 2-3 times a day. More frequent urge to defecate with the simultaneous appearance of nausea and vomiting should be the reason for immediate referral to a specialist.
The harbinger of childbirth is the appearance of sensations, which in common parlance are called "abdominal ptosis". These sensations appear as a result of the lowering of the fundus of the uterus, which, on the eve of childbirth, takes the most advantageous position for it. This process is accompanied by increased urination due to increased pressure on the bladder.
One of the symptoms of precursors of childbirth is the release of a mucous plug. During pregnancy, the glands of the lumen of the cervix constantly secrete a special secret that serves as a protective barrier against the penetration of bacteria into the uterine cavity. Before childbirth, the cervical canal opens slightly and the mucous fluid comes out. The process itself can take place simultaneously or gradually throughout the day. During this period, it is recommended that a pregnant woman refrain from taking a bath, visiting the pool, and limiting hygiene procedures to a shower.
The appearance of precursors, training or false contractions is also a reliable sign of precursors of labor. These contractions are a manifestation of a single contraction of the uterine wall, and do not cause the cervix to open. During such a contraction, the stomach becomes firm to the touch, and after the contraction, it completely relaxes. False contractions, in contrast to the real ones - birth, are painless, irregular and quickly pass without causing a deterioration in the state of health of the expectant mother. They appear for several days before childbirth, usually in the evening or morning hours. Often this phenomenon is accompanied by uncomfortable pulling sensations in the lumbar region, sacrum or lower abdomen. This is due to the stretching of the pelvic ligaments and the rush of blood to the abdomen.
The main thing is that you must learn that you should not be afraid of the listed changes in your body, you need to know them well and listen to your condition before childbirth, and then your child will be born beautiful and healthy.
