Bubba in waiting

[kylietheplanetgirl]

I am 39 weeks preggies and have had 2 days of tightenings around my belly that have been about 10 -15 mins apart and last around 20 seconds each. I really thought that it was early labour. This morning I have awoken after a great nights sleep to nothing. No more pains. (Baby kicking away fine) Any ideas??

[drewid]

Hi

Sounds like Braxton Hicks - practice contractions. You'll know when its real labour, cos they will get more intense, and closer together!

Sending you good vibes for an easy birth :)

[Briannabear]

I agree with Nicole!
I hope everything goes nice and smoothly for you!! :)

[zenifa]

Yep, sounds like Braxton hicks to me too.
Not long to go now, all the best
Zenifa

[JanetF]

Your uterus is doing beautiful work! Each one of those tightenings tones your uterus, softens your cervix very slightly and sends more blood supply to your baby through it's placenta! Lovely! You might like to read this too :D

Go later and avoid interventions?

http://www.hencigoer.com/betterbirth/lit/#womanad

A small sample from Henci Goer's essential book, "The thinking woman's guide to a better birth."


Quote:
Women admitted to the hospital in early or prelabor may be more likely to have labor interventions.
Researchers found that among 600 healthy, first-time mothers, women laboring slowly who arrived at the hospital earlier in labor were more likely to have a diagnosis of difficult delivery (12% versus 3%), oxytocin augmentation (45% versus 30%), instrumental delivery (14% versus 9%), and c-section (16% versus 4%) than women laboring slowly who came later in labor.30 For women making rapid progress, time of arrival made no difference. Protracted labor was the reason for cesarean in seven early comers but no late comers regardless of progress rate. Researchers in another study compared outcomes in 3,800 first-time mothers at four hospitals.50 Cesarean rates ranged from 12% to 20% (average: 16%), of which three-quarters were done for poor progress. Forty percent of all cesareans were done in early labor. The authors concluded that if doctors would stop doing cesareans before active phase labor and for poor progress in the absence of fetal distress, the average cesarean rate could be halved. A third study found that use of oxytocin to augment labor declined linearly from over three-quarters of women admitted at 1 centimeter dilation or less to less than 20% of women admitted at 5 centimeters dilation or more.11 Epidural use was also strongly and inversely associated with both dilation at admission and labor augmentation. The authors of a random assignment trial in first-time mothers noted that the cesarean rate for women admitted at less than 3 centimeters dilation was 10% versus one-tenth that percentage in women admitted at 3 centimeters dilation or more.10

Two other studies have also reported that women who experience "false labor" are more likely to have oxytocin induction, augmentation, and cesarean section.4,51 Their authors concluded that women experiencing false labor were at high risk for dysfunctional labor. An equally plausible explanation is that impatience leads to a diagnosis of prolonged labor and inappropriate intervention, including cesarean section.

Finally, a trial in which over 200 women with prelabor or early labor contractions were randomly assigned to hospital admission or to be sent home found that women who were sent home were less than half as likely to be given oxytocin.39 This study is especially important because random assignment ensures that the two groups are truly similar. While cesarean rates overall were not significantly different, meaning the difference was considered due to chance, one-quarter (2 of 8) of the cesareans were done for dysfunctional labor in the group sent home versus three-quarters (8 of 11) of the cesareans in the admitted group. This occurred despite the fact that 16% of women in the "admit" group actually got sent home, and most women had epidurals in both groups, factors that would tend to flatten out differences between them.

References at the website! There are loads of them :D