A false labor can occur at the end of pregnancy and be painful for the pregnant woman. This one will feel quite strong contractions which can make think that the childbirth is close. Explanations and advice from Anh-Chi Ton, midwife.
In end of pregnancysome pregnant women may have a “false labor”. It is strong, painful and regular contractionswhich make you think of the beginning of labor and that you are about to give birth… But in reality, they have no effect on the cervix and the onset of childbirth. How to recognize a fake job from a “real” job? How long does it take before going to the delivery room? How turn fake labor into real labor? The answers of Anh-Chi Ton, midwife.
What is false labor before childbirth?
“We talk about false labor when there are rather strong, intense, regular, painful uterine contractions, but have no effect on the cervix and then stop“, explains Anh-Chi Ton, midwife. However, the midwife wants to qualify this expression, which can have a negative connotation. “We commonly use the expression ‘false work’, but I don’t find it really relevant. It somehow implies that what the woman is going through is wrong and unnecessary or that her body is ‘not working well’, when it’s quite the opposite!”she adds.
“We speak of false labor when there are strong, intense, regular and painful uterine contractions, but which have no effect on the cervix and which then stop.”
What do false labor contractions look like?
During false labor, uterine contractions felt by the future mother are “intense, regular, painful”. “They can be considered as training contractions, like the premises of what awaits her on D-Day. They allow the woman to better know her body and prepare for what she will feel on the day of delivery“, details the caregiver. ease the pain which is very real preparatory contractions, the midwife recommends:
- Practice breathing exercises seen in childbirth preparation session.
- Make movements with the ball.
- Do acupressure.
- Stretching, massage, hot bath may also be beneficial
- If the contractions are very painful, it is possible to take a spasfon or Doliprane.
How long can false labor last?
False labor which is represented by uterine contractions “last several hours”and can be repeated over several dayseven a few weeks before delivery.
What is the delay between false labor and delivery?
THE delay between false labor and delivery varies from woman to woman. A false labor doesn’t really give any indication of when the real labor will start. “At the time, one cannot know that it is a false labor. The diagnosis is made a posteriori when the contractions stop“, indicates the midwife. “Most of the time, we are talking about only a few days, but it is not systematic. For some women, it may take longer Several weeks“ before initiating the delivery, she underlines.
“Most of the time it’s just a few days, sometimes several weeks.”
There is no magic bullet to turn false labor quickly into real labor. On the other hand, for help the cervix open at the end of the pregnancy and as the birth approaches, the mother-to-be can do some exercises to dilate the cervix, such as walking, sitting on a gym ball, or even drinking raspberry herbal tea, which is said to be effective in inducing labor contractions.
False labor for several weeks, what to do?
It happens that the false labor lasts and that the pains intensify more and more. In this case, the midwife advises going to the maternity ward, even if the mother-to-be has already been examined. “If the techniques already mentioned do not work, we can offer pain management with the Nubain®, an opioid analgesic used to treat severe pain. It is only prescribed as a last resort and involves a strict medical supervision because it can cause drowsiness in the mother and the future baby”, comments the specialist.
Testimonials from pregnant women about false labor
On the Health and pregnancy forum from the Journal des Femmes, a mother-to-be shared her fake labor testimony she experienced during her pregnancy. “I just think I’m in false labour. I’m at 35 weeks +4 and called the hospital early this morning as I started having painful contractions since 7:30am. It’s been almost 12 hours since I’m in a lot of pain and the pain has intensified compared to this morning I’ve been told that a hot bath, rest and sleeping on my left side should help get these kinds of contractions going, but nothing is working for the moment.”
A message that was heard by another Internet user, a mother, who in turn shared her experience of false labor: “For my part, I had an intense false labor at the end of my first pregnancy, I waited 5 p.m. False contractions went well before delivery. A first childbirth is always long. For my 4 other pregnancies, I still had intense false labor with back pain from time to time, but shorter (about 20 minutes of false labor) spread over the 3rd trimester of pregnancy. The false contractions occurred in the evening after a hard day. The only advice to give is to breathe, rest either lying on your side or on your back. It all depends where the pain is felt. The only way for me to relieve myself was to walk!”
Thanks to Anh-Chi Ton, liberal midwife in Paris.