What are Braxton-Hicks contractions?
Braxton-Hicks are practice contractions that some women experience starting mid-pregnancy. Watch this video featuring nurse midwife Paula Greer to learn how to tell Braxton-Hicks contractions from the real thing.
Transcript
Braxton-Hicks contractions do not change your cervix. They're your practice contractions to help you get ready for the lower event.
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Braxton-Hicks contractions actually start in the middle of the pregnancy at a time most people don't even realize they are experiencing them.
The uterus is a muscle and it practices its contractions throughout the pregnancy. Most of the time, mom may only notice that
as a slight tightening of her belly and think that the baby was just balling up. As her pregnancy progresses, these practice contractions
become stronger, to the point that she may notice when they come and when they go, but they're not really painful.
Toward the end of the pregnancy, Braxton hicks contractions can actually mimic real true labor contractions, hence
the pain, hence the false trip to the hospital to be told this was not really time and this was not really it.
How did they know it was in time? Your cervix didn't change. Braxton-Hicks contractions do not change your cervix.
That's not what gets the job done. They're your practice contractions to help you get ready for the lower event.
It may help your cervix to thin out. It may help you lose the mucus plug. It may help push the baby lower and into position
so that they're a good thing to have because that brings you closer to having the baby. Braxton-Hicks contractions will usually
change or go away if you change your level of activity, if you drink some water, soak in the tub
or shower, or eat something. True labor will not go away no matter what you do. You can take that shower.
You can walk. You can climb in bed and rest. You can eat and drink but those contractions will get closer and stronger, will open and dilate
your cervix, may cause some bloody show or even break your bag of water. In true labor, nobody ever asks, is this really labor?
So if you're asking yourself the question, is this a Braxton-Hicks contraction? It probably is.
pregnancy
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