What causes contractions?
Although your uterus doesn’t contract for the majority of your pregnancy as it expands as the home for your growing baby, the uterus is still a muscle and is never completely inactive.
By the time you are seven weeks pregnant, your uterus will have occasional mild contractions that you mostly won’t notice. As your pregnancy progresses, these contractions may be felt as “tightenings” that will often be quite random. Later in your pregnancy they will become more rhythmic but still will not make your cervix dilate like it does during birth, so there is nothing to worry about and won’t harm your baby.
Why do I have contractions?
The main functions of contractions are to provide the force necessary to push your baby through your birth canal, and to help efface and dilate your cervix. Your cervix is the lower narrow part of your uterus that sits at the lower entrance to the birth canal that joins with the top part of your vagina. It is shaped a little like a cone and is often around 4cm in length. It has an internal and external opening which are both usually closed until labour starts, at which point the internal one begins to open first (effacement) followed by the external one (dilatation.) This is how it typically happens, but it can be slightly different, which is still totally normal!
What can contractions feel like approaching labour?
Contractions that eventually lead to your baby being born will feel much stronger than the irregular “Braxton Hicks” ones that you may have felt at earlier points in your pregnancy. As you move into active labour you will start to experience contractions at increasingly shorter intervals and they will become longer and more intense.
A typical pattern for latent labour is irregular mild contractions that can happen every 20-30 minutes to every few minutes and last around 20-30 seconds. As your labour moves from being latent to active in the first stage, the contractions will begin to establish a regular pattern. They will increase in strength, length, and frequency until they are happening about once every 2-3 minutes, and last anywhere from 30-90 seconds.
When a contraction begins, you will probably find it is painless for several seconds and will then build up like a wave reaching its crest. As it subsides it becomes painless again. You can feel it by placing a hand on your bump, and it will begin to go hard before the onset of pain.
A contraction starts in the top of your uterus (called the ‘fundus’ – but it might not feel very much like fun!) and moves downwards through the uterus. This action allows the cervix to dilate and efface, and the strength of the contractions helps to expel your baby. You may feel discomfort at the base of your bump and in your vagina - this is your cervix effacing and dilating because of the pressure of your baby’s head pressing down. In between contractions is painless, and a good time to relax and get into your “zone” to ride the wave again!
Spurious Labour or “false starts”
Many women can experience contractions before the onset of labour. They can be uncomfortable or even painful, and can even seem regular for a time. They may come every 10-20 minutes and sometimes closer together, which can lead you to think your labour has commenced properly. However, the two things that will be different from true labour are no cervical dilatation and effacement. The contractions are real, but they have not yet settled into a rhythmic pattern that can affect the cervix.
Coping with contractions
There are a lot of different ways to handle contractions and the method you choose may depend on what stage you’re at in your labour. In latent labour, it is best to try to ignore them as long as possible and to carry on with your daily activities or find ways to distract yourself from engaging completely while your body makes the transition to active labour. Going for a walk, preparing food, having a bath, or just hanging out with a loved one may be good distractions.
As your contractions increase, it’s time for your support person to provide you with positive energy and praise! Meanwhile, follow your instincts by adopting a comfortable position or movements of choice such as hip swaying or shifting on an exercise ball.
Relaxation, visualization, self-hypnosis and meditation strategies that you may have practiced during pregnancy can become very useful now. Also, using your breath is a fantastic coping strategy! With the start of each contraction, take a deep breath and slowly release it. Continue to breathe throughout the contraction and focus on your breaths as they go in and out. Have your support person remind you to loosen and relax your shoulders so you don’t tense up. As each contraction subsides, really try to release any tension in your body along with it.
Now that you know what is happening and why, you may find it easier to concentrate on dispelling your fears and anxiety. Trust yourself and your body! This can allow the process to happen naturally. Keep in mind that high fear and anxiety levels can release adrenalin which interferes with oxytocin - the natural hormone that you’ll need to drive your contractions - which may end up prolonging your labour.
Some women find massage helps them get through this part of their labour, while others prefer to have a shower or bath. It is best to start with gentle methods to cope with contractions before moving your way up to considering different drug options available to you for pain relief in labour.
For more information about different pain relief options available to you, you can go to tips to get through labour, and speak with your midwife or doctor. Our midwife at Kariclub would also be happy to talk with you about both drug and drug-free methods of pain relief.