“You will know when labour starts” is one of those trite generalisations that I see said over and over to expectant first time mothers.
Sure, 65% of the time, it’s obvious that a contraction is a contraction. But what about all the mothers who don’t instantly know that they’re in labour? Here are some real examples of times when a woman may not know she’s in labour:
- A woman may have absolutely no painful contractions and instead feel the need to push. Rare, but it does happen.
- Some women experience braxton hicks (false contractions) that are more painful than than real ones. So when real ones arrive, they think it’s still false labor.
- Back labor – if baby is posterior (baby’s back to mama’s back) often the only signs of labor are annoying and painful back ache.
- The general adage is that real contractions should be regular and slowly get closer together. However some women experience contractions which are irregular all the way till they give birth.
- Prodromal labor – this is a type of labor that can go for weeks or months, often with peaks that feel like real labor but then go away. Most women who experience this do go on to have a very short labor … when real labor starts, anyway.
- Precipitate labor – when women birth in a very short time period (usually under two hours) it’s quite common for them to go from “Ouch that hurts a little” to “This baby is coming right now” very quickly.
- Her waters begin to leak and she only has minor contractions (keep in mind that only 10% of labors begin with the amniotic sac breaking as it’s designed to protect the baby from the force of labor.)
The advice to first time mothers should run more along the lines of “You may not know when labor starts, but most of the time you’ll be able to tell once it’s established!”
I personally have experienced the feeling of “Wait, is this really labour?”
With my first daughter I knew within two contractions. With my second daughter I had contractions that were impossible to time – they’d be one minute apart then they’d be three minutes apart and add to that the fact I’d been having bad braxton hicks all that week, I really wasn’t sure.
I refused to ask my midwife to come to the hospital until I’d arrived. I sat in the gardens at the front of the hospital, trying to decide if I really was in labour – I felt I’d look like an idiot if I wasn’t! Fortunately I was in labour, and two and a half hours after contractions began, my second daughter was born.
Susannah is a certified Birth Doula through Childbirth International and the founder of Trimester Talk. With a background in journalism and digital strategy, she combines evidence-based research with real-world knowledge to create accessible content about pregnancy and parenting. She’s a mother of two and stepmother of two more, all of them now teenagers.