How to Tell If Your Body Is Ready To Go Into Labor

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Patience
More Patience
Did I mention Patience??

Step 1

Have you started "nesting"? For reasons still unknown, some women experience a burst of energy, together with an urgent desire to clean, organize, and prepare for the baby, usually a day or two before going into labor. Most don't recognize it except in hindsight, and some never get it at all.
Step 2

Has the baby "dropped"? Sometimes referred to as "lightening" or "engagement", a baby will drop lower into the pelvic cavity towards the end of pregnancy, in preparation for birth. But don't get too excited yet: this can happen up to 4 to 6 weeks prior to delivery. For some women, it's easy to tell because suddenly they are able to draw a deep breath again, without the baby pressing into their lungs. It's common to experience a perpetual feeling of having to go to the bathroom, since the baby's head may now be putting direct pressure on the bladder or rectum. Some constantly feel like the baby is just going to "fall out". This is when you see the infamous "pregnancy waddle". Don't despair if you haven't experienced this yet. For some women, the baby doesn't "drop" until they're already in active labor (especially for a second or subsequent pregnancy).
Step 3

"How much are you dilated?" becomes a popular question towards the end of pregnancy. Truth be told, dilation (how wide your cervix has opened so far) only tells you that you are making progress: it does not tell you how soon your labor will begin or baby will be born. A woman can stay dilated up to 4cm for weeks, without going into labor. Some may spend hours of labor just getting to 6cm, and then go from 6 to 10 within minutes. So honestly, checking the cervix for dilation towards the end of pregnancy is optional, and really just a curiosity factor.
Step 4

Effacement refers to the "thinning" of the cervix, and is actually a better indicator of your body's readiness for labor than dilation. As long as the cervix remains thick and hard, the baby cannot pass through. As your body prepares for birth, the cervix will begin to soften and thin out, a process that can take place over days or weeks. It is measured from "0% effaced" (not at all) to "100% effaced" (completely).
Step 5

Soon after pregnancy begins, the body seals off the uterus by forming a thick plug of mucus in the cervix. This protects the baby from bacteria and infections which may be present in the birth canal. As the body prepares for labor, this mucus plug thins and falls out. For some women, it is a runny discharge that they barely notice. For others, it's a dramatic, blood-stained glob. Losing the plug is a good indication that labor is coming soon, but there's no way to tell whether it will be days or weeks.
Step 6

Are you having more Braxton Hicks than usual? Remember that there is no such thing as a "useless" contraction. Every one brings you one step closer, and helps your body and baby prepare for birth. Towards the end of pregnancy, frequent Braxton Hicks can be annoying, but they help to position the baby and dilate the cervix so that there's less work to be done once labor really gets going.
Step 7

What some women refer to as "false labor" is actually Prodromal or Latent Labor - sporratic, drawn out, early labor. Even though it may be exhausting or annoying, believe it or not, it's actually a GOOD thing! Why? Because rather than do all this work at once in a lengthy "hard" labor, your body is spacing it out and giving you more breaks in between.

You may feel like you're not getting anywhere (not fast enough, anyway), but you're actually making productive progress. Even if you're not dilating, it's possible that your uterus is contracting in order to turn the baby into a better position for birthing, so don't ever discount the work that your body is doing.

Also, what some women consider "false labor" (the kind that gets you sent home from the hospital) is actually interrupted or "stalled" labor. Adrenaline inhibits labor, so all the excitement and anxiety of rushing to the hospital, being poked and prodded in a strange medical setting, can be enough to cause your labor to stop completely. Labor is very psychological, as well. If you feel threatened or unsafe, it is possible for your body to regress, such as going from 9cm back to 6cm. This is nature's way of making sure your baby is born into a setting where you feel safe. Make sure your labor is well established before going to the hospital, and have a good emotional support system in place, such as a doula.
Step 8

Hollywood loves the drama of a pregnant woman's water breaking in some public place, followed by a harried ride to the hospital just in time. In reality, it rarely works that way. Less than 10% of women have their amniotic sac rupture before labor begins. Still, if this happens to you, have a mutual agreement with your doctor (in advance) of how much time you can wait to go into labor on your own, before risking induction. If you stay at home, you are already immune to most of your own germs, far more than at the hospital. DO NOT INSERT ANYTHING INTO THE VAGINA, not even a tampon or finger. Without the bag of waters for protection, your baby is vulnerable to infection introduced into the birth canal. Cervical checks should also be kept to a minimum at this point.

Comments

applepiealamode said

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on 1/12/2010 This was very helpful ! I didn't know that you could be dilated to almost 9 cm, and if your tense or the environment isn't safe ; you could go back to 6 cm again.

on 9/24/2009 This is totally unscientific but over the years I have observed, on myself and others, that labor is imminent when the mother-to-be's lips get all puffy. I have predicted several births just by noticing the mom looked like she just had collagen injections. LOL! 5*