H! In this video I'm going to be talking to you about prodromal labour. This is sometimes called
false labor so I'm going to be explaining how you can tell the difference between false labour
and true labour. If you're new here my name's Anja and I'm a hypnobirthing practitioner. Please
consider subscribing to my channel and clicking the bell icon so you don't miss my weekly videos.
I'm here to support you through pregnancy, birth and motherhood. So prodromal labour is a labour that
starts and stops before fully active labor begins. The reason that it's called false labour is
because you'll actually be getting contractions that can be flowing in a regular pattern for a
number of hours but then they suddenly disappear and your labour doesn't end up progressing.
Prodromal labour can often cause quite a lot of confusion and frustration because you are getting
regular contractions so you might be thinking "It's time for me to go to the hospital or the birth
centre" and even experience mothers, who have given birth in the past, end up calling their birth team
and heading to the hospital thinking that true labour has actually started. Prodromal labour is
pretty common and it can occur days or even weeks before true labour begins. For example, in my case, I
experienced prodromal labour at 36 and 37 weeks of pregnancy and my contractions would normally
start around 9.00 pm at night and iId be having regular contractions that were eight minutes apart
until around midnight - but then those contractions would completely disappear.
I'd be able to fall asleep and sleep through to the next day but then at 9pm the next day I'd
start having the same contraction pattern over and over again. I think this was largely due to the
fact that my daughter wasn't quite in the optimal head down position ready for birth so my uterus
was contracting to try and manoeuvre my daughter into the best head down position ready for labour
and birth. What makes false labour contractions different to true labour contractions is that
false labor contractions stop. They might follow a regular pattern for a number of hours like I
just mentioned but then they completely disappear. True labour contractions do not stop. They continue
to follow a regular pattern and they get closer together longer and stronger as the hours go by.
Research suggests that prodromal labour could be caused by a number of different factors.
The first possible reason is that your baby is in a breech presentation in the womb which means that
they're bum first or feet first or that they're head down but in a back to back presentation.
It's thought that your uterus contracts in an attempt to manoeuvre your baby into the best
head down position facing your back but, if it proves unsuccessful, your womb stops contracting.
Another reason that you might experience prodromal labour is if you have an uneven pelvis
an unusually shaped womb or you've got some kind of uterine abnormality.
A third theory is that fear or anxiety is bringing on premature contractions
and fourthly if you've been pregnant before and your uterus has changed due to these previous
pregnancies, you are more likely to experience prodromal labour for some reason. Prodromal
labour isn't usually cause for concern and it's not considered to cause your baby any distress
but if you were feeling concerned for whatever reason please do contact your care team straight
away. Because false labour contractions can start about a month before true labour begins,
there's no concrete way of really predicting when your actual labour will start and for that reason
it's a really good idea to know what the tell-tale signs of true labor are so I recommend that you
watch my labor signs video for more information about that :) Thankfully, I was aware of prodromal
labour and I didn't end up contacting my care team unnecessarily. I was also able to stay calm and
relaxed because I knew how to look after myself as I was experiencing these false labour contractions.
Now I'm going to share my top tips with you so you can deal with prodromal labour successfully...
My first tip is to make sure that you stay well- hydrated and well-nourished because dealing
with false labour contractions can be tiring and draining. Make sure that you're sipping on water
regularly and you're eating little and often to keep your energy levels up. My next tip is
to make sure that you're using your Up Breathing hypnobirthing technique to help you to stay calm
and relaxed during your contractions. My third tip is to catch up on rest when you're not having any
contractions so if it's during the day this might mean taking a nap or if it's night time
going back to bed and sleeping as long as you can. If you experience prodromal labour during the day,
it's a really good idea to stay mobile and upright so this could mean going for a walk close to home,
gently bouncing on your birth ball, doing some other birth ball exercises or doing a little bit
of gentle yoga. If you know that you have a breech baby, I would advise you to watch my
birth ball videos to help encourage your baby to turn head down and I'll link these videos in
the video description below. I guess my final piece of advice is to be patient with your body
and patient with your baby and to know that your baby will arrive when he or she is ready :)
Whilst prodromal labour can be really annoying and physically and emotionally tiring,
I tried to focus on the positives as much as possible and it also got me used to using my
hypnobirthing breathing exercises during actual contractions. This meant that I felt much
better prepared for when true labour started. Thanks so much for watching this video! I hope that you
found it useful and informative. If you've got any questions about prodromal labour leave me
a message in the comments section beneath this video and I will get back to you as soon as I can.
If you want to find out more about hypnobirthing so you and your partner can be
thoroughly prepared for your labour and birth, why not sign up to my next free hypnobirthing
taster session on zoom? I run two every single month and you can sign up to my next one
by clicking the link to my website in the video description. Take care and see you in my next video :)