In this video, we are gonna explain which signs are early signs of labor are, why they could mean
that labor is near but why you should not rely on them predicting exactly that. Yes, in fact,
we are gonna look at 2 examples of 2 women from Nathalie’s clinic who both experienced the
so-called early signs of labor quite differently compared to other women. And we do that because
we want to prepare you in case that you too experience the early signs of labor
differently than most pregnant women do! And then afterwards, we are also gonna share with you the
only sign that you need to pay attention to, if you want to know for sure, if labor is close.
Yes! This is Nathalie, a pregnancy and birth consultant and TCM therapist, and that’s Mathias a researcher
and science geek and we love helping mommies and their babies naturally and science based!
Alright, so the 2 examples that we are gonna look at are two sisters, Olivia and Emma, who both gave
birth to 2 wonderful boys. And please note that this is not how Olivia and Emma really look like.
Their names are real, but we used random images in order to protect their identity, okay? Now,
Olivia is a first-time mom and she gave birth 2 days after her expected due date. Emma on the other hand is
a second time mom who gave birth 5 days after her expected due date. Both were naturally induced by Nathalie
at the clinic with the help of acupuncture and reflexology. Yeah! And by the way, when we say they went
into labor, we mean active labor as opposed to early labor. Active labor is when you are having
those very intense contractions and when you are dilating from about 3 to about 7cm. Right! Early labor,
on the other hand, may start hours, days or even weeks before you go into active labor,
and you may or may not feel mild to moderate contractions during that stage, as we are going
to see. Alright, so, at some point during Olivia’s late pregnancy, her husband suddenly noticed that
her belly was hanging much lower. Olivia herself on the other hand, noticed that she suddenly found
it more difficult to walk. She started feeling a sharp and shooting pain in her pelvis and vagina,
but she suddenly also found it much easier to breathe. What happened was: their baby dropped.
No, not like that! Baby dropping means that the baby has engaged in the pelvis.
It is something that is commonly known as “early sign of labor” because it is indeed a sign that
the baby gets ready for birth. Yeah! Now, in most cases, I see women go into labor within 1
or 2 weeks after their baby has dropped. However, what most women don’t know is that a baby can drop
as early as 4 weeks before delivery which is also what happened to Olivia, whose baby dropped in
week 36. Yes! Her sister Emma,
on the other hand, is a second time mom. And she was waiting and waiting and waiting for that
baby to drop so that she could finally go into labor. Except, that never happened. Because her
baby only dropped once she was already in active labor. So keep in mind that, particularly if you
are a second time mom, your baby may not drop until hours before or even after you go into
active labor. Right. Now, interestingly, the 2 sisters also had a similar experience with regard to two
other popular “early signs of labor”, namely, the mucus plug discharge and the bloody show.
The mucus plug is a jelly like substance that blocks the cervix in order to protect it from
bacteria. But as your cervix thins out and dilates 2 things are going to happen:
first, you are going to lose the mucus plug. And second, cervical dilation can make
blood vessels burst, which can cause a bit of bleeding, in other words, a “bloody show”.
And this can change the color of the mucus plug to either red or brown. Yes. And so, oftentimes,
it is said that if you lose your mucus plug, and, in particular, if it is either red or brown
because you either have or had a bloody show, then you can expect to go into labor within days,
because you are obviously dilating. And so, for many women who Nathalie treated at the clinic
that was exactly what happened. But here is what happened to Emma. Emma lost her mucus plug only
hours before she went into active labor. And guess what: it was neither red nor brown as you
would expect. It had a clear color, despite the fact that she was not only overdue, but also very
very close to active labor. And her bloody show was basically just a bloody discharge which came
hours after losing her mucus plug and after she went into active labor. Olivia on the other hand,
lost her mucus plug at the beginning of week 38 and it did have a red color which indicates
that she also had her bloody show. Still, it took her more than 2 more weeks before she went into
active labor. Yes. So as you can see, both, the mucus plug and the bloody show can be signs that
labor is near. But not necessarily. Yeah! And then from about week 36 of her pregnancy onwards, Olivia
kept complaining about diarrhea. Now, diarrhea is often seen as another early sign of labor,
because in order to soften your cervix, your body releases a hormone called prostaglandins. Right!
The problem with prostaglandins though is, that it can also cause diarrhea, or at least
the urge to empty your bowels frequently. And because of that, for many women, suffering from
diarrhea at the end of their pregnancy, can indeed mean that labor is only just days away,
because it can be a sign that their body “works their cervix”, if you will, right? Yes.
However, that was not the case for poor Olivia. She had suffered from diarrhea for almost 4 weeks
before she finally went into active labor. Why can this happen? Well, because sometimes,
cervical ripening starts several weeks before active labor. Emma on the other hand never really
suffered from diarrhea. What she did feel though was this intense urge to empty her bowels, but
only once active labor started. Now, I am tempted to say, poor Olivia, because she clearly took the
more painful route here. In fact, another thing that was much worse in her case was her backpain.
Now, backpain is probably something that you experience throughout your pregnancy, right? But
some women may experience more intense backpain towards the end of their pregnancy, which can be
another early sign of labor. And it is usually particularly an issue in women, whose baby is
sunny-side up, like it was the case for Olivia. So, what does sunny-side up mean? Well, usually,
a baby would move into the birth canal with their face facing mommy’s back. But in some pregnancies,
it’s the other way round. The baby’s face faces mommy’s belly, which is called sunny-side up.
When this happens the back of baby’s head can press towards the mother’s spine and cause severe
lower back when you are getting close to or when you are in labor. Don’t worry, a baby can still be
born that way and besides, most babies turn during labor so that they are in the correct position.
Still, back pain is gonna be an issue. Now, again, Olivia’s baby was sunny-side up and so she felt
this extreme lower back pain throughout the past 4 weeks of her pregnancy. Emma on the other hand,
did not really feel any more backpain in her late pregnancy than she was usually feeling. And so,
backpain is yet another example of a something that could be a sign that labor is close,
but not necessarily. And then finally, both, Olivia and Emma, felt very strong Braxton Hicks
contractions which gradually changed into mild contractions during the days and weeks before
active labor started. Braxton Hicks are basically false contractions which you may have felt
throughout your pregnancy. And if you are not sure how to distinguish them from real contractions,
watch our video in which we explain just that. Now, the way it normally works is that
you may experience an increase of Braxton Hicks contractions during the final days leading up to
real labor. And then normally, the Braxton Hicks contractions would gradually change into mild,
but real contractions which come in more or less regular waves. These mild, but real contractions
are a sign that you entered the early stage of labor. And then once you are in early labor,
normally, it is only a matter of days, sometimes hours until you are in active labor. And because
of that, both, an increase of Braxton Hicks contractions, as well as mild real contractions
are seen as early signs of labor. Yes. And again, this is basically what happened to both sisters
although at very different times. In Emma’s case, the Braxton Hicks contractions
started to feel much more intense once she was in week 39. Then from about week 40 onwards,
they gradually changed into contractions which were more frequent, more regular and more intense,
but still mild compared to the contractions that she finally felt in active labor.
In other words, her early labor started just days before she received acupuncture and reflexology
which sent her into real labor. Olivia on the other hand, felt an increase of Braxton Hicks
contractions already in week 36. And then they changed into mild real contractions in week 37.
So it is likely, and her midwife confirmed that by the way, that Oliva went into early labor in week
37 already. This means that she was feeling mild real contractions for almost 3 weeks before she
went into active labor. What does this mean for you? Well first of all, when you feel an increase
of Braxton Hicks contractions at the end of your pregnancy and, in particular, when you feel more
or less regular real contractions, then those could indeed be signs that active labor is near.
However, as we have seen, even when you do feel an increase of Braxton Hicks and even when you go
into early labor, it does not always mean that active labor is very close. Yes. Now, at this point,
you may ask yourself, okay, but if not even real contractions can reliably tell me that I am about
to go into active labor, what then? Well, the sign that can indeed reliably tell you if you
are about to go into active labor are real contractions. However, only if they fulfil certain criteria.
Yes. So when you are feeling real contractions, which are only just
mild or moderate intensity-wise and which come in more or less regular intervals, then what you
need to look out for is a change in that pattern. So, at the beginning of the early stage of labor,
the contractions may only just come about every half an hour. But towards the end of early labor,
they are going to become more intense, they are going to last longer, become more frequent and
more regular. Yes, so what this means is that throughout the early stage of labor,
the duration of your contractions is going to gradually change from about 30 to 90 seconds
to about 45 to 60 seconds And the frequency of your contractions is going to change from about every 30
minutes to every 5 minutes. Plus, your contractions are gonna become more intense. So, as a rule of thumb:
once you feel very intense contractions, that last about 45 to 60 seconds and come back every
4 to 5 minutes, then you are in active labor. And so, the only sign that can normally indeed
reliably tell you if active labor is only days or even just hours away, are real contractions,
if and only if you can observe that change in pattern in terms of their intensity, regularly,
frequency and duration that we just described. Alright, so we do hope that with this video,
we could reduce your concerns and fears, so that, when you observe those early signs of labor,
you understand that they are just your way of experiencing them, which may or may not
be different from how other women experience them. Yes! But, please keep in mind that if you are
having any doubts or concerns, the right thing to do is always to call your midwife or doctor. Yes!
If you have found this video helpful, we would be super grateful if you could
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