Early Labor Signs

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW

Causes

Signs

• Lightening: This is when your ""baby drops.'' You may feel as if your baby has dropped lower into your abdomen. Your clothes may fit differently. You may find it easier to breathe, but may need to urinate more often. This can happen a few weeks to a few hours before labor starts.
• Bloody Show: This is also called ""show'' or ""mucus plug.'' It is a thick plug of mucus that forms in your cervix (bottom part of your uterus) during pregnancy. As your cervix gets softer and starts to open, this mucus plug will come out. You will see clear, pink, or slightly bloody mucus coming from your vagina. This may happen up to 3 days before labor begins or at the start of labor.
• Rupture of Membranes: This is when your ""water breaks.'' The bag of water is the water-like sack that surrounds your baby during pregnancy. When it leaks or breaks, you may feel a slow trickle from your vagina or a sudden gush of warm fluid. This may happen several hours before labor starts or any time during labor.
• Braxton-Hicks Labor Pains: These are called false-labor pains or contractions. You probably have had them during your pregnancy. As labor gets closer, these pains may get stronger and closer together. You will know they are not true labor pains because they go away when you walk around or rest. They often go away when you try to sleep. Braxton-Hicks pains are usually felt in your abdomen but not in your back.
• Energy Burst: You may have a burst of energy several days before labor begins.

Care

WHAT YOU SHOULD DO

Call Your Doctor If...

• Your bag of water breaks even though you are not having contractions or labor pains. Tell your doctor what color the fluid is when your bag of water breaks. Do not douche, take a bath (showering is fine), or have sex.
• You are bleeding from your vagina. You do not need to call if you have passed the mucus plug.
• Your labor pains (called contractions) are hard, regular, and going from your front to your back. Your doctor will tell you how frequently your contractions should be coming and how long they should be lasting before you call him or her.
• You have severe, constant pain rather than contractions that come and go.
• You do not feel your baby is moving as much as usual.