Signs of childbirth

Dr. rer. nat. Daniela Oesterle is a molecular biologist, human geneticist and trained medical editor. As a freelance journalist, she writes texts on health topics for experts and laypeople and edits specialist scientific articles by doctors in German and English. She is responsible for the publication of certified advanced training courses for medical professionals for a renowned publishing house.

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Contractions in the last few weeks of pregnancy are suspicious signs: the birth may be imminent - or is it just early contractions? Many women are unsure about this. Because especially in the last legs of pregnancy, there are sometimes severe pre-pains that are confusingly similar to the so-called opening pains. Read more about labor and other birth signs that herald the coming of the offspring here.

Possible harbingers of birth

A few weeks before the birth, the child changes position, and the female body begins to adjust to the birth. Pregnant women can feel these changes more or less clearly: The abdomen lowers, which makes breathing easier. At the same time, however, the child's pressure on the bladder and intestines increases the urge to urinate and defecate. Fatigue and a feeling of heaviness, insomnia and loss of appetite or general restlessness are further harbingers. Not all women notice these changes. On the other hand, rupture of the bladder, the discharge of mucous plugs and contractions are recognizable and typical signs for all pregnant women.

Birth: clear signs

A clear sign of birth is the expulsion of the mucous plug that closes the cervix during pregnancy. One to two days before the birth or on the day of the birth at the latest, it loosens and becomes slimy, followed by light bleeding. This process is also called drawing.

A rupture of the bladder before labor induces labor (premature rupture of the bladder) also heralds the approaching birth. In this case you should go to the hospital as soon as possible and inform your midwife and the treating doctor. Because if the bladder ruptures prematurely, an ascending infection can endanger the child and mother.

Lower and forward pains

As early as the 20th week of pregnancy, irregular contractions set in, which increase significantly in regularity and intensity as the pregnancy progresses.About three to four weeks before the birth, the so-called lowering pains begin, which affect the change in position of the child and the lowering of the abdomen. You can read more about these contractions here.

Strong, but irregular, pre-labor pains, especially in the last few days, as a sign of childbirth. Even if these contractions are sometimes very painful, they only lead to the child's head being pressed firmly into the pelvic entrance. The transition to the actual labor, also called opening labor or cervical labor, is fluid.

40th week of pregnancy: signs of birth

The so-called opening contractions determine the actual start of labor. They last an average of 30 to 60 seconds each and occur regularly every five to 20 minutes. As a result of these continuous contractions and various metabolic processes, the cervix gradually begins to open. Pain associated with opening pains is perceived very differently by women.

In the case of first-time mothers, the opening period (first phase of childbirth) lasts up to twelve hours. For women who have already given birth to at least one child, the duration is shortened to two to eight hours. In this phase, inform your midwife or the treating doctor. They will tell you when to go to the hospital, when to go to the birthing center, or when to prepare for the home birth. Towards the end of the opening labor, if the cervix is ​​completely opened, the bladder ruptures spontaneously and in good time - an unmistakable sign.

Birth is approaching: when at the latest in the clinic?

Mucus plug, rupture of the bladder and labor are clear signs: the birth is imminent, the child is making its way. You should go to the hospital or birthing center, or tell the midwife of the upcoming home birth if regular contractions come every ten minutes or less and last longer than half an hour.

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