When a woman becomes pregnant for the first time, she always thinks of contractions, that is, the tightening of the abdomen as a result of the activity of the uterine muscle. Will I know how to recognize them? How to differentiate between the usual contractions and those that announce that the time of labor has arrived?
Focal and generalized contractions, a constant during pregnancy
- As the baby grows, his movements are more and more constant, he is gaining weight and the pressure he exerts is increasing. And the uterus is a muscle that contracts and dilates, so depending on how rigid it is, this will be the contractions.
- The first contractions that arise are known as ‘focal contractions’. They are simple punctures that the pregnant woman notices when the baby moves; while when the pregnancy is already very advanced and the woman makes some movement they are called ‘generalized contractions’. These contractions are very small and do not have the greatest importance.
- Then will come the ‘Braxton Hicks contractions’. And it is that from the fourth month, the body of women, and especially the uterus, has to prepare itself for the moment of childbirth. In this case, the discomfort, which is not pain, lasts between 30 and 60 seconds and the pregnant woman notices a pressure and hardening of the uterus that is not very important either.
Labor contractions: the uterus prepares for the delivery of the baby
- And finally the ‘labor contractions’ arrive. Nine months of pregnancy and illusion to see the baby’s face that begin to come to an end when the uterus begins to dilate and prepare for the delivery of the child.
- At first the space between one and the other is very large. A pressure accompanied by a small pain that gradually increases until, suddenly, it stops. In new mothers there are contractions that are repeated at very irregular intervals, they usually occur for a whole day before delivery.
- When the contractions repeat every 10 minutes or so, the body begins to speed up the dilation of the uterus and labor is imminent. These contractions are painful and the pressure exerted by the baby on the vagina is increasingly noticeable. In these last contractions the pain stops between one and the other, a moment that you should take advantage of to take a deep breath and try to relax the muscles before the next contraction
