Precursors and signs of onset of labor in people with multiple flu

Before childbirth, a lot of interesting things happen in a woman's body: hormonal changes, the condition of muscles, ligaments, psychological changes occur, and all this cannot pass unnoticed. Internal processes always find their external reflection. These manifestations are called “harbingers”.

In primiparous women and multiparable, signs of early onset of labor may be different, and therefore the question of how to recognize the approach of labor activity is equally relevant for those who give birth for the first time and for those who are going to the hospital for another baby. In this article we will talk about how a reluctant woman recognizes the signs of early labor.

Before we consider the precursors and signs of approaching childbirth, it should be noted that re-pregnancy has its own characteristics, which leave their imprint on the nature and on the time of the onset of precursors.

In the second pregnancy, the woman is more relaxed. She already knows in general what is to be, and therefore less sensitively listens to her body. This calm also affects the course of the prenatal period - in recent weeks, women have focused less on what and how sick, twisted, and tightened. They are well distinguished training fights from this.

Physiologically, the second pregnancy also proceeds in other conditions. The muscles of the uterus, cervix, and perineum are less elastic, and therefore labor activity usually begins somewhat earlier than during the first pregnancy, at the same time, the precursors themselves appear much later than in primiparous ones. Thus, a woman who is expecting the birth of a first-born child may begin to feel signs of approaching childbirth a month before such, and similar signs may appear in an already experienced mother just a few days before the birth of the baby.

All sensations in giving birth are not the first time; they may be more dull, smoothed, not so noticeable and bright as in anticipation of the first child. For this reason, some women claim that they almost did not experience any precursors, they just started giving birth on a certain day. This, too, can not be ruled out.

While waiting for a second birth, women usually already know that there is no single standard timeline that could mark the beginning of prenatal training in the body. Most often, those who are going to give birth to a second baby, some characteristic signs begin to appear in the period from 36-37 weeks of pregnancy, as well as at 38-39 weeks. A second pregnancy rarely extends to 40–41 weeks.

According to statistics, on the expected day of birth (the same DA), second births occur in no more than 5% of cases. The overwhelming majority of babies, to the delight of their mother and little brothers, who are already brought up in a family, decide to appear at 38-39 weeks of gestation, and there are about 70% of them. More than 40 weeks of pregnancy lasts approximately 2% of women, and before 38 weeks about 10% of babies are born. The rest choose the last week before the DA and are born at 39 full weeks plus a few days.

Before the birth in the body of the future mother begins vigorous processes that, in fact, complete a long preparation for the appearance of offspring. The final stage involves a lot of changes that become physically tangible.The hormonal background is changing: if during the entire pregnancy from the very beginning and almost to the very end, progesterone “guides” the baby to bear, then its concentration begins to decrease markedly by birth.

In place of the primacy of this hormone come other hormones necessary for the onset of labor: oxytocin and estrogens. Under the action of these hormones, the cervix begins to prepare for childbirth — it becomes shorter, its contours smooth out, and the round muscle softens. During this period, training bouts may become more frequent and tangible.

Relaxin is produced, it softens the ligaments and joints, makes the pelvic bones more mobile and pliable, in connection with which a woman may begin to hurt his pubic bone, may cause nagging pain in the sacrum, in the lower back, aching in the back. The nature of vaginal discharge changes, they become more abundant. And with the softening and maturation of the cervix, the mucus plug may begin to move away.

The hormonal background, which controls many processes in the body, does not bypass the psychological state. The effect of hormones on the brain and nervous system is great. The changed balance of these active substances leads to a change in the emotional background.

Signs of approaching the generic process can be subjective and objective. The first ones are emotional, and cannot be grounds for asserting that labor will take place soon, while the latter have a more substantiated medical background, and therefore are taken into account by obstetrician-gynecologists.

The first are mood swings, psychological instability, anxiety and insomnia, and pain of a different nature. The second group can be safely attributed to the discharge of mucus plug, reaching the cervix of a certain degree of maturity, omission of the abdomen. On the first harbingers worth talking in more detail.

A woman may well remember that in the first pregnancy the tummy became lower long before the onset of labor. In the second pregnancy there is every chance that this will not happen. The baby takes in the uterus the most comfortable position for birth when all the conditions favorable to it are met. In the case of the “minor”, ​​abdominal prolapse occurs most often 1-3 days before the birth, and for some (and there are plenty of them!), The stomach descends after the onset of full-fledged labor contractions.

To understand that the stomach has fallen is quite simple. When the baby presses the head into the pelvis, takes a “starting” position, it becomes easier for the woman to breathe easier, as the pregnant uterus stops squeezing the ribs and diaphragm, heartburn can decrease, but urination usually becomes more frequent as the pressure on the bladder increases. This pressure can partially explain the greater likelihood of constipation. It becomes more difficult for a woman to move, more often the pubic bone and pelvic bones hurt, although fetal movements become more rare and less painful on their own.

The abdomen during the second pregnancy may not fall to 38-39 weeks of gestation in women bearing multiple pregnancies, in those whose children are located in the uterus not in the head, but in a different position, as well as in women diagnosed with polyhydramnios. There are also idiopathic reasons (that is, inexplicable, from the point of view of medicine and science), which also prevent the abdominal ptosis without apparent reason. This process is very individual, and with respect to all pregnant women, it cannot serve as an unequivocal sign of the approach of labor.

Weight loss of 2-3 kilograms shortly before birth is physiologically justified.By reducing the level of progesterone, which provided the accumulation of fluid and nutrients in the body, the amount of fluid in the tissues begins to decrease. Decreasing the amount of amniotic fluid also plays a role - this is necessary to equalize the pressure inside the fetal bladder, because if the amount of water remains unchanged and the child continues to gain weight (which he actively does in the last weeks of intrauterine life), the fetal membranes are under pressure may burst. Therefore, the amount of amniotic fluid decreases tactfully.

Nature has arranged in such a way that, before giving birth, the organism must “ease”, get rid of all the excess. And all internal processes act in accordance with this biological program: internal fluid reserves are reduced, frequent urination does not allow fluid to linger for a long time, and diarrhea, which appears in about 70% of women a few days before childbirth, is the “final chord” and weight decreases .

This precursor may not appear in women with pathologies of the kidneys, with preeclampsia, with multiple pregnancies. It is not considered an effective diagnostic sign and only as a small dash usually complements the overall picture of precursors.

This is a reliable sign that says that childbirth is not far off. The mucus plug during the entire period of childbearing closes the uterus from the possible penetration into it of foreign and hostile organisms: microbes, viruses, fungi. It is located inside the cervix, in the cervical canal.

As the cervix smoothes, the cervical canal expands and at some point passes the “point of no return” - the cork can no longer be held in the canal and begins to leave it, in parts or in its entirety. Partial discharge of mucus plug is manifested by mucous jelly-like particles in the secretions, sometimes they can be seen small patches of blood. Full discharge rarely raises questions - a rather large clot of yellowish, beige, milky tinge with brown streaks of dried blood, or without it, comes out of the genital tract.

Usually, in the second birth, the cork leaves 1-2 days before the onset of labor, but often in the first stage of the birth, together with the amniotic fluid or before. The symptom is not always possible to diagnose yourself. The stopper for multiparous ones can slip away unnoticed: when urinating or urinating, while taking a bath.

This is a subjective sign, noted by long since, and tested in practice by many generations of women. In this case, the term "syndrome" does not imply something pathological, painful. This is a strange obsession to restore order and cleanliness in your home. In such a state (by the way, characteristic of many mammals in nature), a woman usually falls a week or two before giving birth. A pregnant woman has a “second wind” - just yesterday she suffered from heaviness and aches in the lower back, and today she unexpectedly washed all the windows in the apartment, once again stroked the children's things that were already laid out waiting for the baby from the maternity hospital, cleaned the carpet, and made a lot of everything that was lacking strength in recent months.

Explain the presence of such a sign of a harbinger except by instincts. The representatives of many species in nature laid the arrangement of the home (nest, hollow, burrow) before breeding. This is the unconscious desire of the mother to create the most favorable conditions for the offspring.

If such a sign does not appear in a woman, the term of childbirth is suitable, and the desire to move the piano or carry out a rearrangement in the house did not appear, do not be upset - the absence of the ancient natural instinct of "nesting" does not mean that the woman will be a bad mother.

Colostrum production is not very informative. During the first pregnancy, colostrum does begin to be produced almost before birth, and in some even after birth. In women who reassure, colostrum can begin to be produced in the first trimester, in the second, and at the end of the gestation period. It all depends on how large the concentration of prolactin in the body is, how dilated are the ducts of the mammary glands after feeding the first child.

Only if during the whole pregnancy the colostrum was not released, and a few weeks before the expected date of birth such a sign appeared, can it be considered as an indirect harbinger of emergency labor activity.

After the appearance of colostrum, a woman needs to be extremely attentive to the health of her mammary glands - colostrum is a favorable environment for the reproduction of pathogenic bacteria. In order to prevent infection, one must take care to ensure, after giving birth, to provide the baby with unhindered breastfeeding, not burdened by any pathologies on the part of the female body. Every day you need 1-2 times to wash the mammary glands and especially the nipples with warm water without soap, blot with a towel.

Often in their reviews, women say that the child became inactive shortly before giving birth. It really is. But this fact is connected not so much with the approach of labor, but with the fact that there is almost no space left in the uterus for active movements. The kid is in very cramped conditions, and he himself feels the need to get out of the womb.

Another reason that exists only as an assumption is the preparation of the baby himself. For him, childbirth will also be a serious test, and therefore he begins to save power in advance for his own birth.

It is difficult to answer unequivocally the question when this happens, but honestly, traditional medicine has no answer to it. Most often, according to reviews of pregnant women, babies become less mobile and active about 3-4 days before birth.

It is important to remain vigilant. Despite the physiological "lull", the woman must continue to consider the movements of the crumbs.

Very often, women who will soon have to give birth, are faced with the fact that the mood begins to change spontaneously: a woman laughs very quickly (and quite sincerely!) To tears, anxiety, and anguish.The condition is a bit similar to that observed in most pregnant women in the early stages due to progesterone raging in the body. Often, a few days before giving birth, insomnia begins - a pregnant woman can barely sleep.

What are the reasons for such changes? In the first place with hormones, in the second - with increasing stress. The closer to childbirth, the stronger the expectant mother. Impossibility to sleep well and soundly at night can also be associated with physical inconvenience - it is difficult to find a position in which sleep will be comfortable, with revolutions on the other side, awakening is almost inevitable.

With the appearance of such symptoms, you should not endure and torment yourself. Your doctor is always ready to suggest what kind of light vegetable sedatives can be taken so that the mood does not "jump". To improve the quality of sleep will help correctly chosen posture for a night of rest, as well as a well-ventilated room, an evening walk in the fresh air, the lack of a rich and hearty dinner.

If during the second half of pregnancy, a woman experienced short-term and spontaneous tension of the muscles of the uterus, the so-called false or training contractions, then such reductions may increase about a week before delivery. If there were no false contractions in the process of gestation, then for the same period of time they may appear for the first time. They manifest a feeling of petrified abdomen. It is easy to cope with them - it is enough to take a warm shower, an anesthetic pill, change the position of the body, walk, take a deep breath.

Training contractions have no regularity, do not grow, and do not lead to the opening of the cervix. And this is the main thing that distinguishes them from the real labor pains.

This "marker" of the readiness of the female body for childbirth, perhaps, is considered the most informative, only to evaluate it yourself, without the help of an obstetrician-gynecologist, is almost impossible. The neck is a round muscle, its maturation consists in softening, which will ensure the proper degree of disclosure in labor contractions. Reducing the size of the cervix to 1-1.5 cm suggests that maturation is in full swing, and has almost ended. Already with the onset of labor contractions, the cervix will smooth out completely and unfold, opening the baby's way out of the uterus into the genital tract, and from there to the big world in which he will have to live a long and surely happy life.

The process of maturation may not be accompanied by any particular sensations, but may appear tingling inside, an increase in the amount of vaginal discharge. If the term of labor is suitable, and the cervix is ​​not ripe, the woman is hospitalized at the maternity hospital and the cervix is ​​prepared there with the help of medicines that contribute to its early softening.

This category can be attributed to signs that occur less frequently, and clearly not in the vast majority of pregnant women. But it is possible that one of such harbingers can manifest itself in you: a feeling of chills and an increase in body temperature without signs of a cold or other illness, an increase or decrease in sexual appetite, a violation of eating habits. For example, if you wanted sweet, you can dramatically pull on sour or salty, or your appetite will disappear completely or, on the contrary, a woman will begin to want to eat all the time.Severe pruritus may also appear - this is a consequence of the reaction of the nervous system.

Since precursors are directly dependent not only on the internal restructuring of the body before childbirth, but also on the individual sensitivity of each individual woman, the absence of symptoms of the approach of labor activity can also be considered quite normal.

If there are no symptoms, do not assume that birth is delayed. Labor activity can begin at any time after 37 weeks, and therefore you should not move far from home, go on vacation or fly by plane. Birth can begin not only with contractions, but also with the discharge of water. You need to be extremely attentive, even in the complete absence of precursors in principle.

Birth begins differently. In the second birth, it is not at all necessary that the first scenario will repeat, there is no relationship here. When regular, periodically recurring uterine contractions appear, you need to wait until their frequency reaches one contraction in 10 minutes and go to the maternity hospital. You should not wait for a five-minute interval, as in the first birth, because all stages of childbirth in multiparous occur faster.

If the water has moved away or has begun to leak, then there is no need to wait at all. Regardless of whether there are contractions or not, it is worth going to the obstetric institution. The same requirement applies to the situation with bleeding. And anhydrous period, and problems with placental abruption, which can manifest blood discharge, can be very dangerous for a woman and her long-awaited baby.

If with the advent of regular contractions the woman's condition worsened, vomiting appeared, severe dizziness, you also should not wait for stronger contractions, you need to come to the hospital as soon as possible.

See the next video for precursors and signs of imminent labor.