Am I Experiencing Early Labor? or premature childbirth symptoms?
Preterm labor occurs when an expecting mother delivers a baby before the 37th week of pregnancy, which is approximately three weeks before the due date. Although many premature babies grow to become healthy, normal size infants, delivering a baby prematurely may result in long-term or permanent health problems.
Symptoms of premature child birth are not always obvious, even to the doctor. If you are experiencing some of these symptoms your doctor may attribute them to normal pregnancy symptoms, not as signs of early childbirth.
It is important to pay attention to every little cue the body is giving you during pregnancy. Those little cues may add up to some more significant symptoms, including premature childbirth.
Here are some symptoms of Premature childbirth:
1. Lower Back Pain
Lower back pain can occur at any time during pregnancy. If the back pain was an early symptom of pregnancy, both you and your doctor might not recognize back pain in the third trimester as anything besides back pain.
In hindsight, I realize that the lower back pain I was experiencing was a back childbirth. I was so physically uncomfortable with back pain that I could not sit, stand, or do anything without pain. The doctor did not think much of it.
2. Contractions
For a first-time mom, it is difficult to distinguish between Braxton-Hicks contractions and real childbirth contractions. In the days preceding the premature birth of my son, I must have looked up Braxton-Hicks contractions and labor contractions five times a day online, just to try to understand if what I was feeling was “normal.”
According to Baby Center Braxton Hicks, contractions can become “intermittently become rhythmic, relatively close together, and even painful, at times fooling you into thinking you’re in labor.” They distinguish real childbirth contractions by describing them as “growing consistently longer, stronger, and closer together.”
3. Swelling
Another indicator of premature childbirth and a possible unidentifiable infection of some kind is swelling. because it was the hottest and most humid week of the summer, and I had gone from work to pick up pizzas to a birthday party, I thought the swelling in my feet was “normal” due to the heat.
Again, a call to the doctor did not illicit any concern, since I was only 31 and a half weeks. According to American Pregnancy, swelling is normal during pregnancy in reaction to the summer heat.
4. Intense Surge in Nesting
During pregnancy, it is normal for women to “nest,” or prepare their homes for the baby’s expected arrival. The weekend before I had premature childbirth, I had not only gone shopping for diapers, wipes, and other baby supplies, I actually packed some bags. I packed up two diaper bags with baby clothes and other items.
I also packed up an overnight bag for myself, even though my due date was not for two months. In hindsight, I realize that subconsciously I must have known I was going to have the baby sooner than expected.
5. Large Movements or Migration
Pregnant women know how much babies can kick and squirm and let us know they are there. When a baby makes major moves down, and you don’t feel those feet under your ribs anymore, this could be a sign of premature labor.
yes, it could just be the baby moving. But add all the other symptoms up; for me, it was one of the last indicators of premature childbirth. Under my ribs, where the baby was for so long, started to feel very different the night my premature baby was born.
6. Fluid or Water Breaking
Fluid leakage or water breaking is an obvious sign of childbirth when you are closer to your due date. When water breaks a little over seven months into the pregnancy, you are sort of in disbelief.
Whether it is fluid or signs that your water has broken, call the doctor immediately. Either it is premature labor or something else is wrong.
Adverse effects of premature labor
Thus, it is highly important for mothers to carry their babies to full term. Of course, many factors may cause the onset of premature labor. For example, pregnant mothers with unusually shaped uterus may experience early labor and delivery.
Furthermore, trauma from a car accident or fall may result in early labor or shaking during early labor. In some instances, physicians can reverse the onset of labor. Certain drugs can be administered to stop contractions. However, if the medication is ineffective, premature delivery is the only option
Some women are at a higher risk for preterm labor. This includes mothers who have an abnormally shaped uterus, mothers carrying more than one baby, smokers, drug users, and mothers with a history of preterm labor. Moreover, mothers under the age of 18, and those over the age of 40 are at increased risk for premature labor.
When a baby is delivered early, many parents have the tendency to blame themselves. Oftentimes, mothers feel that emotional or mental stress caused preterm labor. However, physicians and researchers have not found a correlation between stress and early labor. In fact, emotional and mental stress is normal during pregnancy. It is expected for parents to fret excessively or feel mentally drained from all the preparations.
By constantly following up with your doctor, you avoid such problems, so he recommends that you eat the necessary foods to maintain your body, and then vitamins and supplements to maintain the health of the child.
