In Labor – Finally !!!! – When to Go to the Hospital.
Before we begin talking about labour signs, let us first make you ponder upon one small question. What time of the day do you think most women go into labour? Ponder upon this……Here is your answer… It’s at night! And the main reason behind this is that the human body is in the most relaxed and rested form while sleeping at night. One of the main rules of labor is that the more relaxed a mom is the faster labor progresses, hence, in most cases labor would start when a mom is most relaxed which is in her sleep. Giving birth is a normal physiological function of the female body. That means that the body is tuned to know exactly what it has to do provided we leave it alone and not interfere with the natural processes. The human body is intelligent and it knows exactly what it needs to perform
For most mothers if early contractions start at night, they may go unnoticed and will take place while the mum is in her sleep. Early labor contractions feel like mild menstrual cramps. Usually mums feel them in their lower or upper abdomen, she may feel them like spasmic lower back pain or she may even have a feeling of overall weakness which comes and goes. It is imperative however for the mom to take notice if the amniotic fluid is leaking or if she finds herself spotting. In these cases she should immediately head to the hospital as she may actually be further along in labor than she actually feels.
There are 3 main areas that you should keep a check on to determine your labour stage- Frequency, Duration and Leaking. Let’s take you through what these actually mean.
Frequency
Frequency means how far apart your contractions are. This is timed from the start of one contraction to the start of the next contraction. The closer the frequency of your contractions, the closer you are to delivering your baby.
Duration
Duration means the actual length of the contraction. This is measured as the time taken from the start of one contraction to the end of the same contraction. The longer the duration of your contraction, the closer you are to labour. You could request your husband or close family of friends to time these for you so you know the progress in labour.
Leaking
Leaking refers to the amniotic fluid. This is your baby’s sterile environment and if you are leaking then it means that they baby is also susceptible to infections. Contact your doctor immediately if you’re leaking and inform them so that you can get to the hospital and the doctor can probably induce labor and deliver the baby.
Once you are on your way out to the hospital, pick your hospital bag and do not forget to pack in all the reports as the doctor may need to refer to the same.
Amniotic fluid is transparent and straw colored. If the fluid is brownish or greenish then your baby has passed stools and you should rush to the hospital immediately. Else you would have about 24 hours to deliver the baby. If your contractions have not started the doctor will administer medications to help induce labor. For most women the bag of waters breaks once labor starts.