When to call an ambulance for the second birth. When it's time to go to the hospital - signs of an approaching birth

When is it time to go to the hospital

“When to go to the hospital” is perhaps the most burning question that the expectant mother begins to worry about in the last trimester of pregnancy. Women who are preparing to become a mother for the first time are usually especially worried. The fear of giving birth at home, not having time to get to the maternity hospital, is absolutely natural. Warms up anxiety, among other things, a favorite cinematic technique, when a woman feels a sharp pain and realizes that she is about to give birth.

Listening to signals from our own body

In fact, in most cases, a woman manages not only to get to the maternity ward on time, but also to calmly collect the necessary things, call her relatives and slowly go to give birth. It is only important to hear the signals that the body gives. These signals are harbingers of childbirth in a woman.

There are two symptoms by which it is possible to determine with a high degree of probability that childbirth will occur in the next day. These are regular contractions and discharge of amniotic fluid. In addition, there are many indirect signs that may occur, or may be completely absent or go unnoticed.

A few days before an important event, a woman's body is restructured, the hormonal background changes. In this regard, a woman may notice a slight weight loss and a decrease in swelling. Thus, the body gets rid of excess fluid. In addition, stools may become more frequent in a few days, even diarrhea may occur. This is also a natural cleansing of the body before childbirth.

An important harbinger of childbirth is the discharge of the mucous plug. Cork is a protective barrier that protects the entrance to the cervix from the external environment, bacteria and fungi that inhabit the vagina. A woman may find thick discharge of mucus, from clear to bloody. They cannot be confused with dangerous bleeding, since these are mucus clots. The cork can come off completely, or it can go away gradually over a long time, up to two weeks. It is important to understand that after the cork is released, the entrance to the cervix is ​​no longer protected, which means that you should not visit the pool, take a bath, and it is advisable to stop having sex.

Lowering of the abdomen is another sign of impending childbirth. After the bottom of the uterus has fallen, it becomes easier for a woman to breathe, but the urge to urinate becomes more frequent. It is difficult to focus on this phenomenon in terms of time, since someone's stomach drops 2 weeks before childbirth, and someone directly in the process of childbirth.

If a woman notices any of the above symptoms, this is just a reminder and warning that childbirth will occur soon. None of these symptoms require a visit to a doctor unless there is a deterioration in general well-being.

But there are two signals that indicate that you need to pack your things and go to the hospital.

The first of these is the outpouring of water. Regardless of the gestational age and whether contractions have begun or not, if you find that your water has broken, you need to get to the hospital within an hour and a half. It is impossible not to notice the departure of water. The amount of fluid after the rupture of the amniotic sac will be quite large. Don't be bothered by slightly damp underwear - this is a natural increase in mucus before childbirth.

True and training contractions

The most important sign of the onset of labor is contractions. Most women experience abdominal tension during the last months of pregnancy. The stomach seems to turn to stone, and pulling sensations appear not only in the stomach itself, but also in the lower back. These sensations are similar to discomfort during menstruation.

There are so-called training bouts of Braxton-Hicks. Distinguishing false contractions from true ones is very simple. They are not very painful, but this is not the main thing. True labor pains are always regular, that is, they repeat at regular intervals, which are gradually reduced. For example, abdominal tension occurs for 10 seconds every 12 minutes. At first, the interval between contractions is quite large, and their intensity and pain are very moderate. This allows you to calmly observe yourself and notice whether contractions are regular or not. The interval between false contractions is always different, in addition, they can subside and intensify depending on physical activity and body position. The real ones will grow regardless of your actions.

So, if you have decided that you have regular contractions, when to go to the hospital will tell your emotional state. You should go to the hospital when you are no longer comfortable at home. But you should still wait for an interval between contractions of at least 9 minutes, so as not to spend too much time waiting outside the house.

If the birth is not the first time

It is believed that the second and subsequent births are much faster than the first. In fact, this is not always the case. But a woman who is about to have a second birth can decide for herself when to go to the hospital. She already knows what contractions are and how to count them. It is only necessary to take into account that during the second birth, the rate of increase in labor activity, and, accordingly, the intensification and frequency of contractions usually occurs faster.

If the pregnancy proceeds with some peculiarities, planned hospitalization may be needed shortly before the expected date. The doctor can advise the patient on when to go to the hospital in a breech presentation. Perhaps this will have to be done taking into account those very harbingers of childbirth. After all, only immediately before the birth, the doctor usually decides how the birth will take place with a breech presentation - naturally or with the help of a caesarean section.

It is believed that the issue of timely sending to the hospital worries only women who are about to give birth for the first time. They do not have the relevant experience, and therefore the feeling of the beginning of labor activity is a mystery for them. But in practice, the question of when to quit everything and urgently go to the hospital worries those who give birth a second time, and even during subsequent births. This material will discuss when it is time to go to the hospital, how long to wait so as not to risk your health and the condition of the child.

How can you understand that you are giving birth?

Contractions (contractions or spasms of the uterus) before childbirth are of two types - true, which occur against the background of the expansion and opening of the cervix, and false (or training), which are not directly related to the expansion of the cervix. Training contractions in those giving birth for the first time may well begin already in the middle of the gestation period, while in those giving birth again they usually start almost before the true ones, after 35 weeks of pregnancy. A few days before the onset of labor (and during the first childbirth, sometimes even a few weeks), preparatory contractions begin, which are called precursors.

If false contractions of the uterus during pregnancy are in no way interconnected with the uterine muscles and are manifested only by episodic tensions in the smooth muscles of the uterus, then precursor contractions have a good reason. The cervix begins to prepare for childbirth - it softens, smoothes out, because it will open up 10-12 centimeters during childbirth. By and large, a woman cannot feel the process of preparing for the onset of childbirth. Her hormonal background changes, the concentration of progesterone, which was responsible for carrying the baby throughout the entire period, decreases, and the production of estrogen and oxytocin increases. In the cells of the uterine tissue, a special protein, actomyosin, begins to accumulate.

On the physical level, the muscles of the uterus may tense from time to time, which will be felt as a sudden tension in the abdomen. Such fights do not have a periodicity, a certain rhythm. The fact that childbirth has begun, a woman can guess precisely by the cyclicality of what is happening. The contractions are felt like stretching that starts from the back and ends with the lower and middle part of the abdomen. The first sensations may even go unnoticed, especially during the second or third pregnancy. But gradually the contractions intensify, the moments of tension become longer, and the interval of rest and relaxation between them is shortened.

Initial contractions occur at intervals of about once every 30 minutes. This interval may be large, but less - hardly. The duration of the spasm itself at the very beginning of labor is about 15-20 seconds.

Neither a change in body position, nor a warm shower, nor an antispasmodic pill, which effectively help get rid of the discomfort of false contractions, can not affect the frequency and frequency of spasms when real labor contractions appear.

Owners of modern smartphones can be helped in determining the essence of what is happening by applications that are created specifically for such cases. They are free and exist under the general name "Conflict Counter". The principle of their action is that the woman launches the application when strange sensations appear, and then simply presses the button with each repetition of the spasm.

The application analyzes the frequency, frequency and makes a verdict - whether the opening of the uterus has already begun or not yet. Also, the application can signal the time when it's time to go to the obstetric facility. The disadvantage of the program is that it cannot take into account the individual characteristics of the pregnant woman, which is why errors are possible.

The road to the hospital

The latency period of labor pains usually lasts the longest, so when you find the first contractions, you should not panic and grab your phone to immediately call an ambulance. Too early arrival at the maternity hospital, if there are no pregnancy complications, can negatively affect the psychological state of the woman in labor, because the expectation is worse than reality.

In choosing the right time to call an ambulance, you need to focus on your own feelings and the number of births experienced in history.

During the first pregnancy

The tissues of the organs of the reproductive system in women who give birth for the first time are narrow, tight, the uterine muscles are less plastic, and the cervix opens much more slowly. If full-fledged regular contractions have begun, it can take up to 14-18 hours before the baby is expelled from the uterus, and therefore there is clearly nowhere to hurry. You should go to the hospital when the interval between spasms is 5-10 minutes. Such a period of time means that the opening of the uterus does not exceed 3 centimeters and the active stage of contractions, when medical assistance may be required, has not yet come.

Thus, the woman has time to take a shower, have lunch, check whether everything necessary is packed in the bag for the maternity hospital, call relatives and inform that labor has already begun. Some get a little sleep if they manage to fall asleep, although most of the excitement rolls over. From the first contractions, it is highly desirable for a primiparous woman to remember everything that she was taught in the classroom in a consultation or clinic where she was registered.

You should take deep breaths with the onset of a spasm and slowly exhale slowly so that the body is saturated with oxygen. This will naturally anesthetize contractions from the very beginning of their development.

At the second birth

In the second birth, the phase of latent latent uterine spasms is shorter, and pain can be expressed to a lesser extent, and therefore women quite often do not perceive the rare and weak contractions that have begun as generic. By the time when the spasms are strong enough and acquire a pronounced recognizable appearance, quite a lot of time can pass. You should go to the maternity hospital at the moment when the contractions begin to repeat every quarter of an hour.

Why so early? Because all stages of childbirth in those giving birth repeatedly proceed faster. A common mistake women make is to sit at home and patiently wait for the 5-minute interval between contractions, as in the first birth, to go to the obstetric facility. As a result, by the time she arrives at the maternity hospital, the woman's uterus is already fully open and attempts begin. Sometimes it is not possible to take a woman in labor to the maternity hospital on time - the child begins to be born earlier.

You need to come to the maternity hospital before the transition of contractions into the active phase, so that doctors can control it, because neither the second nor the third birth reduces the likelihood of complications of labor and injury to the fetus.

Thus, the multiparous woman will have much less time to collect. It is best to collect the bag and the documents necessary for registration in the maternity hospital in advance. But a woman will have time to take a shower and make a couple of phone calls. It is also important to breathe properly from the first contractions so that the overall muscle tone remains relaxed and there is enough oxygen in the body. This will help to avoid rapid fatigue, make contractions less painful.

At the third birth

There may be little difference between the second and third births. It is not excluded that each stage of labor activity will proceed somewhat faster than it was the second time. That is why you need to be extremely attentive to your feelings. It is recommended to arrive at the maternity hospital when regular contractions appear with a frequency of 1 contraction in 15 minutes.

Be aware of the increased likelihood of quick, rushed labor. Therefore, it is better to seek medical help in advance.

emergency occasions

Regardless of the number of pregnancies and childbirth that preceded the current pregnancy, regardless of the gestational age, the presence or absence of labor pains, you should go to the maternity hospital immediately, without waiting an hour, if:

• the waters have broken (in full or in part);
• the fight has begun, but does not end (the spasm is long and very painful);
• spotting appeared (of any intensity, shade, quantity, with or without pain).

The discharge of the mucous plug in itself is not considered the beginning of labor, and therefore, after this event, an ambulance is usually not called. The exit of the mucous plug is a harbinger of an early birth, but so far - not childbirth. In primiparous, from the moment of its release to childbirth, 7-10 days can pass, in multiparous 1-3 days.

What to pay attention to?

No matter how the birth begins, a woman must definitely monitor her condition before arriving at the maternity hospital, note all the changes in order to inform the doctor when registering at the maternity hospital, thereby facilitating the task of diagnosing the condition. What you need to pay special attention to:

• on the nature of the discharge- intensity, color, smell;
• on the localization of pain(where it hurts and with what intensity);
• to fetal movements(from the moment the fights began, they became stronger, weaker, disappeared altogether);
• on the color of amniotic fluid(especially if they are dark, green, brown, brown);
• for additional maternal symptoms(it becomes cloudy in the eyes, objects become difficult to distinguish, the heart beats strongly, the head hurts badly, vomiting appeared, etc.).

A competent and accurate description of sensations should include the time of onset of symptoms. All this will help the doctor to quickly understand whether there are complications in labor, whether there are grounds for emergency delivery by caesarean section. At the examination upon arrival at the hospital, the doctor will assess the degree of cervical dilatation, the strength of contractions and the condition of the fetus.

The beginning of childbirth is a very exciting moment. Many women are afraid not to understand how he looks. What contractions look like when you go to the hospital.

A wide variety of issues are of great concern to pregnant women, and especially those for whom this is the first time.

It is important to distinguish between generic seizures, because. there are also harbingers of childbirth, when the future woman in labor is not at all necessarily in the hospital.

Therefore, in order to arrive on time, you need to know all these points. When there is even a fraction of doubt, it is better to play it safe by contacting doctors for help.

Harbingers of childbirth and labor pains - how to distinguish

The main clinical signs of harbingers of childbirth are:

• pain in the lower abdomen in the period of 37-42 weeks;
• pain does not violate the established regime of rest, work and sleep;
• usually occur at night;
• a woman practically does not feel them (but this depends on the threshold of pain sensitivity, individual for each woman).

In some cases, the harbingers of childbirth can become pathological when you have to go to the hospital. This condition is called the pathological preliminary period.

It is characterized by the absence of any changes in the cervix (its maturation) in the presence of a pronounced pain syndrome.

The lack of timely correction can lead to weakness of labor activity or disruption of the normal distribution of the contraction wave through the uterus, which, as a result, is not always treatable.

As a result, a situation may arise when it will be the only method of delivery.

Labor contractions have the following characteristics:

• pain occurs at approximately the same time intervals;
• at the beginning, the intervals are longer (4-6 grips per hour), gradually shortening;
• the strength of the fight increases over time, as does its duration.

The role of harbingers and contractions in childbirth

During contractions during childbirth, the cervical canal or uterine os opens with a flattened cervix. This is their physiological meaning, and pain is a “side effect” that modern medicine does well with.

Spinal or epidural analgesia for childbirth is used.

With each contraction, the length of the cervical canal decreases, which leads to a smoothing of the cervix, and its opening is also observed in parallel. However, sometimes there may be complications of this period.

In some situations, the contractions retain their pain, but this does not properly reflect on the condition of the cervix, suggesting the weakness of labor pains or their discoordination.

In order to remove such pathological conditions, an appropriate correction is carried out. If this is not done, then the birth is delayed, and sometimes even stops completely, which requires operative delivery.

In addition to labor pains, there are also. They are regarded as harbingers of childbirth. They prepare the cervix for the upcoming important event.

At this time, it acquires a certain anatomical and functional maturity. The main characteristics of the process are:

• its softening;
• shortening;
• little opening;
• location on the wire axis;
• low location of the fetal head or pelvic end, depending on the nature of the presentation.

When to go to the hospital

It is necessary to call an ambulance in the following cases:

• regular contractions after an average of 5 minutes;
• the appearance of any bloody;
• constant aching or cramping pains that prevent a woman from falling asleep (most likely this is a pathological preliminary period).

A woman should know: you should not panic during contractions, since childbirth is a long process. It is customary to distinguish three periods:

• dilatation of the cervix (this is the longest period);
• the birth of a fetus;
• follow-up period.

The initial period of childbirth is characterized by contractions that are not intense and short-lived, the intervals between them are relatively large, so do not rush to call an ambulance.

It is necessary to wait until the intervals between them are reduced to 5 minutes.

The indicator corresponds to about half of the required opening of the cervix, being the best option for admission to the maternity hospital.

However, we should not forget: sometimes childbirth is fast or rapid, which are characterized by a fairly intense rate of cervical dilatation. This should be considered in the following situations:

• previous births fit into the category of fast or impetuous;
• the intervals between contractions very quickly become equal to 2-3 minutes;
• fear of a woman even between contractions;
• appropriate heredity, when the mother of the woman in labor had a quick or rapid birth in history.

The question of when to go to the hospital becomes especially relevant among women in the last month of pregnancy. It seems that the meeting with your beloved baby is already close, but the mother still feels quivering excitement. She worries that she will not be able to recognize the onset of labor, will not have time to call an ambulance and get to the hospital on time. Various thoughts are swarming in her head, which make her very worried. But the excitement is in vain - you can understand that the birth is close, and the woman needs to immediately go to the hospital, you can. It is only necessary to pay closer attention to certain signs, which we will now talk about.

What are the symptoms that indicate the imminent onset of labor?

The expectant mother urgently needs to go to the hospital if she noticed the following signs:

1. Disappearance or reduction of edema on the limbs and face. Immediately before childbirth, the woman's body begins to actively get rid of excess fluid, as a result of which not only edema can go away, but also body weight can also decrease.
2. The location of the fetus closer to the birth canal leads to a prolapse of the abdomen, which can be noticed not only by the doctor, but also by the expectant mother herself.
3. Disappearance of heartburn.
4. Frequent urination. Since the baby has moved down, he begins to put more pressure on the walls of the bladder. This causes frequent urge to empty it.
5. Reduction or complete disappearance of shortness of breath. The fetus stops pressing on the diaphragm, making it much easier for mommy to breathe.
6. Pressing sensation in the small of the back. And no wonder, because the baby has already grown enough to give mom a little discomfort.
7. Attacks of cramps in the legs. Especially often, such anomalies occur during sleep, when the mother is in one position for a long time (on her back or left side). Many women characterize such a condition as “I don’t feel my legs”, “I feel numb legs”, “I feel pain and unpleasant tingling, my legs become heavy, they don’t obey.” This is not a dangerous phenomenon, but it can greatly scare the expectant mother.
8. Intestinal disorder.
9. Constipation.
10. Significant decrease in fetal mobility.
11. A sudden increase in female activity (the so-called nesting instinct). At the same time, she tries to do everything that she did not have time to do before - clean the house, wash all things, prepare the baby's room, etc. In addition, many mothers do this unconsciously, instinctively. In this way, they express their readiness to meet the baby, and also try to show their love and care.
12. Attacks of "false" contractions, which are also called training. They prepare the uterus for contraction during labor.
13. The appearance of mucous discharge from the vagina. As a rule, they are odorless, and their color can be either pinkish or completely transparent.

Note. Rejection of the mucous plug and the outflow of fetal water is a clear sign that you need to call an ambulance and immediately go to the hospital. As a rule, labor activity begins a few hours after the discharge of amniotic fluid.

What is the difference between true contractions and false ones, and how to recognize them?

Shortly before the onset of labor, a woman may experience cramping pain in the abdomen and lower back. However, in some patients this does not always happen, because the body of each expectant mother is individual.

Contractions can be true, announcing the imminent onset of the birth process, and training, which prepare the body for the expulsion of the fetus from the uterine cavity. They need to be able to distinguish, since many mothers begin to quickly gather in the hospital long before the expected day of delivery. In order not to raise a premature alarm, you need to know the difference between false and real contractions.

You can see their differences in the table below.

There is one way by which you can check which contractions a woman has - training or real. Take a sedative (such as a regular valerian tablet), then lie down. If the pain subsides, it means that it is not soon to give birth. If the contractions intensify, then this means that it is time to call an ambulance to the maternity hospital.

Note. With the second birth, training and real contractions last longer than with the first. But even in this case, if you notice a discharge of water and increased pain in the lower abdomen, immediately go to the hospital - a meeting with the long-awaited baby is just around the corner!

When do you need to urgently go to the hospital?

So, when is it time to go to the hospital? There are cases when you need to urgently go to the maternity hospital, such a need arises in the following cases:

Second pregnancy - when to go to the hospital?

And when to go to the hospital, if the upcoming birth is the second? Every woman has her own answer to this question. Someone says that this must be done in advance, someone - that you need to go to the maternity hospital only when the water breaks. So who is right?

If you feel well, you do not have any ailments and alarming symptoms, then with 2 pregnancies you can wait until contractions occur and water breaks. A woman who is about to become a mother for the second time, the contractions last longer than those of the firstborn, so she will have enough time to call an ambulance to the hospital after the start of the contractions.

However, for any ailments or symptoms described above, you should not wait for the date appointed by the doctor for hospitalization, so as not to harm yourself and the fetus. Under such conditions, every minute counts.

On a note! The gynecologist leading your pregnancy should warn you in advance of the upcoming date of delivery. It may not be entirely accurate (no one can say for sure exactly when the baby will be ready to be born), but at least you, as a future mother, will be able to prepare for your temporary “move”.

When is Advance Hospitalization Needed?

Unfortunately, not all women have a cloudless pregnancy, so long before the onset of childbirth, certain problems may arise that cannot be ignored. The question of premature hospitalization is especially acute if the patient has a risk of early birth or a threat to the fetus. In this case, the doctor is obliged to offer the expectant mother to come to the maternity hospital ahead of schedule in order to preserve her health and the life of the child.

When do you need to go to the hospital in advance?

When do you need to call an ambulance and go to the maternity hospital in advance? This is essential under the following circumstances:

Under such circumstances, it is very important to seek qualified medical help in a timely manner. If you are unable to get to the hospital on your own, call an ambulance. But, as a rule, this is not required, since the doctor during a routine examination of a pregnant woman notices deviations from the norm, and he himself invites her to lie down "for preservation." And no matter how menacing these words may sound, sometimes it really preserves health (or even saves lives), both for mother and baby.

During pregnancy, the female body is constantly undergoing changes and towards the end of the term, slowly begins to prepare for an important moment - the onset of labor. However, not everyone can immediately determine that the discomfort in the lower abdomen is the beginning of childbirth. And it also happens that there are no pulling and cramping pains at all, but the baby is about to be born. So how can a woman decide when to urgently call an ambulance and go to the hospital? More on this in the article below.

What are contractions

At the end of the second - beginning of the third trimester, the uterus sometimes begins to harden, and the woman may experience slight pulling pains in the lower abdomen, in the lumbar region. If the menstrual cycle before pregnancy was painful, then we can say that at the beginning of labor, the sensations are a bit similar. In order to determine when to go to the hospital during contractions, it is important to know the nature of their occurrence. This is especially important for those who are faced with this for the first time.

Periodic uterine contractions that a woman cannot regulate, in particular their frequency, intensity, and there are contractions. In this case, a pulling, aching pain in the lower abdomen can be felt, which is transmitted to the lumbar region. In some cases, a woman’s legs weaken from impotence and tangible discomfort and it becomes difficult to endure pain while standing. At this point, the main thing is to suppress the feeling of panic and fear. It is important to switch and not succumb to the surging excitement. From a positive attitude and determination, proper breathing depends not only on the intensity, but on the reduction of pain during childbirth.

False or training?

Before deciding that it's time to go to the hospital, a woman must determine the nature of the contractions. They can be training (or they are also called Braxton-Hicks contractions) and serve as a signal that the body is preparing for an important stage - helping the child to be born. The contractions seem to push the fetus out, helping it to pass through the birth canal. Therefore, it is important to determine and know how their intensity changes during childbirth.

If the nature of cramping pains is temporary, and there is still a month or a little less before the birth, then this is a good reason to prepare everything you need for a trip to the hospital. There are several ways to determine that they are in fact false:

• Put a candle "Papaverine", drink a pill "No-shpy", which help to relax the muscles.
• Take a warm bath, shower.
• Take a leisurely walk or just take a nap.

Their main difference from real contractions is that they pass after a short time and then do not bother at all.

Stages of the onset of labor

To be accurate and understand when to go to the hospital during contractions is already worth it for sure, it is important to know at what stage of childbirth a woman is. They can be divided into three stages:

1. The first, or initial, takes 7-8 hours. At this time, a woman can still go about her usual daily activities, take a shower, eat, pack a bag for the hospital, or just sleep. In this case, the intensity can be quite frequent - once every 5 minutes for 30-45 seconds. The opening of the cervix at this stage is up to 3 cm.
2. A longer second stage, the frequency of contractions is every 4 minutes for 1 minute. It takes from 3 to 5 hours, the cervix opens up to 7 cm.
3. The shortest transitional stage lasts from half an hour to one and a half. A woman may feel that the contractions become permanent, there is almost no time to rest between them. If timed, then they can be felt in a minute for 90 seconds. The opening becomes full - 10 cm, and the body is preparing for attempts that will help the baby be born into the world.

Contraction intensity

It is generally accepted that it's time to go to the hospital during contractions for sure - the onset of intense, frequent uterine spasms, accompanied by unbearable pain. True, this is not always the case, because childbirth can be fast and the woman simply does not have time to get to the hospital on time. Therefore, it is worthwhile to figure out in advance how to recognize the beginning of the X time. If the pregnancy is the first, then most doctors agree that labor activity will go on increasing. At first, the contractions are weak and rare, but the more the cervix opens, the more intense and painful they will be felt.

It is believed that in multiparous women, the intensity of contractions will immediately be frequent and the process of childbirth will take half as long as those who encounter this for the first time.

How to calculate the interval

In order to facilitate the calculation of the interval of contractions before childbirth, when to go to the hospital, special programs will be prompted, which are called "convulsive counters" in the common people. Such a funny name is easy to remember, especially with the sudden onset of labor and the absence of one of the relatives nearby. It is enough to press the "Start of contraction" and "End" buttons, and the program itself will display a message that it is time to go to the hospital.

Another way is to independently calculate the intensity of the onset of labor on a piece of paper. To do this, you will also need to stock up on a stopwatch, which will help fix the time interval. This method is suitable when the spasms are not very painful and tolerable, and the interval between them is more than 10 minutes. It is best if one of the relatives is nearby to help the woman in labor.

Reception at the maternity hospital without contractions

The reason for calling an ambulance and worrying about the intensity of the onset of labor is the broken water. In this case, you should not worry about whether they will be admitted to the hospital without contractions. It is better to come and be under the supervision of doctors than to try to independently control the process at home, which can become completely unplanned. This is due to the fact that even after the discharge of the waters or their partial leakage, contractions can be both weak and pronounced.

Each woman experiences the initial stage of labor in different ways. For example, contractions may be frequent but still bearable. A woman may feel that she will give birth in a matter of hours. However, during the examination, it turns out that the opening of the cervix is ​​only at the very beginning and the process of childbirth has already been started by the body. In this case, the doctor has no right to refuse hospitalization. Control over the frequency and intensity of contractions in the hospital is carried out using CTG. This is a special method, which, among other things, allows you to listen to the fetal heartbeat.

When you need an emergency call

There are obvious symptoms when you need to go to the hospital with contractions immediately and you should not wait until they become frequent and intense. These include bloody discharge from the vagina, accompanied by severe pain in the lower abdomen, in the lumbar region. This may indicate the onset of premature labor caused by placental abruption.

It is also urgently worth going to the hospital when the amniotic fluid leaves. As a rule, after this, the contractions begin to go one after another, frequent and painful. You should not delay calling an ambulance, as it will be difficult and unsafe to get to a medical facility on your own in this state.

Is it possible to start labor?

If this is the first pregnancy for a woman, or it is still far from the due date, then she may not immediately determine the frequency of contractions and when you need to go to the hospital immediately. Do not forget about such a feature of the female body as a high pain threshold, at which a pregnant woman endures even intense contractions on her feet. Therefore, it is quite real that she may not notice that it is time to go to the hospital.

Judging by the reviews of some mothers, contractions can begin at night or in the early morning, when you want to sleep a little more, and therefore many simply do not want to think about the onset of childbirth. If they are not training, then, most likely, in a few hours you will still have to go to the hospital, since the intensity of uterine contractions will only increase.

Should I wait until the water breaks?

Counting the interval between contractions, you may not notice how the amniotic fluid departs. The process of opening the neck is directly related to the discharge of the mucous plug, which protects the fetus from penetration into the infection. In some cases, it begins to go out some time before the birth itself, in particular, a few days before they begin. At the same time, cramping sensations can be rare and pass after a while, have a long interval between each other.

In its structure, the amniotic sac can be very dense, and it does not always burst on its own. In this case, the doctor does this, as a rule, after the cervix opens up to 4 cm at the next contraction. The puncture itself is not felt, but the woman will feel the consequences of the amniotomy almost immediately. If up to this point you could just walk and wait out the contractions, breathing properly, then after that you won’t want to move again. This is due to the fact that their intensity begins to increase, and if the opening process is slow, pain relief or epidural anesthesia may be required to alleviate the pain symptom.

Intensity of contractions after water breaks

After a puncture of the bubble or if it burst itself and the water began to leak, it is worthwhile to understand that there will be very frequent contractions further. Before giving birth, when to go to the hospital or wait, you can decide on your own, it’s better to ask for help from relatives or a spouse. They will be able to adequately assess the situation and take her to the hospital in time so that the woman in labor is in good hands under the supervision of doctors.

Uterine contractions with departed waters are felt very sharply. This period falls on the active phase, when the opening of the neck can occur very quickly. A woman during this period can no longer count the interval or think about when to go to the hospital. Contractions during pregnancy (in this case we are talking about training) will not be compared with those that have to be experienced at this moment. Only proper breathing and following the advice of a doctor can smooth out the constantly changing and one after another spasms.

First and subsequent pregnancies: the difference in the frequency of contractions

Doctors believe that there is a significant time difference between the first and subsequent births. For women who are faced with motherhood for the first time, doctors set an interval of about 9-11 hours or more. In other cases, it is twice as short. However, if contractions have begun, and when to go to the hospital is still an unresolved issue, then you should listen to your body and first set their frequency. This is the first question that doctors ask when calling an ambulance, as well as during registration in the emergency room of the maternity hospital. Knowing this is necessary to determine the stage of labor activity.

Women note that the shorter the interval between the first and subsequent pregnancy, the more painful and intense the contractions are felt. However, in time, such births pass faster. On the one hand, a woman in labor suffers less pain, on the other hand, the rapid birth of a baby can adversely affect his health and physical development.

What to take with you

Having resolved the issue with which contractions to go to the hospital, it remains only not to forget to take the things necessary for the first time with you. From clothes you will need a dressing gown, shirt and underwear. Be sure to take slippers with rubberized soles, a towel, toiletries and hygiene products (pads, wet wipes), a phone charger to the hospital. Things for a newborn can be brought by relatives after his birth.

Few people think about what to wear to the hospital with contractions. It will be better if it turns out to be clothes that can be easily and quickly changed. With rare contractions, it will be possible to get together without rushing, but if the interval is shorter and their duration is about a minute, then the help of relatives will be required. Therefore, it is worth thinking about things for the maternity hospital in advance. By the way, this also applies to things for mommy and baby to be discharged.