If you're in the third trimester of your pregnancy, you are probably getting more and more anxious about the big delivery day. After the 38th week of your pregnancy, your baby could come at any time, even if you are still a few weeks from your due date. Some women experience false labor, which can closely resemble the symptoms of real labor. However, there are a few key differences to help you distinguish between the two.
Bloody Show
Your mucus plug covers the outside of the cervix and prevents bacteria from entering the uterus. When you get close to delivery, your mucus plug falls out, which causes bloody show. Although your mucus plug might fall out days or even weeks before delivery, it is always a sign that your body is preparing for labor. Many women experience bloody show at the onset of labor due to the dilation of the cervix. The discharge may be brown or brownish-red, and it might happen all at once or in small, gradual amounts.
Broken Water
Your water may break before you start having regular contractions, but it usually breaks after contractions have begun, according to Baby Center. Although you might think of your water breaking as a large gush of water, it doesn't always happen that way. In fact, some women experience a slow leak and may mistake it for normal discharge. If your water breaks, you should call your doctor or midwife right away. If you don't have contractions soon after your water breaks, your baby is at higher risk for infections, since the fluid from the amniotic sac is usually a source of protection from germs.
Dilation and Effacement
Effacement usually begins in the last few weeks of pregnancy. Effacement is the thinning out of the cervix, and is usually expressed in percentages. Once your cervix is 100 percent effaced, you are ready for a vaginal delivery. Your cervix will also dilate, or open, to let your baby come out. Dilation is usually expressed in centimeters. You can be several centimeters dilated before labor begins, but once you start active labor, the dilation should occur much more rapidly.
Contractions
Contractions experienced during false labor, also known as Braxton Hicks contractions, are often irregular and affect the groin and abdomen. In true labor, however, the contractions are experienced in the lower back and move to the front. True labor contractions do not stop if you lie down or rest, unlike in false labor. True contractions last about 30 seconds at the beginning of labor and are usually spaced apart fairly evenly. You might experience very intense Braxton Hicks contractions at the end of your pregnancy; however, if they do not increase in intensity over an extended period of time, you are probably experiencing false labor.
