If you have ever experienced prodromal labor you probably understand exactly where this question came from. When you are nearing the end of your pregnancy and things start to happen, you get excited and think okay I’m having a baby today. And then it stops, you go all day or night with no signs of what you thought was the beginning stages of labor. Then it’s back and you are again excited and ready for things to progress only to have it stop AGAIN!
You might be thinking, "What is the meaning of this, it’s torture and I just want to have my baby?!?" Keep reading to learn a few ways that you can help things along and how to handle the stop and starts with grace and ease.
So first of all congratulations, you are so close to meeting your precious little baby and it is so exciting to be in that place. When you have contractions that come on that seem to be intense enough, are kind of or maybe even are regular, and you are believing it to be the start of labor here are some things to think about.
The first thing you can do to see if it is real or not is to take a warm bath, in most cases if your contractions are not signs of actual labor they will diminish in a warm bath. If you don’t have a bath then a nice warm shower should do the trick as well. If your contractions persist that could mean this is the beginning of your labor journey.
Now if you have had contractions all night and then they stop and come back again the next night, this is prodromal labor, most call it practice labor. However, it is good to know that there could be two things contributing to these consistent contractions starting and stopping.
1) This could be happening to help your baby get into a better position for birth. What this could mean is your baby might be slightly off from being in an optimal position for true labor and your body is working to correct that. You can help this along by doing some exercises like Spinning Babies or Miles Circuit. Moving through the contractions as you listen and follow your body’s lead your baby will also be able to move.
2) The second reason this could be happening is because there is a mental block or thought process that is holding your body back. Our mental state is probably our biggest support or hindrance depending on how we think about childbirth. Working on your mindset could be the deciding factor in how your labor will go when it does truly start. If you suspect it could be your thoughts holding you body in check talk to your team or someone that you trust and work through them to release the blocks.
You are more than capable of having your baby and enjoying the process when your mindset is in the right place. If you feel like this is an area where you could use some support then I invite you to jump into our community where we will be doing a Mindset Reset for Pregnancy & Childbirth in a few weeks. Let me help you take back your power and gain the confidence you need to have the birth you envision. You can join the community here.
