True labor vs. false labor
Sometimes you may think you’re starting labor, but it’s just a false alarm. You might feel contractions, but your cervix is not dilating or effacing.
False labour (also known as prodromal labor) can be pretty convincing and it’s fairly common. A 2017 medical study found that more than 40 percent of pregnant women had false labor when they thought they were in labor.
False labor typically happens pretty close to your due date, at 37 weeks of later. This makes it even more confusing. You may have contractions for up to
several hours that happen at regular intervals. False laborcontractions are also called Braxton-Hicks contractions.
The difference between false labor and true labor is that false labor contractions won’t make your cervix open up. You can’t measure down there, but you might be able to tell if you are in false or true labor by checking your symptoms:
Symptom | False Labor | True Labor |
Contractions | Feel better after walking | Don’t feel better after walking |
Contraction strength | Stay the same | Get stronger over time |
Contractions interval | Stay the same | Get closer together over time |
Contraction location | Generally only at the front | Begin at the back and move to the front |
Vaginal discharge | No blood | May have some blood |