As soon as pregnant women call Braxton-Hicks contractions - training, false, Higgs contractions and "according to Hicks", "sweatshirts". Whatever you call them, the essence, by and large, does not change. But the mechanism and symptoms raise many questions. In this material we will tell you what it is and how it manifests itself.
Origin and history of study
The female uterus has an amazing property - it not only increases almost 500 times during the gestation period, but can also contract, practically forcibly expelling the fetus when the time comes for its birth. The musculature of the female reproductive organ is designed in such a way that it can contract with great force, at the same time the cervix of the uterus opens, and the baby gets the opportunity to leave the cozy, but cramped mother's womb. The process of rhythmic and regular involuntary (independent of the woman's will) contraction is called contractions. They begin the process of childbirth and are of great importance to their outcome.
Training or Braxton Hicks contractions are not associated with childbirth. They have only a common name.
They represent the tension of the muscles of the uterus, but they never lead to the opening of her neck, the discharge of the mucous plug, the outpouring of water, do not affect the timing of the onset of labor. This is a kind of "rehearsal" of the female reproductive system before a real test. Their women have probably been noticed at all times, but the first doctor who took women's complaints seriously and began to study a strange phenomenon was the Englishman John Braxton-Hicks, after whom false contractions were named. It happened in 1872 in one of the hospitals in London, where the doctor practiced and at the same time wrote numerous scientific works.
One thing the British doctor did not take into account in his description - the individual characteristics of different women. Therefore, his statements, passed on to descendants and included in all textbooks on medicine, say that this process is painless. In fact - and women will not let them lie - false contractions do not always deliver pleasant or neutral sensations.
Neither John Braxton-Hicks, nor his followers, nor modern doctors, alas, managed to establish what the true causes of this phenomenon are. Therefore, there is still an opinion in medicine, expressed in the 19th century, that this is how the body of the expectant mother prepares for childbirth. More than once, doctors questioned this statement, because there are women who have never experienced such contractions in all 9 months, and this did not prevent their bodies from preparing for the birth process and delivering normally on time.
Thus, another version of what is happening was born, stating that short-term episodes of increased uterine tone with all the accompanying unpleasant sensations depend on the increased sensitivity of the reproductive organ due to intensive growth (more than 500 times - this is no joke!) And increased blood supply. Thus, the brain simply sends erroneous neural signals to the nasty muscles of the female genital organ, which is why it comes to tone.
Brexton-Hicks contractions are usually called episodes of increased uterine tone, which start well in advance, long before the expected date of birth. Preparatory, precursor contractions, which are a real "training", during which the cervix begins to ripen, are usually singled out in a separate group and called preliminary.
But such nuances often go unnoticed even by obstetricians-gynecologists. It is easier for them to call all training contractions by the name of the English doctor than to tell each pregnant woman about the preliminary period and its features.
In principle, women themselves do not really need this information. The main thing for them is to be able to distinguish training fights from real ones and to react in time to certain pathological changes, if any.
The timing of the offensive
Dr. Braxton-Hicks inherited another controversial claim to his descendant colleagues that contractions of his name begin in women in mid-pregnancy. Therefore, all modern official sources say that false contractions should be expected from the 20th week of pregnancy.
In fact, some women notice short-term episodic spontaneous strains of the genital organ both earlier and later, and there are those who carried and gave birth to several children and have no idea what such contractions are, they simply did not feel them.
All these options are varieties of the norm. There is an erroneous opinion among future women in labor that the absence of such contractions is a sign that the forces will be weak in childbirth and everything can end in failure if a cesarean section is not done in time. This statement is not true.
It has long been noticed that primiparous women start training contractions earlier than mothers with previous birth experience. Often, during the second or third pregnancy, a woman feels preparatory muscular activity only immediately before childbirth, sometimes only in the preliminary period. And a lady who is preparing to become a mother for the first time may well begin to notice such contractions in herself even before the 20th week of pregnancy.
Experienced doctors attribute this to structural and physiological differences between the muscles of the uterus in a woman who has given birth and who has not given birth. If there is experience of childbirth, the muscles are more elastic, stretched, the woman may not feel false contractions until the last weeks of gestation. During the first pregnancy, the sensations are more acute.
If the training contractions of the name of the English doctor begin early, there is no reason to panic. Another myth says that this can cause premature birth, but this popular statement also has little to do with the truth.
Symptoms and sensations
If false contractions are not felt, this does not mean that they are not. In this matter, it all depends on how sensitive a particular pregnant woman is. For some, as Braxton-Hicks said, everything proceeds without pain and inconvenience, while others feel the tension of the walls of the uterus and this gives them certain uncomfortable sensations. For reasons not clear to medicine, the same woman in different pregnancies may have different sensitivity. During the first pregnancy, there may be no training contractions, but during the next they will appear.
A training contraction is manifested by a sudden involuntary tension of the uterus. For quite a long time, a woman can even feel the bottom of the uterus herself. Feelings at the moment of tension, according to pregnant women, can be fully described with the words "tummy stiffens." Due to the sharp tension of the ligamentous apparatus, pulling and breaking sensations in the lower abdomen and in the lower back may occur.
How long such a fight lasts is difficult to answer unequivocally. It can last 15-30 seconds, or it can last several minutes. There are usually no more than 4-5 such contractions within an hour. Often there is one or two, after which the uterus relaxes and the state of health returns to its original state.
Braxton Hicks contractions are always irregular. No one will say when they will appear and how long they may repeat.
If suddenly the tensions become regular, we can talk not about false, but about the most real contractions. Pain, if any, does not increase during training muscle activity, but usually decreases. It is difficult to say what provokes false contractions, but most often, according to the observations of specialists, the uterus in pregnant women tenses after sex, since arousal and orgasmic sensations lead to minor contractions of the muscles of the uterine walls. If a woman has no other contraindications to a full-fledged intimate life during pregnancy, then the training fights themselves are not a contraindication to love joys.
If a woman exposes herself to tangible physical stress: lifts heavy things, often bends over, rarely rests, walks a lot on stairs, then false contractions are repeated more often.
The reason for the increased tone may also be too active fetal movements. The frequency of Brexton-Hicks contractions increases if a woman is exposed to stress, is a lot nervous, worries. A full bladder can also affect. If it is not possible to empty it at the first request of the body, then the probability that the internal pressure of the bladder on the wall of the uterus will lead to its short-term tone becomes higher.
Quite often, women note that false-type contractions appear in very specific situations after certain actions, for example, only in the morning or only in the evening, after a woman stretches after waking up or relaxes before falling asleep.
Effects on pregnancy
Training contractions do not affect the course of pregnancy, the health of the child and the expectant mother. There is even a hypothesis that after a moment of tension, more blood flows to the uterus, and therefore the child receives more nutrients and oxygen. No matter how, no harm from Braxton Hicks contractions, this is what their doctors are trying to convey to worried and impressionable mothers-to-be.
Differences from true
All the same Dr. John Braxton-Hicks argued that it is absolutely impossible to confuse false contractions and real ones. Modern obstetricians often argue that any doubts of a woman should be interpreted in favor of false ones, since true contractions leave no doubt about what is happening. To a greater extent, the question of how to recognize false contractions and distinguish them from true ones worries pregnant women, who have very little left before childbirth. Here is a comparative table for them.
How to make it easier?
If your Brexton Hicks contractions are unpleasant, a woman is advised to try one of the following ways to relieve the condition.
- Walking. The more regular walks are at a leisurely pace in the fresh air, the less often training episodes of uterine tone will be "attended".
- New body position. This advice helps most women very effectively. Just change your position. Get up, lie down, walk around, sit. You can try everything in turn. It helps to stand in the knee-elbow position with a bend in the lower back, the so-called "cat pose", as well as correct breathing - deep and calm.
- Warm shower. Water procedures are generally quite effective in relieving uterine tone. If the false contractions are repeated often, you can go swimming.
- Medicines. Antispasmodics approved for use in pregnant women include No-shpa and papaverine suppositories. But they should be used only when contractions cause significant inconvenience, and always after consulting a doctor.
If "sweatpants" are not very annoying, it is better to ignore them altogether, being distracted by reading, watching movies, listening to music.
When to call an ambulance or go to the doctor?
Too frequent and prolonged Brexton-Hicks contractions (more than six hours a day) are a reason for an unscheduled visit to the doctor. It will be calmer for everyone. If the contractions become regular, repeat at certain cyclical intervals, intensify, there are atypical discharge from the genitals, you should call an ambulance and go to the maternity hospital. It is possible that labor begins. Especially you need to be careful before the 36th week of pregnancy, so as not to miss the moment of the onset of possible premature birth.
For false and true contractions, see the next video.
