Tight and hard stomach when walking in late pregnancy

In the late stages of pregnancy, the abdomen feels tight and hard, which may be false labor. What is "false labor"? Why can a "labor" be false? Today, we have summarized several questions about false labor, hoping to help pregnant mothers understand false labor and treat it correctly.

Question 1: What is false labor?

After 28 weeks of pregnancy, you may sometimes feel your abdomen tightening and hardening, and sometimes you may feel tightness in your waist, but it will be fine after a short rest. This is called false labor. Moreover, as the pregnancy progresses, false labor will become more frequent.

If it only occurs sometimes a day and lasts for a short time, without obvious abdominal pain or bleeding, it is normal; but if it occurs frequently and is accompanied by abdominal pain, bleeding, etc., you should see a doctor in time to avoid premature birth.

Question 2: Under what circumstances are false labor more likely to occur?

Many pregnant women have also found that when they are too anxious, too tired (walking for a long time without enough rest), touch their abdomen too much, or get insufficient rest, they are more likely to have false labor.

Therefore, pregnant mothers should avoid this situation during pregnancy to prevent aggravating false labor and causing premature birth.

Question 3: What should I do if I have frequent false labor contractions in the late pregnancy?

In the late pregnancy, false labor is very common, but it usually has no effect on the pregnant mother and the fetus. However, pregnant mothers are advised to rest more, take deep breaths more often (which helps relieve pain), sleep on their left side (which helps increase the blood supply to the fetus), and moisturize appropriately when false labor occurs.

In addition, when false labor is more serious, you should go to the hospital. The doctor will use drugs to suppress labor according to the situation to prevent premature birth or frequent labor caused by fetal intrauterine distress.

Question 4: Do frequent false labor contractions mean that the baby is about to be born?

In the late pregnancy, false labor will become more and more frequent, but "false labor" is not a sign of delivery, because false labor does not cause cervical dilation, which makes the cervix mature to a certain extent, but it will not cause the start of the delivery process.

But if the baby is already full-term, or even has arrived at the due date, the interval between two contractions will shorten, about once every 10 minutes, and the pregnant mother can also feel abdominal pain. The duration of the pain will gradually increase, and the severity will also increase. During each contraction, the pregnant mother's lower abdomen will be a little hard, and she will feel like defecating. This means that the baby is about to be born, and you should take the maternity bag with you to see a doctor as soon as possible.

Question 5: How long does it take for false labor to turn into real labor?

There is no definite time when "false labor" turns into "true labor". Some pregnant women have frequent false labor in the second and third trimesters, but some pregnant women do not have false labor until true labor occurs immediately after the baby is born.

For pregnant women who experience false labor during pregnancy, how long it takes for it to turn into true labor varies from person to person, and there is no fixed time, so dynamic observation and identification are required. When the pregnant mother feels that "abdominal pain has become regular, the frequency has increased, and rest has not eased", then it should be said that it has become a true uterine contraction.