Tips for Surviving Prodromal Labor

Tips for Surviving Prodromal Labor

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Have y’all noticed something about me yet?

I am a total pregnancy / birth junkie.

It is one of my passions.

The moment I got pregnant with my first baby I immersed myself in research and stories.

And then I was hooked!

After that, the learning and obsession never stopped. Even though I am not pregnant anymore as I’m writing this, I probably still listen to 3 podcasts a day about some area of pregnancy and birth.

Plus, after two very different pregnancies, births, and children, I have experienced a lot of things firsthand now.

With this last pregnancy I had 3 straight weeks of prodromal labor leading up to my son’s birth.

So I think it’s safe to say I know what I’m talking about. And I also feel for you if you are experiencing this, it can be very frustrating!

So I hope that these tips that I have for you are helpful. They definitely were for me!

What Is Prodromal Labor?

So first, let’s make sure we know what prodromal labor actually is.

Prodromal labor is a kind of labor that happens prior to the start of full active labor. It is quite often considered “false-labor,” but this is a misrepresentation, because doctors and midwives will explain that the contractions are real but they start and stop. Basically, it is real labor in terms of pain, contractions, and regularity but it comes and goes.

Quite often prodromal labor tends to start and stop at the same time each day. For me, it would start as soon as I woke up in the morning and last all day until a couple hours after I went to bed for the night. But that is a pretty extreme case. Sometimes it might only last for a short time during either the day or night. A lot of moms (even experienced ones) end up calling in their midwife and birth team, really believing that it is real labor, only for the contractions to stall. This can last for only days, or even weeks, and for some people (like me) a month or more! Believe me, it can be hard to tell when the real deal starts!

Listen to this on your favorite podcast app!

Prodromal vs. Braxton Hicks

Often people make the mistake of confusing prodromal labor with braxton hicks contractions, but there is quite a big difference.

Most women experience Braxton Hicks contractions, or “practice contractions” at some point during pregnancy. These contractions can be very tight and uncomfortable, but rarely last long periods of time or increase in intensity. To me it just feels like a simple tightening of the stomach. It is your uterus practicing for labor. I tend to start getting these practice contractions as early as 20 weeks!

Furthermore, it is often possible to stop Braxton Hicks contractions by hydrating, eating, or relaxing. These routines normally do not stop prodromal labor. Prodromal labor can also slowly dilate or efface the cervix, while practice contractions typically do not.

Actually, I am pretty confident that my three weeks of prodromal labor dilated my cervix quite a bit. Because when I went into labor for real, it was only 2 hours from the first contraction to me catching him myself, squatting in our kitchen!

Versus my 24 hour labor with my first baby.

Huge difference!

You can read the whole story HERE!

What Causes Prodromal Labor?

There seems to be a few things that can contribute to prodromal labor, but no official cause. Most sources agree that prodromal labor is the body’s natural way of preparing for real labor.

Some things that most sources agree might cause prodromal labor include: the baby’s position in the womb, pelvic or uterine abnormality, emotions or anxiety, and more than three pregnancies. But again, you might still get prodromal labor contractions even if you don’t fall into any of these categories.

Tips for Surviving Prodromal Labor

Remember, you’re not crazy!

This was so hard for me.

Every single day, wondering if I was going into labor.

It is such a mind game!

You get your hopes up every time, and then…

suddenly!

The contractions stop.

Then you’re sad the whole next day.

You’d think that after 3 weeks of these I would have been a pro at this. But nope. Sure, I did have some good days where I didn’t feel like I was going insane. It was difficult though!

But it really helped to research a lot about it and talk to people who had gone through it before. I had never experienced this and it was just nice to know that it was normal and that it seems to make most of us crazy at some point.

Just remember that you aren’t crazy though! The contractions are totally real and they can hurt! Plus, it will eventually lead to full labor and you’ll have a baby in your arms soon!

Embrace the contractions

This was a huge one for me! It helped more than anything if I could get myself in the right mindset.

When you get a contraction, if you can think “bring it on!”, instead of feeling irritated or scared, you might be surprised how much it helps.

I feel like mindset plays a big roll in managing labor too. Just the change from negative thoughts to positive thoughts, can really relax your body and improve your emotional state. You just feeling relaxed and confident has the ability to decrease the pain of a contraction. Because you are then fully allowing your body to work.

I noticed a huge difference time and time again, in my comfort level whenever I could allow myself to embrace the contractions, instead of wanting to run from them.

Practice for labor

One good thing about prodromal labor is that you have plenty of time to practice managing contractions.

There is a silver lining after all!

You can practice relaxation and coping mechanisms for when labor finally picks up.

I know, this isn’t much of a comfort in the middle of the night when you’d rather be sleeping, but I figured that if I was going to have the contractions anyway, I might as well use them to practice relaxing.

Breathe, relax, move around, or find whatever relaxation methods work best for you.

Whenever I get a contraction I focus on relaxing all my abdominal muscles as well as the muscles in my face and hands. I feel the intensity of the contraction, and as it increases I embrace it, I keep thinking “yes! yes! yes! bring it on!” I use the power of my thoughts to re frame the pain into intensity.

Yoga + stretching

Since prodromal labor may be partially caused by baby being in a less-than-optimal position, try some exercises and stretches to help improve baby’s position. It can help either calm these early contractions or speed them up.

Spinning Babies has a lot of good exercises to help move baby.

I love yoga and stretching too. My hips are super tight in general and especially when I’m pregnant. So using different pregnancy safe yoga poses and stretches to loosen up your pelvis and hips can help baby adjust their position.

Here are a few YouTube videos with pregnancy yoga exercises:

Pregnancy Stretching Routine | Best Stretches to Relieve Pregnancy Symptoms!

Prenatal Series Hip and Pelvic Area Exercises and Stretches for Pregnancy

Best Hip and Back Stretches for Pregnancy *UPDATED*

Rest when you can

Staying rested is a really hard part of this whole situation.

Especially if you are having prodromal labor at night and it is keeping you awake.

Thankfully I didn’t have too many contractions at night. They’d last all day and then peter out an hour or so after I went to bed. So I only had general pregnancy aches to keep me awake at night haha. But having strong contractions every day can still be very tiring!

So I made it a priority to make sure I didn’t overdo it and rested frequently during the day.

Getting yourself exhausted is going to make it physically and emotionally hard to deal with prodromal labor. Plus, when you are in your third trimester, it is good to rest a lot anyway.

Take a warm bath

A warm bath can help take the edge off of those contractions and provide you with some much-needed relaxation. They really soothe all those tight muscles and ease a lot of discomfort.

Baths are one of my favorite things to do during pregnancy.

I love making some homemade bath salts, using epsom salt and pink hymilayan salt along with some lavender and frankincense essential oils to really get relaxed.

Plus, if these are just Braxton Hicks, a warm bath can stop the contractions.

Stay hydrated and nourished

Often with prodromal labor women can have shorter active labors (like me), so it is important to eat enough and stay hydrated to be ready for labor when it finally decides to start.

Exhaustion is often the toughest part of labor, especially after laboring prodromally for so long. Keeping your body hydrated and nourished can help. I personally try to drink a gallon of water a day (no more than that), and make sure I am eating high quality fats and proteins, plenty of greens and lots of fermented foods.

If you are not getting enough fluids, the strength and intensity of the prodromal labor can become worse without bringing you any closer to meeting your baby. Plus, with how close you are to having your baby and starting breastfeeding, hydration is very important.

The annoyance and intensity of prodromal labor may make you not feel like eating anything. But it is important you are still getting enough nutrients for you and your baby. Try just a simple snack like a banana or some homemade granola if you can’t handle anything else.

Drink red raspberry leaf tea

Raspberry Leaf has an important place in traditional and folk medicine for its use as an herb for women – specifically, during pregnancy.

Herbalists have found that red raspberry leaf acts as a uterine tonic, and it is used in folk medicine to not only prepare the body for birth, but to shorten labors.

Susun Weed (a renowned herbalist) notes that red raspberry leaf acts to tone the uterus so that, during labor, contractions work more effectively, making birth easier and faster. The more effective the contractions, the faster they will end.

There was also another study done that found that women who consumed raspberry leaf tea during their pregnancy were less likely to receive interventions like C-sections, forceps or vacuum-extraction births than women who did not consume the tea.

Here is my favorite herbal pregnancy tea blend recipe that includes red raspberry leaf that I take during the second and third trimesters:

Feel free to check with your midwife (or doctor)

I know I felt embarrassed to keep checking in with my midwife (especially since I felt like I should have it figured out since it wasn’t my first pregnancy) but honestly, that’s what they are there for!

Each and every pregnancy is different and it can be very reassuring to chat with your midwife and get some reassurance.

They help so many mamas through things like this, they totally understand what you are going through!

What’s Awesome About Prodromal Labor

Although all this can seem totally pointless and frustrating, a lot of women who have prodromal contractions have shorter labors.

Which is totally awesome!

This was certainly my experience. My first labor was 24 hours. The labor with prodromal contractions was 2 hours from “hmm, I wonder if this is labor” to “oh hi there little Dimi!”

Prodromal labor certainly doesn’t guarantee having a short labor but it does seem to help.

Just try to focus on the fact that even if you aren’t in active labor yet, the contractions are preparing your body and might make things easier and faster when the real deal starts.

And blessings!

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