How Pregnant Women can Tell if it is Hospital Time
At the end of your pregnancy you may begin wondering when it's time to go the hospital. The short answer is that you ought to go if you are either restless or in need of more pain relief than a warm bath or Tylenol can offer. No matter if this is your first pregnancy or your 5th, it is natural to worry about getting to the hospital too soon and being sent home again. Of course, thats better than leaving home too late.
To be more specific, though, in a first pregnancy its time to go to the hospital when:
-The contractions are coming in less than 5-minute intervals.
-The contractions are strong enough for you to need to concentrate on them.
-You are restless staying at home.
-Your water breaks.
-You find a bright red discharge from your vagina.
-Your baby is moving less frequently than normal.
The first three of the above mean that your labor is progressing normally. When your water breaks, it's not usually a sign of early labor; instead it tends to be an indication that the second phase of labor is imminent. Though, occasionally your baby takes a position in your pelvis that creates a small lump of water-filled membrane to develop between the top of the babys head and your vagina. When a contraction comes, stress is put on this bag and the membranes rupture. This tends to indicate that the child is in back-to-back (occipito-posterior) position. Back-to-back labors tend to be longer, but in 80% of cases, the baby turns him/herself into a more ideal position prior to birth.
A discharge of bright red blood from the vagina is an emergency and 911 should be called immediately.
If your baby is moving less frequently than usual, the chances are that it is simply resting or sleeping. However, any slowing down of your babys movements can indicate that all is not well. This isn't an emergency but you ought to call your doctor and check the baby's heart rate.
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Chris Dunn loves to write articles relating to birth for his pregnancy website.
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