You may not know that before giving birth you had childbirth prodromes. This strange word derives from the Greek "Prodmow", which means the predecessor of an event. In clinical medicine, a prodrome refers to the signs and symptoms that precede acute manifestations, in this case, childbirth.
The prodromes of childbirth are those signs that announce that the time of delivery is approaching. They are variable in each woman, in some they can take place a couple of weeks before while in another just a few hours before the baby is born.
The symptoms of the prodromes are mainly characterized by more intense contractions, for some women they are painful, for others they are not. They are not the so-called false contractions of Braxton Hicks that train the uterine muscle, but neither are they the true contractions that take place during dilation.
Unlike labor contractions that are rhythmic, progressive and intense, prodrome contractions are annoying, but they are not rhythmic or regular and their function is to erase and soften the cervix prior to dilation.
Spasms are felt in the lower abdomen, or sometimes in English, but they last between 15 and 20 seconds, somewhat less than labor contractions and disappear just as they began. Unlike true labor contractions, when changing position or resting, contractions stop.
If you are in the last weeks of pregnancy, you may be experiencing these types of contractions that will sometimes make you doubt whether you should run to the hospital or not. Although the process is different in each woman, when you are in labor, there are at least 2 or 3 intense contractions lasting approximately one minute every 10 minutes.
In addition to the contractions, the prodromes involve other symptoms such as the loss of the mucous plug (although not necessarily), the softening of the cervix (we can only know by examination), the lowering of the abdomen relieving the stomach area and in some older women emotional sensitivity by the time it approaches.
