I recently conducted a straw poll among my girlfriends, asking, “Did you know when you were in labour?” Undoubtedly, the answer was 100% yes. These women had all experienced an array of labour and birth experiences; however, two things they categorically agreed on were that ‘Yes, I knew when it was ‘real’ labour’ and, secondly, ‘The baby does come out at some point’.
You’re not alone
When doing my usual research on content, I decided to ask Google how common the phrase ‘Will I know when I’m in labour?’ comes up. I figured that everyone loves to use ‘Dr. Google as it’s available 24/7 and doesn’t tire of the numerous questions we ask it, unlike our partners, mums, and best friends. As you can see, using the words ‘will I know when…” resulted in 5/9 results being associated with labour and signs of labour starting, including the ‘Hollywood labour starter’ of waters breaking when, in fact, only 10% of women's waters break before labour starts.
Signs of labour:
Regular tightenings/waves/contractions
This means your uterus is squeezing in and relaxing roughly every 3 minutes. The sensations are increasing in strength and occurring frequently, more often than not establishing a regular pattern.
That’s it. How can this be right? I know that you're thinking this, but there is only one legitimate sign that tells you your baby is ready to get this show on the road: regular tightenings.
Potential signs of impending labour:
Passing a blood-stained show (a jelly-like substance that you’d find when wiping after you’ve been on the toilet or you may see in your undies)
Needing to empty your bowels more often than normal
Mild tightenings low in the abdomen or low in the back
Vomiting
Waters breaking
These signs of ‘impending’ labour can start weeks before birth or a few hours before labour begins.
No criteria or timeline tells you how much closer you are if you experience any of these ‘signs’ such as ‘If you do 3 vomits in 12 hours, labour will then commence promptly 71 minutes following the final vomit’.
This constant ‘waiting’ can make it feel like you’ll never not be pregnant - believe me when I say I hear you. I’ve been there, and I’ve touched on it in some posts on social media. However, I can promise you that you will give birth to your baby when they’re ready and your body has been given the green light to get into birth mode.
You’ve got this
So, in summary, yes, you will know when you’re in labour.
There is a noticeable shift from not being in labour to being in it. I know we hear of women who birthed on the toilet and never knew they were pregnant, but they generally say that they thought they had a severe case of gastroenteritis. Clearly, there was something a bit off, and this was them describing their labour.
Each woman's labour and birth journey is entirely different, and it can be hard not to compare your process with others. You may not experience any of those impending signs of labour, or you may experience every single one. They may last weeks, days or hours.
Just know it will happen; trust your baby, body, and instincts.