Family Forum / Pregnancy / Pregnancy / January 2007

I wonder if it's the muscles around the uterus spasming, rather than the
uterus itself, in which case it would make sense that none of the tricks
work, but instead, it might mean some kind of support garment would help,
but preventative, rather than curative. The heat helping, also points at
that, a hot shower would not usually help in stopping contractions, BH or
otherwise, more that it helps manage the pain of them.

I think it was unhelpful of the doctor to say it might stress the baby out,
yes, it is true that some babies get stressed out by contractions, but even
if this one stuck around for a long time, it's was unlikely to have been the
intensity of a labour contraction and even in labour, it rarely seems to be
the early ones that stress the babies. Even if it did cause the baby some
stress, is that a problem? probably not, unless it goes on and on (the
stress not the contraction), and that is unlikely and you'll know about it
soon enough, keep monitoring movement. Towards the end of pregnancy it might
mean they pass meconium in utero, which can make labour more difficult as
they might insist on continuous monitoring, my DD had old meconium in her
waters and at 39+3 that was unlikely to have been gut maturity, so she must
have been distressed at some point prior to labour, how, or why I do not
know, but she was fine (though not perfect, just good enough) during labour
and a picture of health as a newborn. If you do continue to have episodes
like this, you might want to get clued up on managing labour when meconium
has been passed, lots of providers insist on continuous monitoring without
any regard to any other factors, some even insist on delivery within a
certain time frame, sometimes one or both is merited, but sometimes is
overkill and you might want to be prepared for the moments when you would
say "I don't give my consent for continous monitoring". Btw, coming out
bruised is almost impossible, it sometimes happens if baby has been in a
poor position, such as brow presentation, but mostly only if they've been in
that position for a while, during labour, with waters broken when they are
being pushed by the contractions onto bones they are not getting past in
that position, amniotic fluid is an amazing thing, you have heard the odd
story of a mother being killed and baby being fine if they are delivered
fast, having survived the trauma of whatever injured the mother.

Anne

Anne