Contractions Throughout Labor
Understanding the right use of contractions can enormously improve your writing. For example, I’ve had a doula client describe the feeling of her contractions like the discomfort of a bladder an infection (I’ve not heard that description since) after which for her second beginning to her they felt just like the cramps you get while you’re having diarrhea. (Some girls never notice them.) They’re named for John Braxton Hicks, the English doctor who first described them in 1872.
Many mothers describe contractions that happen in early labor as just like menstrual cramps, or as extreme fuel pains, which may be confused with flu symptoms or intestinal problems. In true labor, your contractions will come at regular intervals, final 30 to 90 seconds, get steadily stronger, and occur extra often, it doesn’t matter what you do. This is called transition, as a result of it marks the end of the first stage and the start of the second stage of labour Throughout the second stage your baby will probably be born, often by means of a combination of contractions and your pushing, which moves your baby down your vagina and out into the world.
As your labour progresses, your contractions are …