According to the American Pregnancy Association, prodromal labor is described as “a part of labor, occurring before active labor but it does not progress toward delivery”. Many people consider prodromal labor “false labor”, but that doesn’t make the pain of going through it any less than active labor. I happen to have experienced it firsthand.
When I gave birth to my first two children, I was lucky to have very easy labor and deliveries with no complications. I don’t know how that happened, but I do know I was lucky because so many labor and deliveries do not go as planned or are considered “quick labors”. Having this experience with short labors, I believed my third delivery would be just as quick or even quicker than my previous two. I was told by multiple people that the more babies you had, the faster the labor. This, by the way, is not necessarily true. So when I got down to the end with my third pregnancy (36 weeks) and started having contractions that got progressively worse and closer together, I naturally assumed I was going into labor.
When I got to triage, I explained my symptoms and that I have a track record of quick labors. They took me back and monitored me for *hours*. It turns out I was only 1 centimeter dilated despite my contractions. The advice I was given was to get out and walk around the hospital grounds for a couple of hours to “get things going”. So I did. My husband and I walked all around the parking lots, the parking garages, and outside of the building. I even did lunges in the parking lot and yoga poses to try to get things moving. Two hours later, I walked back into the triage area. Once again, I was hooked up to the baby monitor. The baby looked great! Healthy as could be. My contractions, however, stopped. I was sure they would return because, at this point, I know the difference between Braxton Hicks and labor contractions and what I was feeling was definitely labor pains. They checked my dilation again and I had progressed to 3cm (hooray!) but didn’t feel the contractions were progressing enough.
Since I had a history of quick labors they decided to admit me. I was taken upstairs to a labor and delivery room, still not feeling the contractions as intense as they were. I walked up and down that hospital room. I drank water. I asked to bounce on a birthing ball. I got frustrated. When one of the L & D nurses came in to check the baby monitor I had had enough. At this point I had been at the hospital since 11am that morning, and it was 11pm at night. I asked her if I could just go home, that nothing was happening. She told me it sounded like I was experiencing prodromal labor-two words I had never heard until that night. I asked her when I would know to return to the hospital for “the real deal” if my contractions felt the same as they had earlier. My OB came in to talk with me and the advice I was given was “we can’t tell you when to come back in”, that no certain contraction timing or anything was a sign I would be going into active labor. I left the hospital that night frustrated and beyond confused. I think the most frustrating thing was that I thought I knew my body and what it was telling me, but after experiencing this I felt that I really didn’t know my body at all.
I think the most frustrating thing was that I thought I knew my body and what it was telling me, but after experiencing this I felt that I really didn’t know my body at all.
Fast-forward a week or two, and I was *still* having labor pains. Yes, they would grow in intensity and feel just like active labor pains, but I would let them pass and continue on with my day. At 40 weeks, I was tired. Not just typical pregnancy tired. I was tired of feeling like I was going through the pain of labor only for the contractions to eventually subside. It wore on me physically, but especially mentally and emotionally. How much longer could I do this? Four days before my due date, I was at work teaching. I started having my strong contractions again. At this point, I just assumed they were prodromal labor pains and continued throughout my day, just dealing with the pain. I made it through a day of teaching and the contractions were still intense. I started to drive home. I called my husband on the way home and explained what I was feeling; asking for his advice on what to do. No, I did not want to go to triage just to be sent home again with “false labor” pains. He recommended I call my OB’s office and consult a nurse. So I did. Still on my way home, I called the nurse. After explaining my symptoms and my prodromal labor experience, she advised me to go get checked out. I turned my minivan around, headed toward the hospital. After checking myself into triage, I was still in a great deal of pain. I refused to let myself believe I was in labor, so I just did my best to force the painful feeling down and out of my mind.
When I got to a room in triage, here’s what I found out: I was 8 centimeters dilated, my bag of water was “bulging”, and the nurses were shocked I was handling it so well. I honestly couldn’t believe this was it. I begged them for an epidural and to get me upstairs for L&D. They literally ran me upstairs, me screaming in pain and screaming for an epidural. Thankfully, an epidural was given, and within 30 minutes I had my baby.
So what did I learn about all of this? I learned that prodromal labor is a very real thing and many women, even some in my own family, suffer through it. I learned that going through “false labor” is not an easy thing to do. It does not mean women “can’t handle the pain” or are weak in any way. If anything, they are strong enough to endure the pains of active labor for multiple weeks let alone multiple hours. My advice for anyone going through prodromal labor? Power through it. It is not great advice, but the only thing that got me through the weeks of labor pains was knowing there was a light at the end of the tunnel and I would meet my baby soon. Hang in there, my fellow prodromal Mamas. You, too, will get through it and meet your sweet babies soon.
