I have a dull pain in my lower abdomen when my due date comes.

For every pregnant woman, the doctor will estimate the expected delivery date for a period of time. During the expected delivery period, women must pay attention to any abnormal physical conditions. Because the due date often indicates that a woman is about to give birth, she should be prepared for delivery if she experiences pain or uterine contractions. Therefore, many women experience dull pain in the lower abdomen when they are due to give birth. Is this normal?

1 What is the reason for the dull pain in the stomach when the due date is approaching?

The dull pain in the abdomen when the due date is due is caused by uterine contractions. If a pregnant woman who is due to give birth has slight pain in the lower abdomen and it is regular and paroxysmal abdominal pain, it is a more reliable sign of labor, with an interval of 5-10 minutes and lasting for 30 seconds or more, accompanied by the disappearance of the cervical canal and dilation of the cervix, which is uterine contraction. If you have occasional, irregular abdominal pain, it may be false labor. So, the dull pain in the abdomen when the due date is due is caused by uterine contractions.

2 How to distinguish true and false uterine contractions when you have dull stomach pain during the due date

Uterine contraction is an important feature of labor. In short, it is the regular contraction of the uterus.

False labor: A few weeks before delivery, the uterine muscles are more sensitive and irregular uterine contractions will occur. They are short-lived, weak, or limited to the lower part of the uterus. It stops after several hours and cannot cause the cervix to open, so it is not labor and is called false labor. False labor, also called prolonged labor, is an occasional uterine contraction. Its characteristic is that the time of occurrence is irregular.

The degree of it varies from time to time. False labor begins around 6 weeks of pregnancy, but you won't feel it until the second half of pregnancy. A gynecologist at Peking Union Medical College Hospital said that frequently touching the belly in the late pregnancy can cause false labor and lead to premature birth.

True uterine contractions: The contractions of the uterus during labor are regular. Initially, the interval is about 10 minutes, and pregnant women feel abdominal pain, and then the duration of the pain gradually increases to 40 seconds to 60 seconds. The severity increases and the interval shortens to about 3-5 minutes. When the uterus contracts and abdominal pain occurs, the lower abdomen may feel hard.

NOTE: Contractions begin about a month before your due date. Some people don’t feel anything at the beginning. Only when they touch their belly with their hands will they feel the contractions, and pregnant mothers will feel that the frequency of contractions is getting higher and higher. Generally, when calculating uterine contractions, if the number of contractions per hour is around 10, it is considered relatively frequent. You should go to the hospital in time and take some drugs to inhibit uterine contractions under the guidance of a doctor to prevent premature birth.

3. What other symptoms does a pregnant woman have besides a dull pain in her stomach when she is due?

Fundal descent

The enlarged uterus begins to descend, reducing the pressure on the diaphragm. Pregnant women will feel their breathing difficulties ease, the feeling of stomach pressure disappears, and their appetite increases. The descent of the fetus compresses the bladder and rectum, causing you to still feel the urge to urinate after urinating and not feel comfortable after defecation. Increased discharge from the cervix and vagina.

Abdominal pain and backache

As the uterus grows larger, the body's center of gravity gradually moves forward. When standing or walking, in order to maintain a balanced center of gravity, pregnant women must lean their shoulders and head back, forming a unique chest-out and belly-protruding posture for pregnant women. This posture causes excessive lordosis and curvature of the thoracic spine, causing spinal pain. In addition, the descent of the fetal head increases the pressure on the pelvis, and the feeling of abdominal heaviness and back pain will become more and more obvious. Sometimes there is even weight loss, which is a sign that the fetus has matured.

Decreased fetal movement

Don't be worried if the fetal movement is not so obvious at this time, as the fetal position is relatively fixed. However, if you still don't feel fetal movement for 12 hours, you should see a doctor immediately.

Seeing red

The discharge of mucus containing blood from the vagina is called "red show". Generally, you should go to the hospital for examination within a few hours after seeing blood. But sometimes you still have to wait 1-2 days after seeing blood, and sometimes it takes several days before regular uterine contractions begin to appear. If there are symptoms of heavy bleeding and the treatment is too slow, it may endanger the life and health of the mother and fetus; severe abdominal pain, sudden cessation of uterine contraction, and fetus motionlessness: contact immediately and rush to the hospital to give birth.