Am I Experiencing Early Labor? Symptoms of Premature Child Birth

Symptoms of premature child birth are not always obvious, even to the doctor.

If you are experiencing some of these symptoms your doctor may attribute them to normal pregnancy symptoms, not as signs of early child birth.

It is important to pay attention to every little cue the body is giving you during pregnancy. Those little cues may add up to some larger symptoms, including premature child birth.

Here are some symptoms of Premature child birth

1. Lower Back Pain

Lower back pain can occur at any time during pregnancy. If the back pain was an early symptom of pregnancy, both you and your doctor may not recognize back pain the third trimester as anything besides back pain.

In hindsight, I realize that the lower back pain I was experiencing was a back child birth. I was so physically uncomfortable with back pain that I could not sit, stand, or do anything without pain.

The doctor did not think much of it.

2. Contractions

For a first-time mom it is difficult to distinguish between the Braxton-Hicks contractions and real child birth contractions. In the days preceding the premature birth of my son, I must have looked up Braxton-Hicks contractions and labor contractions five times a day online, just to try to understand if what I was feeling was "normal."

According to Baby Center Braxton Hicks contractions can become "intermittently become rhythmic, relatively close together, and even painful, at times fooling you into thinking you're in labor." They distinguish real child birth contractions by describing them as "grow consistently longer, stronger, and closer together."

3. Swelling

Another indicator of premature child birth, and a possible un-indentifiable infection of some kind is swelling. because it was the hottest and most humid week of the summer, and I had gone from work to picking up pizzas to a birthday party, I thought the swelling in my feet was "normal" due to the heat.

Again, a call to the doctor did not illicit any concern, since I was only at 31 and a half weeks.

According to American Pregnancy, swelling is normal during pregnancy in reaction to the summer heat.

4. Intense Surge in Nesting