Many pregnant individuals wonder about signs indicating approaching labor. A common question is whether increased bowel movements, or even diarrhea, signal labor is near. While some experience changes in bowel habits, this alone is not a definitive indicator. The body prepares for childbirth, with changes manifesting differently for each person.
Physiological Changes Before Labor
The body’s preparation for labor involves hormones affecting various systems, including the digestive tract. As labor nears, the body releases increased prostaglandins. These hormone-like substances help ripen the cervix, making it softer and thinner for birth. Prostaglandins also affect smooth muscles throughout the body, including those in the gastrointestinal tract.
This stimulation of intestinal muscles can lead to increased bowel activity, resulting in looser stools or diarrhea. This response helps empty the bowels. An emptier bowel can create more space within the pelvis, potentially aiding the baby’s descent during labor. This change can occur hours, days, or weeks before labor, but it is not universally experienced.
Other Indicators of Impending Labor
Beyond changes in bowel movements, other signs suggest approaching labor. One common sign is “lightening,” where the baby drops lower into the pelvis. This can occur weeks or hours before labor, especially for first-time parents. This descent may increase bladder pressure, causing frequent urination, but also alleviate diaphragm pressure, making breathing easier.
Another sign is the “nesting instinct,” a sudden burst of energy and an intense urge to clean and organize. While this urge can appear at any point in pregnancy, it is often reported in the final weeks or days before birth. The loss of the mucus plug, a thick collection of mucus that seals the cervix, also indicates labor preparation. This plug may be clear, yellowish, or tinged with pink or brown blood, known as “bloody show,” and can be expelled days or weeks before labor.
The rupture of membranes, or “water breaking,” is a more definitive sign of labor, though not always a dramatic gush. It can be a slow trickle of clear, odorless fluid, and signifies an increased infection risk, requiring immediate healthcare provider contact. True labor contractions become progressively longer, stronger, and more frequent, unlike irregular Braxton Hicks. True contractions do not subside with rest or position changes and often begin in the back, radiating to the abdomen.
When to Contact Your Healthcare Provider
Knowing when to contact a healthcare provider is important as labor approaches. If your water breaks, regardless of whether contractions have started, contact your provider immediately. Note the color, odor, and amount of fluid, as discolored fluid (greenish or brownish) could indicate meconium, the baby’s first stool, which requires prompt evaluation.
Contact your healthcare provider for regular, strong contractions that become closer, last longer, and increase in intensity. For first-time parents, this means contractions lasting about one minute each, every five minutes for at least an hour. For those who have given birth before, contractions every five to seven minutes may warrant a call. Also, any significant vaginal bleeding, especially bright red blood, or a noticeable decrease in fetal movement warrants immediate medical attention. Always contact your healthcare team with any concerns during late pregnancy.