Babies Tale

What about the mother? What changes do you experience in preparation for the birth? The changes that come with pregnancy affect not only the baby, the uterus, and the placenta, but also the mother’s entire body, her mind, and her emotions.

For example, your breasts began changing as soon as you became pregnant. You may have noticed some breast changes [for example, tenderness, tingling sensations, and feelings of heaviness] very early, even before you knew you were pregnant. These changes indicate that your body is beginning to get ready for breastfeeding. By late pregnancy, you may notice more veins in your breasts, indicating the increased blood supply in the area. You may notice that your breasts are somewhat larger than before, and the areolae [the circles around your nipples] may have darkened. Inside the breasts, the milk producing glands have grown larger. They even begin producing a type of milk called colostrums, which enables you to breastfeed whenever the baby is born.

Other parts of your body also change in preparation for the birth. For example, the ligaments begin to soften. This is particularly helpful in the pelvis, through which the baby passes during birth.. Flexible ligaments allow the pelvis to enlarge somewhat, making more room for the baby. These changes sometimes cause shooting pains in the hips, stiffness in the lower part of your back, and soreness in the front joint of your pelvis [symphysis pubis] and the sacroiliac joints. Although inconvenient now, these changes really are a benefit during the birth process.
Like many women, you may experience heartburn and constipation, partly due to slowing of digestion and partly due to the size of the uterus, which is crowding your stomach and intestines and causing you to burp up acid and to have trouble moving your bowels. You can prevent or reduce heartburn by eating smaller amounts of food at a time and by not eating right before going to bed. Constipation can be helped with regular exercise, drinking plenty of fluids, and eating vegetables and fruits. Discuss with your doctor the use of antacids for heartburn and laxatives for constipation during pregnancy. Despit these discomforts, there are benefits. Your body is able to absorb more nutrients from your digestive tract because of the slowing of digestion.

Your uterus undergoes vast changes in the last trimester of pregnancy. Obviously, it becomes much larger. It must accommodate the growing baby,. the placenta [which weighs about one-sixth of the baby’s weight], and about one quart of amniotic fluid. As your uterus stretches around the growing baby inside, it becomes more “irritable’ and sensitive. If you sneeze or bump your abdomen, your uterus often contracts immediately afterward. It is very sensitive to sudden pressure. Sometimes while you are resting, your uterus will spontaneously contract several times in a rhythm. More than one woman has wondered if she is in labor when this kind of contraction pattern occurs. These contractions are called Braxton Hicks contractions, are an indication that the uterus has become more sensitive to the circulating oxytocin.

While Braxton Hicks contractions are not labor, they probably are causing changes in your cervix that prepare it for labor. These changes include ripening [softening], effacement [thinning], and some dilation [opening] of the cervix prior to the onset of labor. Although you are probably unaware of it, the cervix, which is usually quite firm and thick, becomes soft and thin before labor begins. A ripe, thin cervix opens up much more easily than a unripe, thick cervix. The amount of ripening and thinning can be determined only with a vaginal exam. Effacement is measured as a percentage, For example, if your cervix is twenty-five percent effaced, it is twenty-five percent thinner than usual. [The cervix is approximately two centimeters long. Twenty-five percent effaced means that one and a half centimeters remains]

Your cervix opens slightly before you go into labor. This is referred to as dilation, and is measured during a vaginal exam by feeling the circular rim of the cervix and estimating [in centimeters] the diameter of the opening. Many women will be one or two centimeters dilated before they are aware of any signs of labor. During labor your cervix will continue dilating to about ten centimeters [a circle about four inches across].

This preliminary work of the uterus in preparation for labor is thought to be controlled by the changing hormone production of the placenta, the baby, and the mother.

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