Going into labour while feeling poorly with a cold?

[TransatlanticCityGirl]

Just wondering if anyone has ever gone into labour while suffering from a cold or other similar virus? I'm 38 weeks and thanks to DD I have been suffering from a string of viruses for the last few weeks and wondering how much discomfort that is going to cause if labour starts while I'm completely congested, coughing etc. Any tips?

I've heard that your body tends to wait until you're in good enough shape to cope with labour. I hope so for your sake!

I had a terrible cough for well over two months before I had DS. It was so bad that I really hurt my back when I coughed while leaning over.

Labour cured it! Was coughing on the way into hospital, home that evening, no more cough.

I'm sure you'll be ok And good luck!

Generally you won't go into natural labour unless you're feeling well and ready. X

I had the cold last week when I went into labour. The heat and steam from the birthing pool cleared it out though and I was fine the next day!

I don't think I would have noticed if I'd had a cold or virus - your brain does seem to go into another plane of reality while labour is in progress!

I had a baby last Saturday while coming down with a cold - it was an induction. I mentioned it to the midwife before she put the gel in but wasn't a problem apparently. It wasn't a serious cold and didn't affect my labour.

However I did deliver very quickly and needed an episiotomy so it has been quite hard to manage coughing / sneezing / blowing noses postnatally - you forget how much your pelvic floor is involved in those activities! It hasn't caused any problems - it just needed to be managed very carefully.

I've never heard of the body waiting until you are well before kickstarting labour - I've know someone who had to labour with flu. That would be awful.

I had a cold and an horrendous cough with dc2. My body certainly didn't wait for me to get over it! It was fine though. The labour far outshone the cold! Dh videoed some of it and I was coughing between contractions but I don't really remember I think the gas and air helped it

coughing / sneezing / blowing noses

To be clear, I only have the ONE nose.

I had a cold when DS was born. All symptoms vanished until he was a few hours old when I started sneezing again.

I was feeling so re-assured until the last handful of posts ;)
I hope my body waits until I've recovered… I'm only 38 weeks (DD was born at 42w 2d) so there is hope. I can't imagine feeling this congested and having to push!

This is not what you wan to hear so you may want to look away now.

A good friend of mine had a truly shocking labour, and one of the factors was that she had a congested chest which made lots of pain relief either ineffective or problematic. She was an induction though - I would definitely avoid induction until you've shaken it off if possible.