Can real labour pains start and then stop and start again 1.5weeks later?

[robin3]

I wouldn't have thought so...
Any experience of this?

real labour does not stop once it starts, the contractions might pause but they will restart..contractions will keep going until the baby is delivered in true labour

you can have lots of practice runs though,and it is possible to have braxton hicks that go on and off for a long while before true labour starts

That's what I thought. Can Braxton Hicks be very painful then?

yes, absolutely.. they can convince you this is it ! in my second pregnancy, i had them so bad towards the end, i could not walk, and would have to stand rooted to the spot, breathing through them... on a few occasions, passers by offered to get me an ambulance as it looked like baby was coming !!

drinking raspberry leaf tea or taking the capsules can stimulate BH, as can sex and orgasm. being dehydrated or having a UTI or upset tummy can trigger contractions too.

That makes me feel better. Friends wife extremely prone to attention seeking/exaggeration and I've been trying to be supportive through their pregnancy. Over a week ago she went to hospital many times...one week on and the baby still hasn't come. Many people raising a brow about this so I wanted to make sure everyone gets their facts right.

well, she is clearly not in labour ! just nod and smile, nod and smile

she might have gone thinking, this was it, and it wasn't..

in all fairness, sometimes pre term labour can be stopped with drug management, but she would have to be admitted and treated, and if pre term labour was threatened, she would be being kept a close eye on, quite possibly in hospital. if she is near her due date, then this would not happen, she would be sent home until labour starts properly.

real labour:

contractions get closer together, more intense, and last 50 seconds or more

often accompanied by backache

the ctx have a rhtyhm

the mother needs to go into herself and close her eyes and concentrate when labour is established

waters can break

a show can also be a sign of labour

Thanks lulumama.

Shame for her DH...he's had a week off because she pulled the rip cord so soon. Now he'll get less time later on.

It's called false labour isn't it? - still very painful.
I had a day of 10min contractions and back pain at 36wks with my first. They didn't get any closer and got slightly less painful but still there for the next 2wks. At 38wks I'd absolutely had enough, leapt on DH for a bit of aerobics and prostoglandin, tweaked nipples in the bath and boom - proper, hard contractions that got worse and worse.

Robin3 i hope all goes well for your friend and his wife

thanks sparkles! and to you too