Something surprising your uterus does when you are in labor

March 23, 2018


Did You Realize When You Are In Labor Even Your Fallopian Tubes Contract!


Some women are very tuned into what parts of their girl anatomy they can feel and what part is hurting when they ovulate, when they have a cyst, when they have a menstrual cramp, or when they have a labor contraction. But sometimes those feelings are very accurate, and sometimes you may have the sensation of what you are feeling without it being quite right.


The physiological signal to start the process of labor comes from the baby, but the uterus itself has a planned set of responses once labor is triggered.


Women ask us what exactly is hurting when they have a labor contraction. When did you realize you were in labor? Water break? Bloody show? Or did you realize you were in labor when you had intense frequent contractions. There are all great questions to cover with your birth provider, but here are some clues.


Women have many false labor contractions, called Braxton Hicks contractions, but eventually it is more than a few Braxton Hicks contractions that get your attention. The contractions have a point of origin. The normal wave of the labor contraction of the uterus begins at the end of one of the fallopian tubes. In centers called "pacemakers".


 Just like the origin of an actual beat of your heart which begins from a single focus. The contraction is usually begun on the right side, and it moves the electrical signal through the uterus at 2 cm/second, thus taking about a full 15 seconds to reach the entire uterus with it's signal and after that the whole uterus contracts in unison. The actual contraction follows lasts about 40 to 60 seconds.


Women in early labor who get contractions coupled together probably have signals from each of their fallopian one from the right (usually first) followed closely on the heals of one from the left. Women who have lost a fallopian tube have to rely on the back up pacemakers that exist within other regions of the uterus.


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