Contractions can occur throughout the pregnancy but are most common in the last trimester. These irregular, sometimes uncomfortable, cramps or contractions are nature’s “warm-up exercises,” which condition your uterus and baby for labor. They can cause your uterus to remain hard for several seconds or even minutes at a time.

While annoying, they are not usually uncomfortable enough to interrupt your activity very much. They are more apt to occur when you are tired, or when your uterine muscles are stimulated by exercise, intercourse, rough rides, etc. With each succeeding pregnancy these contractions are more common, and start earlier.

1) When these contractions are annoying, try changing position or resting quietly for a while and usually they will disappear. A change in position or activity will not make true labor contractions go away.

2) Take a long, hot shower, or sit in a tub of comfortably warm water (providing your bag of waters is still intact). Relax! If the contractions are particularly bothersome at night, a gentle back massage following the bath will often help you relax enough to get to sleep.

3) If you are more than 3 weeks before your due date and the contractions become increasingly more uncomfortable and intense – and especially if they do not go away after you have tried the above suggestions – see Warning Signs.

4) If you are within 3 weeks of your due date, and the contractions become increasingly more uncomfortable and intense, read the section about Labor.