When call your health care provider: Preterm labor

Preterm labor is labor that starts before 37 completed weeks of pregnancy. This can be dangerous because your baby may not be developed enough to live outside the uterus. He or she can have serious health problems if born too early.

Delivery can sometimes be prevented or delayed, giving your baby more time to grow.

It can be difficult to tell the differences between true and preterm labor. Your health care provider can tell of you have preterm labor by giving you an exam and finding changes in your cervix.

Warning signs of preterm labor

If you have any of these warning signs, call your health care provider right away:

• change or increase in vaginal discharge
• ruptured membranes (a slow leak, steady trickle, or sudden gush)
• six or more uterine contractions in 1 hour in a regular pattern
• menstrual-like cramps for more than 1 hour
• dull backache below the waist for more than 1 hour
• increased pelvic pressure for more than 1 hour
• throbbing in the vagina, cramps in the thighs, or feeling your baby pushing down
• intestinal cramping with or without diarrhea or indigestion for more than 1 hour

If you think your water has broken, or if you are having heavy bleeding, call your health care provider or the hospital birth center at once.

If you are having cramps or pain, drink 2 to 3 glasses of water or juice, empty your bladder (urinate), and lie down on your left side and rest. Recheck your symptoms. If you still have signs of labor, call your health care provider.

Related Links

How contractions work and feel

Prenatal care

Allina pregnancy care

Second trimester

First published: 10/04/2002
Last updated: 02/01/2006

Reviewed by: Allina Patient Education experts