What week do Braxton Hicks contractions start?

The uterus may tighten before you can clearly feel it. Awareness varies with the pregnancy, body position, activity, and whether you have experienced pregnancy before.

Practice tightenings often become easier to recognise as the uterus grows. A typical episode makes the abdomen briefly hard, arrives without a steadily developing rhythm, and then eases. Some people feel frequent episodes while others barely notice them; either experience can occur in an otherwise uncomplicated pregnancy.

The calendar cannot distinguish practice contractions from labour. The pattern, progression, pregnancy stage, and accompanying symptoms matter more than the first week you felt tightening.

Rest from the activity you were doing, take fluids, empty your bladder, and change position. Observe whether the uterus softens and whether the episodes stop. Keep a brief note of their spacing and what relieved them if you need to contact your maternity service.

Get maternity advice promptly when tightenings are regular, increasingly painful, increasingly close together, or persistent despite rest. Vaginal bleeding, watery fluid loss, pelvic pressure, fever, ongoing low back pain, or reduced fetal movement from your baby's established pattern also needs assessment. Call emergency services for severe continuous pain, heavy bleeding, collapse, or serious breathing difficulty.

Ask which contraction changes should prompt a call at your current stage of pregnancy. Confirm where to seek assessment, how to monitor your baby's usual movements, and whether your medical or pregnancy history calls for earlier review.