Difference Between Braxton Hicks and Contractions

Braxton Hicks are practice tightening of the womb. They may feel like pressure across the abdomen, come at uneven intervals, and remain similar in intensity. Changing position, resting, drinking water, or emptying your bladder may make them ease. They do not consistently build into a pattern.

Labour contractions often develop a rhythm. They continue despite rest and gradually require more focus. Pain may begin in the back or pelvis and move around the abdomen. Only an examination can show whether the cervix is changing, so sensation alone cannot confirm labour.

Pause and record when each tightening starts, how long it lasts, and how far apart the starts are. Rest, drink fluids if you have not been told to restrict them, and try a comfortable position. Keep your maternity unit’s number available and follow the personalised instructions in your birth plan, since advice can vary with your pregnancy history.

Contact your maternity team when contractions become regular and increasingly difficult, your waters break, or you have vaginal bleeding, severe pain, fever, or reduced baby movement. Call promptly if these symptoms happen before full term, because preterm labour needs assessment even when the tightening pattern is uncertain.

Ask which contraction pattern your unit wants you to report, how to time tightenings, and what to do if you live far from the hospital. Ask how your advice changes if you have had a previous early birth or another pregnancy complication.