Is preterm labor before 37 weeks?

What is Premature Labor?

A term pregnancy takes about 40 weeks to complete. Babies born before 37 weeks may have problems breathing, eating and keeping warm. Premature labor occurs between the 20th and 37th week of pregnancy, when uterine contractions cause the cervix, the mouth of the uterus or womb, to open earlier than normal. This can result in premature birth.

Certain factors may increase a woman's chances of having premature labor, such as carrying twins. However, the specific cause or causes of premature labor are not known. Sometimes a woman may have premature labor for no apparent reason.

Warning Signs of Premature Labor

It may be possible to prevent a premature birth by knowing the warning signs of premature labor and by seeking care early if these signs occur. Warning signs and symptoms for premature labor include:

Uterine contractions that happen six or more times in an hour, with or without any other warning signs.
Menstrual-like cramps felt in the lower abdomen that may come and go or be constant.
Low dull backache felt below the waistline that may come and go or be constant.
Pelvic pressure that feels like your baby is pushing down. This pressure comes and goes.
Abdominal cramping with or without diarrhea.
Increase or change in vaginal discharge such as change into a mucousy, watery or bloody discharge.

Uterine Contractions: How to Tell What's Normal

It is normal to have some uterine contractions throughout the day. They often occur when you change positions, such as from sitting to lying down. It is not normal to have frequent uterine contractions, such as six or more in one hour. Frequent uterine contractions or tightenings may cause your cervix to begin to open.

Since the onset of premature labor is very subtle and often hard to recognize, it is important to know how to feel your abdomen for uterine contractions. You can feel for contractions in this way:

While lying down, place your fingertips on the top of your uterus
A contraction is a periodic tightening or hardening of your uterus. If your uterus is contracting, you will actually feel your abdomen get tight or hard, and then feel it relax or soften when the contraction is over.

What To Do If You Think You May Have Symptoms of Premature Labor

If you think you are having uterine contractions or any other signs and symptoms of premature labor:

Lie down tilted towards your side. Place a pillow at your back for support.

Sometimes lying down for an hour may slow down or stop the signs and symptoms.
Do not lie flat on your back, because lying flat may cause the contractions to occur more often.
Do not turn completely on your side, because you may not be able to feel the contractions.
Hydrate yourself by drinking several large glasses of water. Sometimes being dehydrated can cause contractions.

Check for contractions for one hour.

To tell how often contractions are occurring, check the minutes that elapse from the beginning of one contraction to the beginning of the next.

Call your provider or the UCSF Birth Center at (415) 353-1787 or go to the hospital if you experience any of the following:

You have six or more uterine contractions in one hour
You have any of the other signs and symptoms for one hour
You have any spotting or leaking of fluid from your vagina

With acknowledgement to Dr. Robert K. Creasy for his assistance and to the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation for their support.

Early labor, also known as preterm labor, is labor that begins before the 37th week of pregnancy. Because infants born before 37 weeks of gestation have a higher risk of complications and health problems, doctors often try to delay or stop early labor so that the pregnancy can continue and the fetus will have more time to grow and develop.

When labor can’t be stopped and the fetus is born before 37 weeks of pregnancy, it is a preterm birth. Babies born between 32 and 37 weeks are considered preterm, and babies born before 32 weeks are early preterm.

Potential health problems in preterm babies

The earlier infants are born, the more problems they will likely have and the more severe the problems may be. Some preterm babies do very well and don’t require a lot of medical intervention. However, others are very sick and need lots of help. The complications of preterm birth may be short-term and go away after they develop and get stronger, and others may be long-term or permanent. It’s common for preterm babies to be slightly behind their peers in meeting developmental milestones, such as crawling, walking and talking, but most of them will catch up within the first couple of years.

Some of the problems preterm babies may have are:

lack of surfactant in the lungs (a substance that helps the lungs stay inflated)
respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) – a condition caused by immature lungs that makes breathing difficult
difficulty controlling body temperature
problems with eating and digesting food
infection
jaundice
bleeding in the brain
hearing and vision problems
difficulty making sounds, crying or communicating
cerebral palsy and other neurological disorders
developmental delays

Preventing preterm birth

Once early labor has begun, it’s difficult (though not impossible) to prevent preterm birth, but it is sometimes possible to delay labor. If you are at risk of delivering your baby before 34 weeks, your doctor may give you a corticosteroid injection to help your baby’s lungs mature or a medication (either tocolytics or progesterone) to prolong your pregnancy. There are some instances where your doctor would not stop your labor, such as ruptured membranes or placental abruption.

Tocolytics can slow or stop uterine contractions, which can prevent labor. In many cases, delaying labor can give corticosteroids time to help with development of the lungs and prevent bleeding in the brain. Delaying labor can also give you time to get to a hospital that offers a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) where they can provide specialized care for your baby should he or she need it.

Benefits of care at a NICU

If your baby is born preterm, he or she will have a better chance of survival and getting proper care if the hospital where he or she is born has a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). The doctors, nurses and staff have specialized training in working with preterm infants, and the units often have the most advanced equipment available.

Most NICUs also have staff and equipment to provide surfactant replacement therapy for preterm infants. Surfactant is a substance made by the lungs that helps the air sacs in the lungs stay inflated. The lungs usually start making it around the 23rd week of pregnancy. When babies are born too early, their lungs lack surfactant, so they cannot inflate on their own. This is the main cause of respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) in newborns. Most hospitals without NICUs cannot offer this type of care (or other critical, life-saving care), which is why it’s important to deliver preterm babies at hospitals with NICUs if at all possible.

Signs of early labor

There are a few sings that you’re in labor and not just having Braxton Hicks contractions (a type of contraction that can happen throughout pregnancy), and we’ll cover those here. But if you’re ever in doubt, call your health care provider. It’s best to be safe and rule out labor early, especially if you haven’t yet reached your 37th week of pregnancy.

Some signs of labor are:

painful contractions (you may feel like your uterus is getting hard and painful)
timeable contractions where you are having more than six every hour
pain that does not go away by changing positions
change in pelvic pressure with a change in discharge or back pain

Braxton Hicks contractions

Braxton Hicks contractions are a type of contraction that can happen throughout the pregnancy. Some women feel them for most of their pregnancies, and some women don’t notice them at all. These contractions are not the same as the contractions that occur during labor. And until the end of your pregnancy, they should be irregular, infrequent, and relatively painless.

As your pregnancy progresses, you may experience Braxton Hicks contractions more frequently, and they may even become regular. Some women say that they can feel a lot like labor. So how will you know the difference? Labor contractions will increase in length, will likely happen at regular intervals. Braxton Hicks contractions will not.

Treatment for early labor

If you have not yet reached the 34th week of pregnancy when labor begins, your healthcare provider may treat you using medications, including:

nifedipine, a drug that helps slow your contractions
steroid injections and other medications to help your baby’s lungs get stronger and help prepare him or her for life outside of the womb
antibiotics to help clear up any infection that could be causing your preterm labor

Some doctors may also prescribe bedrest, especially if you cannot take nifedipine, in hopes of keeping your pregnancy going as long as possible to give your baby more time to develop fully. You may also be admitted to the hospital so they can monitor you and be ready to care for your baby immediately if he or she needs special medical care after birth.

If you have contractions at any time during your pregnancy or you have other symptoms that worry you, you should call your healthcare provider. Don’t worry about being paranoid or a bother. It’s important to ask questions and seek help any time you feel like things just aren’t right. If your preterm labor is diagnosed early in the process, it may be easier to slow or even stop it for a while.

Is preterm before 37 weeks?

Preterm is defined as babies born alive before 37 weeks of pregnancy are completed. There are sub-categories of preterm birth, based on gestational age: extremely preterm (less than 28 weeks) very preterm (28 to 32 weeks)

What is it called when you go into labor before 37 weeks?

If a woman goes into labor before 37 weeks, it is called preterm labor. Late preterm babies who are born between 35 and 37 weeks gestation may not look premature. They may not be admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), but they are still at risk for more problems than full-term babies.

What week is preterm labor most common?

Premature labor occurs between the 20th and 37th week of pregnancy, when uterine contractions cause the cervix, the mouth of the uterus or womb, to open earlier than normal. This can result in premature birth. Certain factors may increase a woman's chances of having premature labor, such as carrying twins.

Can you go into labor at 34 weeks?

Preterm labor happens when a pregnant person goes into labor before 37 weeks of pregnancy. About 10% of babies are born prematurely in America. The majority are delivered between 34 and 36 weeks, and most of them are healthy and need little or no special care after birth.