> Braxtons Hicks Contractions vs. IU

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Medical personnel often classified IU sufferers’ contractions as Braxton Hicks Contractions. Braxton Hicks or “fake” contractions “are part of your body getting ready for labor, and they get the processes of effacement and dilation going in preparation for delivery. (This is called 'ripening'.)”

If this is the case, having IU, or frequent Braxton Hicks type contractions (which are the type of contractions a pregnant woman is typically told not to worry about), could in fact, lead to or actually be defined as preterm labor if they dilate and efface you enough for you to deliver a preterm baby!  Therefore, enduring IU contradictions can be confusing and maddening for a woman who is concerned about carrying her baby to term!

Women who have experienced an irritable uterus will tell you that the condition can manifest itself in painless Braxton-Hicks type contractions or a constantly “stuck in a Braxton Hicks contraction” feeling (otherwise known as the rock hard uterus syndrome - a term informally coined by IU sufferers) or in painful “like the real thing” feeling contractions.  So if an IU really does not cause dilation and true labor, some think women with an IU should have no reason to worry and should just go about their daily lives, dealing with mild discomfort to severe pain, but not needing to be concerned about preterm labor and birth.