A pregnant woman is standing and holds her belly and appears uncomfortable.
If your contractions are not getting stronger, longer or closer together, they’re Braxton Hicks contractions. (For Spectrum Health Beat)

You may have heard about them or experienced them: Braxton Hicks contractions, also known as practice contractions, or false contractions.

But what are they, and what do they mean?

“Contraction” doesn’t sound like a fun word, especially when you’re thinking about labor.

Really, though, your body has muscle contractions all the time. When you walk across the room, your muscles contract and relax to make this possible. When you take a drink, muscles in your arm contract and relax as you bring the glass to your mouth.

A contraction of the uterus is a tightening all over. Not just in one area, like when baby is lying all on one side, but tight all over.

Braxton Hicks contractions were named after an English doctor who described them in 1872. They can start in the second trimester and continue right up until true labor.

And these contractions aren’t necessarily painful. I’ve had instances where I hooked up an expectant mom to the fetal monitor and found that she was having a contraction, yet she didn’t even feel it.

Braxton Hicks

What you can do if you’re having Braxton Hicks contractions:

  • Make sure you’re well hydrated. If you get dehydrated, it can cause more of these contractions.
  • Relax, get some rest, get a massage. Take a bath to help your pelvic muscles relax.
  • Change positions. This can help stop Braxton Hicks contractions.
  • If you’re uncomfortable, use breathing techniques to help you relax.

I even remember noticing Braxton Hicks contractions with my first pregnancy. When I changed position, my pregnant belly would bump something. I’d feel my belly and notice my uterus had a tightness all over. These were Braxton Hicks contractions.

They’re very normal to experience. Here’s what we know about them:

  • They come and go, although they can be timed at regular intervals. I’ve placed mamas on the monitor when their contractions were five minutes apart, only to find they were Braxton Hicks. (We knew they were not true labor contractions because there was no cervical change.)
  • They taper off and go away.
  • The interval between each Braxton Hicks contraction does not get progressively shorter. The contractions can continue, and they can be annoying, but they don’t exhibit the three necessary parts of true labor contractions—stronger, longer, and closer together.
  • They are felt more in the front of the body.
  • Braxton Hicks contractions stay the same regardless of the mama’s movement or lack of movement. If the mama is resting or walking, for example, Braxton Hicks contractions may go away, or they may stay the same. They won’t get stronger, longer or closer together. True labor contractions, on the other hand, get stronger, longer and closer together.
  • Walking usually helps true labor contractions continue. With Braxton Hicks contractions, walking makes no difference.
  • The real way to know if it’s Braxton Hicks: There is no cervical change. With true labor contractions, your cervix dilates, or opens up.

The bottom line: Know that this is a normal part of pregnancy.