Worried about knowing the difference??

Hi girls,

This has been playing on my mind lately and I meant to ask my midwife at our last visit, but I completely forgot :wall:

What I want to know is....how do you tell the difference between labour pains and the beginning of uterine rupture? I know its going to be on my mind when I am in labour and I dont want EVERY contraction leaving me wondering if it was suppose to hurt like that :redface: I want to be able to labour with out having to worry.

I did labour with my first son and I cant really remember what the pain was like but everyone seems to say its down low and I would just assume it would be in the area of my cesear scar. So im stressing out a little bit :rolleyes:

If any gorgeous vbac'ers out there can help me, that would be awesome!!! Im almost 36 weeks now, so this vbac of mine if not far away!!! :dance:

I haven't VBACed but from what I have been told, a uterine rupture will give you pain between contractions as well as during them.

I could be having a VBA2C any time now ;) - so I've done a bit of reading on the topic.

I also think that blood loss and foetal distress signs are an indication too....

For me, if i was to encounter either of those two things thats when I will seriously consider bailing out (depends on how the foetal monitoring has been conducted).

Sometimes a rupture can be indicated by a sudden cessation of contractions.

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I haven't VBACed but from what I have been told, a uterine rupture will give you pain between contractions as well as during them.

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This ^^

As soon as your contractions finish you feel nothing. If you rupture you will feel pain after the contraction and a sense of the baby pushing against your lower abdomen.

Your body will tell you it's not right, and your carers will be checking bubs heart rate as well, as that's also an indicator. If bubs heart rate remains steady and strong (eden's and sahti's never dipped or anything dramatic) then everything is as it should be.

Have you written out a fear plan yet? That really helped me get it all out there and be honest with myself. You'll want to address them now otherwise they'll come out in labour. :)

Thanks so much girls. The 'Fear Plan' sounds like a really good idea Mel. I will definitely have to do that and go through it with my Midwife and Doula. Rupture does of course scare the life of our me, but having another cesear just freaks me out. I will be having a lot monitoring in my labour as I just know it will ease my mind by letting me know that my baby is ok. Happy Mum = good labour!!

I cant wait :)

I was worried about that too towards the end of my pregnancy, but once labour started it didn't even cross my mind!! I believe that as women we will 'just know' when something is not right. As the other ladies said you will have pain even between contractions rather than having some relief between them. If the policies are the same everywhere for vbacs then you will have a midwife with you 100% of the time so they will pick up if something is not right through monitoring.
Good luck with your vbac :)

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I will be having a lot monitoring in my labour as I just know it will ease my mind by letting me know that my baby is ok. Happy Mum = good labour!!

I cant wait :)

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I kind of feel like that too. If I were to have a VBA2c I would actually feel re-assured with monitoring as opposed to fighting against having it. That in itself will definately help alleviate your fears I recon. Have you thought of maybe having a fetal scalp monitor if it's possible? I know it means having a clip on bubs head but it is the most accurate form or monitoring plus it gives you more freedom to be able to move around and have an active labour as opposed to having a CTG strapped across your belly restricting movement.

Not long now! :cheer:

I have had a rupture so I will let you know my experience. With the contractions the pain has a peak and trough so it will rise and fall. The rupture pain is like a continuous pain on top of that peak and trough, you can't breath through it and it doesn't stop. It was combined with the feeling that I was trying to push the baby out of the front of my uterus, there was also meconium and fresh blood.

It was obvious to me that the pain was different and I told my support team who knew what to look for and I was taken to theatre immediately for a c/s. DD2 arrived 25min after symptoms.