Pregnancy Signs & Symptoms, Week by Week Pregnancy Guide

If you are interested in stomach tightening during pregnancy you should know that this is something normal and there is no reason for you to be worried.

A lot of women panic when they first experience it because they have no idea about what caused it. The main cause of the tightening is the Braxton Hicks contraction.

What is the tightening of the stomach during pregnancy?

The concept of Braxton Hicks contractions was first introduced in 1872. Usually these contractions appear after the first half of the pregnancy. It is possible that when you put your hands on your belly you actually feel the abdominal muscles harden. Often these contractions are mistaken for the labor contractions.

The stomach tightening when being pregnant usually lasts for a few seconds or for half a minute. As your pregnancy progresses, the length of these contractions also increases. This is something to be expected and there is nothing to worry about; you aren’t the only one experiencing the contractions.

What does the stomach tightening during pregnancy feel like?

Since usually these contractions are considered to be cramps during the early stages of pregnancy, it is important for women to know what they can expect to feel and when these contractions start. In many cases the contractions feel like false labor contractions and so women rush to the hospital.

Although the muscles do contract during the stomach tightening while being pregnant and they are something like the labor pains, they aren’t supposed to last longer than 30 seconds and normally they don’t appear at regular time intervals. In the same time the intensity doesn’t gradually increase either.

It is good to know about the stomach tightening during pregnancy that if you change your position the contractions are supposed to subside. This is something that doesn’t happen in case of the labor contractions. This means that if the contractions hit when you are sitting, you should simply stand up.

Pregnancy stomach tightening and labor pain

Don’t forget that labor contractions come at regular time intervals. Braxton Hicks contractions come only two times per hour and only a few times per day. The intensity of the labor contractions increases as time goes by whereas the Braxton Hicks contractions have the same intensity over longer periods of time.

As it has been mentioned before, the labor contractions don’t get better if you change your position, while the stomach tightening during pregnancy does get better if you take another position. Labor pains are supposed to increase in intensity, duration and frequency.

It is important to remember what causes the contractions and that this is something entirely normal. Stomach tightening of pregnancy is really common and the majority of women get faced with them at some point of their pregnancy.

If you experience stomach tightening during pregnancy and you are worried about it, you could talk to your doctor. However you can be sure that he or she will tell you not to worry about the contractions and consider them labor practice.