Braxton Hicks or Real Contractions? How to Tell
The practical differences between Braxton Hicks practice contractions and labour: regularity, intensity, and whether they stop when you move or rest.
Editorial draft: not yet reviewed by a clinician.
Braxton Hicks contractions are irregular, do not get closer together or stronger over time, and usually ease when you change position, rest or move around. Labour contractions come at regular intervals, get longer, stronger and closer together, and carry on whatever you do. If tightenings settle when you move, they are more likely practice. If they build, ring your midwife.
What Braxton Hicks actually are
Braxton Hicks are tightenings of the uterine muscle that can happen from the second trimester onwards, often more noticeably in the last weeks of pregnancy. They are usually described as practice contractions, and most people feel them as a squeeze across the front of the bump that builds gently and then releases.
The Mayo Clinic describes them as irregular and unpredictable, variable in strength but usually weak, and frequently easing when you change what you are doing. They are not a measure of anything. Feeling a lot of them does not mean you will labour early, and feeling none does not mean you are behind.
The comparison that matters
| Braxton Hicks | Labour contractions | |
|---|---|---|
| Pattern | Irregular, unpredictable | Regular, and the gaps shorten |
| Over an hour | No clear change, or they fade | Longer, stronger, closer together |
| Strength | Varies, usually mild | Builds steadily and keeps building |
| When you move or rest | Often stop or ease | Carry on regardless |
| Where you feel it | Usually the front of the bump | Often the bump plus lower back, hips or thighs |
| Can you talk through it? | Usually yes | Increasingly no |
| Other signs | Usually none | Show, waters breaking, nausea, shaking |
Two rows do most of the work: whether the pattern tightens over an hour, and whether moving makes any difference.
A simple hour-long check, when nothing worrying is happening
If you have no red flags and you are simply unsure, an hour of attention usually settles it:
- Note the clock time at the start of the next tightening.
- Do something different: get up and walk, lie on your left side, have a warm shower, drink a glass of water, or empty your bladder.
- Keep noting the start time and rough length of each tightening for an hour.
- Compare the second half-hour with the first. Are the gaps shortening? Are the tightenings longer? Are they harder to talk through?
Fading or staying the same points to practice contractions. A tightening pattern that is genuinely building is a reason to ring, and NHS guidance suggests calling once contractions are coming in a regular pattern, using a rough guide of around 60 seconds long and roughly every five minutes.
Do not run this check instead of making a call you already wanted to make, and do not run it at all if anything in the next section applies.
Do not wait, do not time, just call
Contact your midwife, maternity unit or doctor immediately, at any hour, if:
- Your waters break or you think fluid is leaking, particularly if it is green, brown or bloodstained.
- You have any vaginal bleeding.
- Your baby’s movements slow down, change or stop.
- The pain is severe, constant, or does not come and go like a contraction.
- You have a severe headache, visual changes, or sudden swelling of your face, hands or feet.
- You have a fever or feel very unwell.
- You have regular tightenings, cramping or persistent back pain before 37 weeks.
Tightenings before 37 weeks are never a case for waiting and watching at home. They are assessed urgently, and being told nothing is starting is the normal result of that call.
Living with Braxton Hicks
They are harmless, but they can be uncomfortable and they can wake you up. Things people commonly find help:
- Changing position, especially moving from standing to lying on your side or the reverse.
- Drinking some water and emptying your bladder.
- A warm shower or bath.
- Slowing down when they cluster after a busy day, since many people notice them more when tired or active.
- Breathing through them the way you would practise for labour, which is at least useful rehearsal.
If they become painful, very frequent, or start to feel regular, that is worth a phone call rather than a coping strategy.
Why some people feel them far more than others
How much you notice them has little to do with how your pregnancy is going. It depends on how your baby is lying, how sensitive you are to the sensation, whether this is a first pregnancy, and how busy your day has been. Many people report more tightenings after exercise or sex, when dehydrated, when their bladder is full, or simply late in the evening after being on their feet. Feeling a lot of them is not a warning sign, and feeling none does not mean your body is not preparing.
Telling them apart with PreBaby
PreBaby has a contraction timer that logs the start and length of every tightening, so the pattern is visible instead of remembered. Over an hour you can see at a glance whether the gaps are shortening or holding steady, which is the single most useful piece of information when you phone your midwife. You can also note in your symptom log which nights they kept you awake, which is a more accurate account than trying to recall it weeks later.
Sources
This article is general information, not medical advice. Anything that worries you is a reason to contact your own midwife or doctor.
Questions and answers
What do Braxton Hicks contractions feel like?
Most people describe them as a painless or mildly uncomfortable tightening across the front of the bump, as though the muscle is squeezing and then letting go. The Mayo Clinic describes them as irregular and unpredictable, varying in strength but usually weak, and often easing when you change what you are doing. They can last anywhere from around half a minute to a couple of minutes, and they do not build into a pattern. Some people barely notice them at all through an entire pregnancy, and others feel them many times a day from the second trimester onwards. Both are normal.
Do Braxton Hicks contractions mean labour is close?
Not on their own. They are commonly called practice contractions and can appear from the second trimester, often becoming more noticeable in the last few weeks, but frequent Braxton Hicks are not a countdown and their absence does not mean labour is far away. They do not reliably tell you how dilated you are or when labour will begin. What suggests labour is starting is a pattern: contractions that come at regular intervals, get closer together, get longer and stronger, and carry on regardless of whether you rest, move, or change position.
Do real contractions stop if I move around?
No, and that is one of the most useful distinctions available to you at home. The Mayo Clinic notes that Braxton Hicks often stop when you change activity or position, while true labour contractions continue no matter what you do. So if tightenings fade when you get up and walk, lie down, have a warm shower or drink some water, they are more likely to be practice contractions. If they carry on through all of that, and particularly if they are getting stronger and more regular, contact your midwife or maternity unit.
Should I call my midwife if I am not sure which they are?
Yes. Being unsure is a perfectly good reason to ring, and maternity units take these calls constantly. Call immediately, without trying to work it out first, if your waters break, you have any bleeding, your baby's movements have slowed or changed, you have severe or constant pain rather than pain that comes and goes, or if you have regular tightenings before 37 weeks. Nobody is annoyed by a call that turns out to be practice contractions. The outcome you are trying to avoid is sitting at home timing something that needed to be assessed.
Sources
This is general information, not medical advice. It does not diagnose or treat, and it does not replace your own midwife or doctor. Anything that worries you is a reason to contact them.