At least three painful regular uterine contractions during a 10-minute period, each lasting more than 45 seconds.Many women are known to experience what has been termed the "nesting instinct". Women report a spurt of energy shortly before going into labour. Common signs that labour is about to begin may include what is known as lightening, which is the process of the baby moving down from the rib cage with the head of the baby engaging deep in the pelvis. The pregnant woman may then find breathing easier, since her lungs have more room for expansion, but pressure on her bladder may cause more frequent need to void (urinate). Lightening may occur a few weeks or a few hours before labour begins, or even not until labour has begun. Some women also experience an increase in vaginal discharge several days before labour begins when the "mucus plug", a thick plug of mucus that blocks the opening to the uterus, is pushed out into the vagina. The mucus plug may become dislodged days before labour begins or not until the start of labour.While inside the uterus the baby is enclosed in a fluid-filled membrane called the amniotic sac. Shortly before, at the beginning of, or during labour the sac ruptures.
Tocolytics delay labor by inhibiting contractions of the uterine muscles that progress labor. The most widely used tocolytics include beta agonists, calcium channel blockers, and magnesium sulfate. The goal of administering tocolytics is not to delay delivery to the point that the child can be delivered at term, but instead to postponing delivery long enough for the administration of glucocorticoids which can help the fetal lungs to mature enough to reduce morbidity and mortality from infant respiratory distress syndrome. Post-term birth
The term postterm pregnancy is used to discribe a condition in which a woman has not yet delivered her baby after 42 weeks of gestation, two weeks beyond the usual 40-week duration of pregnancy. Postmature births carry risks for both the mother and the baby, including meconium aspiration syndrome, fetal malnutrition, and stillbirths. The placenta, which supplies the baby with oxygen and nutrients, begins to age and will eventually fail after the 42nd week of gestation. Induced labor is indicated for postterm pregnancy. Neonatal infection
Newborns are prone to infection in the first month of life. The organism S. agalactiae (Group B Streptococcus) or (GBS) is most often the cause of these occasionally fatal infections. The baby contracts the infection from the mother during labour.