Hanna Gehling, Midwife (BSc, MSc) and doctoral candidate at Hannover Medical School under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Mechthild Gross, focuses her research on understanding the onset of labour in first-time mothers (primiparas). Her recent study examines the relationships between labour-onset symptoms, self-diagnosed labour onset, and the actual timing of birth.

The prospective study involved 69 primiparas who documented their daily experiences of nine labour-onset symptoms, including pain patterns, emotional changes, and vaginal discharge, from 37 weeks of gestation until birth. Participants also recorded their certainty about the onset of labour using a diary-style questionnaire. Additional information about the birth and newborns was extracted from maternal records.

The analysis revealed that regular pain was the most reliable indicator of labour onset, showing a strong positive association with self-diagnosis. Emotional and gastrointestinal symptoms were also noted more frequently during self-diagnosed labour onset. Interestingly, labour-onset symptoms were reported as early as 31 days before birth, with certainty about labour onset increasing notably in the last four days. Longer pregnancies were linked to earlier self-diagnoses of labour onset, and mothers expecting female babies self-diagnosed labour onset more frequently than those expecting males.

This research highlights the uncertainty many first-time mothers experience when identifying labour onset and underscores the importance of education about early labour symptoms. The findings aim to improve maternal confidence and decision-making, ultimately enhancing the childbirth experience. 

Read Hanna’s paper: Investigating the associations between early labour onset symptoms and self-diagnosed labour onset in a cohort study of primiparas.