QuestionI am 35 weeks pregnant and have dilated 3 and 1/2 cms but I have gone to the hospital 4 times with contractions. This is my first pregnancy and I need to have this baby already. Last time I went to the hospital they sent me home with contractions and I was bleeding. What can I do to dilate faster at least 1 or 2 more centimeters?
AnswerI cannot responsibly give you any advice to help you dilate faster before you go into active labor, especially since you are not yet full term. If you take any action now to stimulate an early delivery, you will be forcing your baby to be born before it is ready, and you will be running the risk of your baby having problems with breathing, feeding, and maintaining body temperature. Premature babies require intensive care treatment, sometimes for many weeks before they can come home, and they have increased risk of developmental difficulties including visual impairment and cerebral palsy.
If this is your first pregnancy, on average you are actually more likely to go past your due date rather than early. Even though you may feel like you are having lots of contractions, for some women this is just the way pregnancy is. I personally start having contractions at 17 weeks in every pregnancy, and they continue to gradually increase in intensity and frequency until I finally go into labor. By 35 weeks, I am having 2-4 contractions an hour, often hard enough to breathe through. But that's just the way my body works; my last two babies were still born well past my due dates. Even being dilated to 3.5 cm doesn't mean anything about whether or not your baby is ready to be born. Ideally, you need to stay pregnant for at least another two weeks, if not longer.
