Braxton-Hicks contraction
- noun
- /ˈbrækstən hɪks kənˈtrækʃən/
- Specialized
:
contracción de Braxton-Hicks
- As the weeks passed, the frequency of Braxton-Hicks contractions increased, reassuring her that her body was preparing for labor.
Examples
-
So, you know, you're in labor because you have Braxton Hicks contractions, but they might be like every hour and you're not in labor yet.
-
Throughout her pregnancy, she experienced several Braxton-Hicks contractions, which were painless and occasional.
-
She learned that Braxton-Hicks contractions do not indicate true labor but are a normal part of pregnancy.
Synonyms
3
5.1
Painless tightening of the belly before birth that does not make the baby come
How Painful
Surface Forms
Morphology
Braxton-Hicks + contraction
The noun 'contraction' transparently signals a muscle tightening, so a learner would infer it refers to some kind of tightening. However 'Braxton-Hicks' is an eponym that gives no semantic information about pregnancy, intermittency, or the painless/false-labor quality of these contractions, so the full, specific meaning is not recoverable from the parts.
Etymology
Braxton-Hicks contraction is named after a doctor, John Braxton Hicks, who long ago noticed that a pregnant woman's belly can tighten briefly without real labor. These painless contractions are like practice tightenings that help the body 'prepare' for birth, so the name now means a short, harmless tightening rather than 'true labor'.