Towards your due date, your womb starts preparing for labour, so it is normal to experience some gripping abdominal pain or hardness occasionally. Such is called Braxton Hicks contraction. It is usually mild however, when labour starts it become intense and last longer. When labour start;

1. The abdominal pain or contraction will become more and last longer. It is often described as tightening or hardening of the tummy and or the waist.
2. You may pass mucous stained with blood through the vagina. This is called show, it means the mouth of your womb called cervix has started opening.
3. A couple of weeks before labour, your baby may move downward towards the mouth of the womb. This is called lightening. When this happen, you will feel greater pressure or heaviness in the lower part of your tummy.
4. You may pass watery clear fluid through the vagina. The fluid is called liquor. If you pass liquor before you start having abdominal pain, please visit your doctor. Visit your doctor if the liquor passed is foul smelling or has greenish stains.