Hi there, I’m currently 36+1. Sorry for the tmi but me and my partner had sex earlier on this evening (8:30pm ish). Since about 9:00pm I have been experiencing period style cramping in my lower abdomen, alongside lower back ache. The back ache is constantly there, however it intensifies as I get these “tightenings/cramps”. The tightenings/intense back ache is painful but bearable to some extent. I started timing them around 15/20 minutes after it started. Which were happening every 4 minutes lasting around 1 minute. This happened for around 45 minutes, however the tightenings have started to fade out to around 5-7 minutes apart lasting around 45 seconds to 1 minute long. These have now been happening for 2 hours. But because of the frequency changing, I didn’t want to rush off to hospital. Especially with me not being in an excruciating amount of pain.

For the that last 1/2 weeks I’ve been in and out of hospital with preterm labour scares (lower back ache constantly, cramping, slight bleeding etc). But it’s always come back to being ‘braxton hicks’ and ‘false labour’. My hospital is over an hour away, and I don’t want to face going in for the 4th time with the same problem. However, my braxton hicks have never been this regular. They have always been irregular, and just slightly uncomfortable. What do you think I should do ?