Patients may be unsure of their menstrual period dates and it is common to estimate due dates by ultrasound exam done by the patient's obstetrician. The description of the patient's obstetric history is straightforward. Gravida is a term used to describe the total number of times a woman has been pregnant regardless of the outcome. Parity describes the total number of pregnancies that have been carried to a length generally considered to be viable. In the pre-hospital setting, it is often difficult to differentiate true labor from false labor.
True labor consists of contractions that lead to changes in the cervix, leading toward delivery.
They usually begin in the fundus and can radiate to the pelvis and lower back. False labor is usually confined to the lower abdomen, and the contractions are generally shorter in duration, and irregular. A gush of fluid is often representative of amniotic fluid after rupture of the amniotic membrane. It may also represent maternal urine as the normal bladder capacity is compromised by compression from the growing fetus. Mothers may also have poor control of urinary function during pregnancy.