18/02/2026
Feeling your belly suddenly harden can be unsettling.
Many women wonder: are these contractions already?
With contractions, the uterus tightens powerfully to open the cervix. They become regular over time and come every few minutes.
With tightenings (Braxton Hicks), the uterus tenses but the cervix does not open. They are irregular and usually pass on their own.
These tightenings are your uterus practicing. A kind of warm-up for the work it will do later.
They can start as early as the second trimester, but are most common from around 24 weeks of pregnancy. Some women feel them often, others hardly at all, both are normal.
Knowing what your body is doing can bring calm. And if something doesn’t feel right, that’s always worth checking.
