My Water Broke Now What?
After all the months of feeling your baby, the cravings, the emotional roller coaster, you are ready to hold your new bundle of joy! Any mom will agree that nine months is plenty of time to be very ready. From all your classes and reading, you know that for Baby to be born, the amniotic sac must break at some time, whether that is as you are standing in line at the grocery store or lying on the table at the doctor’s office—or even after the baby is born! Yes, the sac can stay intact in rare cases.
The actual term, water breaking, refers to the breaking of the amniotic sac, which surrounds the fetus and contains amniotic fluid. When this sac breaks, the amniotic fluid is released. This is usually a subtle event, and you may notice a popping sensation before fluid gushes or trickles from your vagina. Others may notice excess dampness in their underwear. You can tell the difference in urine and amniotic fluid because the fluid is odorless or slightly sweet smelling and is pale and straw colored. Another way to tell whether your water has broken is to stand up. If the fluid seems to leak more then, your water has broken.
Fortunately, this is a pain-free experience because the amniotic sac has no pain receptors. The water typically breaks during labor. If this happens and labor does not start soon, a medical professional may induce labor to start uterus contractions and reduce risk of infection for Mommy and Baby. In most cases, the sac will break when the woman is at full term, which is 39 to 40 weeks and six days. Sometimes, however, the water may break before this, something known as pre-term pre-labor rupture of membranes (PPROM). This affects around three to 10 percent of all deliveries and could cause complications.
If the baby is born prematurely, he may experience other complications. When PPROM occurs at 34 weeks of pregnancy or later, a doctor may recommend delivering the baby to reduce the risk of complications. If there is no indication of infection, the physician may allow the pregnancy to continue, under careful monitoring, until labor begins.
Doctors do not have a full understanding of how the water breaks, but experts believe it may have something to do with brain signals from your fetus. Now, if the water does not break during labor, a doctor or midwife may artificially break the sac using a technique called an amniotomy. I know about this, as my doctor did this with the birth of both my children. He simply inserts a thin plastic hook through the cervix to break the sac, allowing the fluids to exit. This is painless.
An en caul birth happens when the amniotic sac never breaks, and the baby is born covered in it. This rarity occurs in one in every 80,000 deliveries and is considered good luck, not just because of the lower pain during labor. The moment the doctor breaks through that barrier and lets your child enter the world is amazing. Doctors have considered the values of trying a C-section attempting to preserve the sac for premature births if possible, to ease the baby’s transition into the world. Interestingly, some famous people born en caul include Charlemagne, Napoleon, Liberace, Lord Byron and Sigmund Freud.
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Doctors don't really have an explanation for why some amniotic sacs burst before others, although poor prenatal care, smoking, STDs and family history could put you at a higher risk for preterm premature rupture of membranes.
Think of your bag of waters as a special cushion for your baby that forms very early in pregnancy, about 12 days after conception. It is a major part of your baby's support system and it also aids in her development.
The amount of amniotic fluid peaks at about 36 weeks, and for most women, their uterus holds about one quart at the time. After that, the level goes down, and the baby blocks a lot of it from coming out. That is a good thing, because the baby still needs protection during labor.
You may want to sit on a towel on the way to the hospital or maybe put a pad in your underwear because you are probably going to be leaking fluid for a little while.
Be assured that sometime soon, whether it’s minutes, hours or even days later, you will get to meet your baby.
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Think of your amniotic sac as a bathtub with a rubber ducky floating around inside. If the rubber ducky, your darling baby, is over the drain, then he or she acts like a plug and stops the flow. If you lie down, you may be able to shift your baby's head just the slightest bit away from the hole and the fluid will escape in the second before the baby shifts back to cover it.
It may seem silly, but it could help you figure out whether it is time to get checked. It could mean that your baby will be on the way into the world soon!
Sources: MedicalNewsToday.com, BabyGaga.com
An avid outdoors girl, Judy Goppert lives in Lee’s Summit. She enjoys drawing on her personal experiences to write about the nuances of everything wonderful about life.
As always, please consult your health care provider with any questions or concerns.