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Breaking Water

A woman's "water" breaking refers to the placenta breaking and liquid being released and is on of the first steps of the labor and delivery process. Ask questions here about natural and doctor-induced water breaking.

159 Questions

Can you break your own water?

You can't, it is protected inside the cervix (neck of the womb) behind a mucus plug. It is extremely dangerous to try. PLEASE!!!! DO NOT attempt to break your water!!! It will break when it's ready or it MUST be done by a professional. Breaking your own water could potentially be fatal for you and the baby. Please talk to your Dr or midwife.

When will your labor start im at 38 weeks?

Generally, labor is not induced at 36 weeks, as the baby is still considered preterm An infant needs the additional time in the womb for lungs to be mature enough to breathe on the outside. Don't rush things. The baby will come when it is time. Good luck.

Do your water have to break to be in labor?

Amniotic fluid surrounds your baby during pregnancy.

I am 33 weeks pregnant and seem to have a yellow watery discharge what could this be?

i think this is just discharge...im a week over-due now and have gotten it throughout my pregnancy.im pretty sure its not the show that we hear so much about...i think its thicker and possibly even bloody

How do you know if your water breaks?

First, a quick definition of what it means when your "water breaks": your baby lives in a sac filled with amniotic fluid. In preparation for birth, this sac will eventually open, letting amniotic fluid leak through the vaginal opening. Since your amniotic fluid is constantly replaced anyway, this doesn't mean that the baby is at any risk - you can go 24-48 hours without delivering the baby before most practitioners consider it a problem, while other practitioners will let women go days with just simple, antibiotic precautions to make sure the baby's environment isn't compromised with bacteria.

The first sign that your water has broken is fluid coming from your vaginal opening. Although books and movies usually depict this as a big gush and splash, it is more commonly felt as just a trickle of fluid. Because a trickle can so easily be something else, such as an increase in vaginal secretions or a bladder leak, women can be confused about whether or not their water has broken.

A reasonable home test you can perform is to clean up and dry off after you detect fluid, and then either put on a clean pair of underwear or put on a dry sanitary napkin. If you're not at home, a sanitary napkin may be easier, since most women aren't carrying around spare underwear "just in case". Then lie down for half an hour; if your water has broken, the amniotic fluid should pool in the vagina. After the half hour, stand up and check your underwear or pad; if it's dry, it is very unlikely that your water has broken. If it is wet, this doesn't mean that your water has broken, but you'll need to check further.

Any time you are concerned about your water breaking, you can feel comfortable calling your doctor/midwife/doula and asking for help. They may be able to suggest additional tests you can do at home, or they may ask you to come in for a test. If you do go in for a test, the doctor may give a pelvic exam. He or she may also take a sample of the fluid and test it by using litmus paper - amniotic fluid will cause litmus to react - or by placing a sample on a microscope slide, letting it dry, and examining it. Amniotic fluid will fern when dried - the dried fluid takes on a pattern similar to a fern - and this will show under a microscope.

Two signs that people will often say to look for to determine whether your water has broken are the smell and color of the fluid. Amniotic fluid is a very pale straw color and has what is generally described as a "sweet" smell. However, the flaw here is that, when you have been working on staying properly hydrated, urine is also a very pale straw color, so color doesn't help much in determining what type of fluid you're leaking. Likewise, when you have dilute urine due to good hydration, it doesn't have a strong smell, so you can easily mistake one for the other. If you are passing fluid that is green or dark tinged call your doctor or midwife as this is a sign the baby has had a bowel movement and needs to be monitored.

Whether or not you are having contractions is also not a great indicator of whether your water has broken or not. Some women go into labor and go to the hospital without ever having their water break; the doctor will break it during delivery. Other women will have their water break and yet not have any real onset of labor for a significant period of time.

Does uti affect your baby?

Its common for most pregnancy....i wouldn't worry so much about it ...
But i recommend you to take all of ur antibiotics as prescribed....and keep your area clean!!!!and you might wanna avoid having intercourse until its all cleared up ....if not it can come back...but i don't think there's any major affects so don't worry yourself too much :-)

How long after your waterbreaks do you go into labor you are 37 weeks almost 38 and yesterday you felt a gush and believe it might be your water breaking?

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A DRY BIRTH. IT IS AN OLD WIVESTALE. The baby continuously produces amniotic fluid. It is literally impossible to have a dry birth, even if you have low amniotic fluid.

What makes your water break naturally?

You can have what is called a membrane sweep, or, better yet, have a few of them and that should help rupture your membranes and amniotic fluid will gush out sooner than if you had nothing done.

Do you have two sacks of water to break when in labor?

Just one. Sometimes there will be an initial gush of amniotic fluid that is below baby's head. When the baby moves more fluid and leak out.

What is break water?

it is a ball of water that keeps the baby in your belly and when it pops your baby will come really fast . and if it will not break in time they will take a needle ad pop it. and when you push out the baby you will see the water come out.

Wind breaks can be very helpful to birds name three ways they help wild breaks can support wildlife?

Wind breaks provide nest protection for birds against predators, wind protection, and near forage.

Can you make your water break naturally?

Your water will break naturally. To induce it would be to artificially break it.

What kind of danger is your baby in if you don't go into labor and your water breaks?

Once the protective bag around the baby is broken, as happens when your waters break, there is a danger that infection can travel up to the baby. This is particularly the case if you have any sort of vaginal infection. This is why many doctors will induce labor if it does not start within several hours of the waters breaking. The actual time it is safe to wait is a subject of debate.

Once the waters have broken there is nothing to protect the baby and anything at all even doing nothing can cause labour to start, even if you are pre term. My waters were lost at 26 weeks so many days and my baby was born at 27 weeks

How does it not hurt the baby when the doctor breaks your water?

When a physician or midwife breaks your water, they use something called an amniohook (which almost looks like a plastic knitting needle) to snag the amniotic sac surrounding the baby. Once this sac is opened, the amniotic fluid leaks out. Because the sac isn't part of the baby's body, the act of breaking your water shouldn't hurt the baby.

With that being said, there are some relatively rare risks that can happen when a physician or midwife breaks your water, so it's always best to ask about the pros and cons of the procedure before it happens.

Does labor begin before or after your water breaks?

First you lose the mucus plug, which could be 48 hours or so before the baby comes. Next your water breaks, then labor begins. However, it is hard to say for each woman when contractions will begin. Many women have Braxton-Hicks contractions, or "false labor" ahead of true labor.