having your waters broken help??

[youngmumandbump]

hey mumsnetters ive just been to clinic and been told im going to be induced by having my waters broken as im already 2-3cm dilated! does this hurt or is it just uncomfortable? advice and experiences please???

[mosschops30]

My waters have never broken spontaneously but cant say Ive noticed the pain as have always been in the throws of labour as it were.

Are you over your dates then? Just wondered why they were inducing you rather than letting it happen

[izzybiz]

I needed to be induced with Dd as I was very ill, when they did an internal to see what method would be needed I was 3cm dialated and so needed my waters breaking.

Didn't hurt, was just a little uncomfortable, but the consultant did have huge hands!

The thing with having that done for me was the labour came on VERY fast and VERY painful straight away! Dd was born 2 hours and 19 mins later!!

Good luckxx

[YouKnowNothingOfTheCrunch]

Had it done on ds1, didn't hurt at all - good luck!

[jetgirl]

Had my waters broken during labour, was 7cm dilated at the time. I didn't feel the actual process, but once they were broken the contractions were definitely stronger.
Good luck!

[CarGirl]

I've had them with them pushing down on my bump because the head was very high (to reduce the change of prolapsed umbilibal cord) so unpleasant and painful but not horrificly so IYSWIM. If it works the contractions do come thick and fast without your body having done much endorphin releasing stuff beforehand so very painful in that respect.

Why are they inducing, personally I'd rather wait.

[shelleylou]

i had my waters broken just before ds head came out. didnt hurt at all you dont feel anything. I just thought what the are you going to do with that(wasnt told just had a plastic rod coming towards me)

[oliviaelanasmum]

I had to have mine broken as the head was ready to come out but the waters hadn't broken, i didnt feel anything at all. I had sort of lost the will to live by then though

[youngmumandbump]

yeh they have decided to induce with some discussion because im a week over. not booked in till monday so hopefully she will appear before then and then i wont have to go through it but just wanted some opinions thanks mumsnetters!!

[mosschops30]

only a week over? they should leave you be unless other medical reasons contradict this. Mind they let me got 15 days over and the little devil still never appeared .
You wont feel it, you'll just think 'lazy feckin midwife doing her knitting when she's in work, until she waves it up your fanjo'

[CarGirl]

so will you be around 14 days when you are induced????? Both the times I was induced when 14 days over it was quick (despite a bishops score of 1 which means absolutely nothing happening) I needed gel to even get me to dilate! The times I was induced before 14 days were long drawn out affairs.

Still 2-3 cm I very well think your dc will arrive under his/her own steam by Monday

[terramum]

I transferred into hospital to have my waters broken after my planned home birth stalled at 4cm for over 12 hours. My labour changed almost immediately from having haphazard & bearable contractions with some gas n air to having what felt like one long agonising contraction for 4 hours . I don't remember much of that time - I just sat on my birthing ball literally breathing gas & air with my eyes firmly shut trying to block out the pain. Then I completely lost it when I was told that it hadn't worked & I was still at 4cm & they would have to put a drip up to enhance the contractions . At that point all thoughts of a 'natural' labour vanished & I literally begged for an epi

I will never let anyone do that to me EVER again.....& not least because I wasn't told about the risks of cord prolapse - only that they wouldn't risk doing it at home .

How many weeks are you youngmum? Why did they say you needed to be induced?

[youngmumandbump]

im 41 weeks today and gouing in on mon so by then i will be 13days over almost 14 as they are not taking me in until the evening anyway! yes i think there intention is to keep me up all night!

[terramum]

Have they offered monitoring at all? Seems odd to just recommend induction without doing so, especially as you won't techincally be overdue until next week (term being 37-42 weeks)

[Rolf]

With DD, my waters were broken when I was in established labour and 6cm dilated. What had been a manageable labour became very fast, violent and frightening.

Having them broken didn't hurt though.

I had them broken with DS2 when I was at 10cm and he was ready to be born. It didn't hurt and DS2 came along half an hour later without much fuss.

[morocco]

read a link to the most recent guidelines about breaking waters on mn lately
from what i remember there is no benefit from breaking them early just drawbacks such as increased likelihood of interventions/c sections.
i will try and find the link as my memory is like a sieve these days but perhaps someone else on here will remember what it said in more detail
the long and short of it? ask more questions about latest data before you let them just go ahead. how about just a sweep for example?

[3madboys]

i ahve had my waters broken twice, and am facing the prospect again this fri when i will be term plus 14.

it has worked both times, first time they broke my waters and 7 hours later ds2 was born, just gas and air and bath for pain relief.

and then when i had ds3 i ahd my waters broken at 16days over, at first the contraction that i had tho strong were really dilating me past 4cms, so i had a sleep for a couple of hours then the midwife gave me another sweep to stir things up a bit, it worked a treat, and ds3 was born three hours later, again used gas and air and bath for pain relief.

this time i would like a home birth but if i need to be induced then that wont happen i had a sweep yesterday and i am already 2cm and everything is favourable for induction through having my waters broken, but i am wary as there can be complications, cord prolapse, needing syntocin drip etc etc.

like i said tho it has worked the past two times

[3madboys]

oh sorry regarding does it hurt, no i havent found it painful at all and i was like you a few cm dilated each time, a midwife did it both times and it was fine

you can ask to have gas and air if you find the internal uncomfortable tho

[IndigoMoon]

i asked for my waters to be broken during my homebirth. i knew i needed it, strange i know but they were bulging like mad and everything was slowing and i think i must make strong membrane.

in the end the midwives finally agreed and about an hour ish later ds was here. the midwife agreed that it was a very tough membrane.

[Ags]

I had my waters broken when gel didn't work with ds1. The midwives made a huge fuss over how brave I was but I found it didn't hurt at all - no more than a smear (and I don't mind them either). My midwives were lovely though and seemed to praise me for everything which was sweet. Unfortunately it didn't work for me and I was then chemically induced. Hope the little one makes an appearance at the weekend and best of luck to you.

[soph28]

I've had mine broken twice. First time during natural labour, didn't feel a thing- or didn't notice compared to all the other pain!

2nd time I was induced and when I was 3cm they took me to the labour ward and broke my waters. I didn't feel that but my contractions went from being fairly mild to tremendous waves of pain immediately! DD was born within 30-40 mins! I was 12 days over.

However, I don't think you will get to Monday . Sounds like things are starting to happen.

[Lulumama]

i read that link too morocco...

and in all honesty, youngmum, you might well go into labour before next monday anyway...... you have almost a week for thigns to get going,

sounds like your body is getting on with things just fine by itself

[youngmumandbump]

yeh i hope i do go into labour before monday personally and 2morrow is my cousins birthday and she sed from the beginning that it wud b on her birthday! lets hope it is!

in answer to all the people who are telling me to wait a bit ive had 2 unsuccessful sweeps already and about 3 false starts where ive been trapsing back and foward to hospital! just want to get it over and done with now! im dying to meet the little one!

also dont think i can nest much more and i dont think my house can get any cleaner than it already is! x

[Maveta]

well i've only had the one baby so far so nothing to compare it to, but from what I have heard and experienced I would resist having my waters broken next time.

I, like you, was so eager to meet my baby that I just went along with my waters being broken and later oxcytocin drip so I could get it over with. I really wish I hadn't and hope next time I can be a bit more patient in the hope of experiencing a different kind of labour.

The actual breaking of the waters didn't hurt at all but the pain afterwards was unbelievable. I was having really really strong contractions in very close succession but my body wasn't dilating as quickly! I had an epidural when I was barely 2cms dilated as I couldn't cope. It was so so many more times painful that I had expected and after mulling over the events in the (almost) year that has passed, I am sure it was everything to do with these two factors and that without them I could have had a very different experience.

Whatever you choose to do I hope it goes well, you'll meet your baby so soon!

[MuffinMclay]

I had mine broken in hospital after having been 4cm dilated for over 24 hours with no sign of labour getting going. The first attempt by a student mw did hurt, and didn't work. Second attempt by a more experienced mw was uncomfortable rather than painful and did work.

An hour later contractions started and 1.5 hours later out came ds2.