Amniotomy does bugger all to speed up birth apparently

[whomovedmychocolate]

Well aside from making mums so cross and sore they are keen to get out of the hospital quicker perhaps.

According to last year's Cochrane report here it doesn't make you dilate, and it increases your risk of caesarian.

File that on your crochet hook mr Supercillious consultant

[Lulumama]

that is interesting

also, if your baby is not in a great position, leaving the waters intact until they go spontaneously can allow the baby to move into a better position

a step towards less intervention in normal labours hopefuly...

[Psychomum5]

well.....I found it worked for me, as it helped the head drop down better as the water was holding things back. BUT, my waters have only been broken at MY request and only after an internal telling me that they are/were bulging.......and then 4 out the 5 times I have given birth, the midwife has commented on the sack being "tough as old rubber", so I think for me it was the right choice.

however.....when it is done to 'supposedly' kickstart labour, then I feel it is an intervention too far. and from my own experiences, the contractions get 100x more intense after, and unless you have had the 'build up' to that, then of course women are going to not cope as well, panic, and then possibly go down the route of more intervention or even caesarian.

I don;t personally think that waters should be 'broken' until you are well into established labour and maybe even at least 5cms gone. certainly not until they are at the 'bulging and trying to break themselves' stage.

[Lulumama]

I;ve had mine broken and then given synto to induce labour, did not work, especially as i was immobile...

with DD they broke spontaneously at 6- 7 cm, and ruined the shoes i had left under the bed she was born 2 hours later

[Psychomum5]

I have been induced 4 times (only my first was a 'spontanious' labour), even tho I have in fact gone into prem labour with 3 of them and had to have it stopped (with many drugs that I am now allergic too), and I sometimes swear that (with DD1 especially), they thought "well, bugger you......you wouldn;t let me come when I planned, so now am not gonna come at all!!!". They still each have that attitude now!!!

my waters tho, were only broken when I asked.....my inductions each time only ever needed one pesserie, and I 'got going' extraordinarily quickly, and then when the waters were done, I had the babes in less than 20mins. I do have a 'good cervix' tho apparently. with each and all, 5cm to 10cm took 10mins.

speed not good at times tho......one time the midwife didn;t even ave time to gown up and put fresh gloves on from changing after she broke my waters. she broke them, stripped of to put fresh on as baby made an appearance!!!! midwife not overly impressed, altho I was !

[Mintpurple]

Its a really odd thing because I know this research says it makes no difference, but anecdotally from my own practice, I cant agree with it.

If you use it as a method of induction, for a primip, it might not make a big difference, but if you ARM a multip (2nd or subsequent babys) especially in established labour and encourage mobilisation, I really do think it speeds things up a lot.

Thats not to say that I necessarily do it or suggest it for everyone, but if labour has stalled or is a bit slow as sometimes happens in mid 1st stage (5-8cms), I think it really works well.

Used appropriately, I dont believe it increases the c/s risk.

[FAQ]

well after 2 spontaneous ruptures followed by 2 assisted deliveries (the first a CS - very dubious reasons looking back, the 2nd an induced VBAC with ventouse).

Ironically my 3rd my waters went on their own once I was well into established labour (not induced) and the whole thing was pretty quick really (and unassisted).

[FAQ]

oh and both DS1 and DS2 (spontaneous ruptures) were in a terrible position

[expatinscotland]

I had mine broken with DD1 when I was stuck at 8cm and the waters were definitely bulging.

Incidentally, she was in a terrible position - anterior placenta, face up and with her hand cupping her head above her ear.

So I whilst I got to 10cm about an hour after the waters were broken, I still needed forceps delivery.

Waters went spontaneously with DD2 whilst I was pushing her out and she was born with a caul on her head, a lucky thing, apparently. My dad was born with one and has to be one of the luckiest people I've met.

[SisterSputnik]

I had my waters broken when already in labour with both mine. It certainly did speed things up a lot. With my second baby I think it was about 15-20 minutes from them breaking the waters til birth, and would've been quicker probably if they hadn't been fiddling around trying to give me an epidural which in the end I didn't need.

Both times I was well dilated but just not progressing. It was fine by me, I wanted to get on with things

[PaulaYatesBiggestFan]

not for me
amniotomy means birth and quick

[OracleInaCoracle]

i had mine broken with ds because he was distressed and i'd been in labour for 3d, they were bright green ffs! and it remains to this day, second only regaining consciousness to a room full of doctors whispering in panic, the most terrifying part of the whole process.

[suzi2]

The internal just before the mw was going to pop mine ruptured mine with DS. I was about 9cm dilated. Still took me hours after that as there was meconium and I was stuck on my back with monitors etc etc.

With DD, my waters were what was holding things back. I was fully dilated for ages and just couldn't get them to pop and she wasn't coming before they popped it would seem. I could feel them bulging soooo low down! Once they popped she arrived in a few minutes.

I am quite appreciative that I've had mine intact for most of the labours. Whilst the pressure was immense, I have been told that the pain is worse post waters going...

[maxbear]

As a midwife I don't do it very often as it can sometimes cause problems and does intensify the pain a lot, but I would agree with everything mintpurple said.

[fishie]

that's really interesting re pain and fluid, my waters broke and i never did go into labour. three days and nights of induction later i had a cs. i suspect that the induction didn't work because i was so tensed up due to pain and fear (i wasn't allowed an epidural even with 10 hours of drip).

oh and a bloody doctor shoved a hook up while i was on the drip "just to see" no idea why i let him do that as had been sitting in a puddle for half a week. considering you get the cs because of risk of infection it is quite ridiculous.

[colditz]

I told my midwife with ds2 that I was "NOT going to allow her to use that fucking thing, so put it away and stop waving it around down there!"

waters went on their own 10 minutes later anyway.

[fishie]

wish i'd done that colditz. respect.

[Ledodgy]

My waters were broken at 8cm with my first as she was back to back and it was very slow it did nothing to speed things up just made it more painful, my second was so quick the waters broke as he came out but with my third they broke naturally twelve hours before active labour began and for me a dry labour was worse than the others especially at the pushing stage.

[hotcrossbunny]

I finally persuaded them to let me conme in to the hospital to be told 'if you're under 3 cms we'll send you home.
After the longest most uncomfortable journey of my life (felt like it anyway) and having to stop every 30 seconds for a contraction as I crossed the foyer, went up in the lift etc etc (why are maternity units the furthest away from the car park???) and arrived to be told I was 9 cms! Great I thought. They broke my waters as I was so tired and they said 'baby will be here ever so quickly'.
Well..... I arrived at 9 o'clock, baby didn't til 5 o'clock. Not terribly fast, considering I wasn't getting a break from the contractions. I went from arrival in hospital where I was in pain but coping, to being out of control, utterly disorientated and frightened, and definitely not coping. I couldn't have an epidural as the anaesthetist was busy with an emergency. I pushed for 3 hours, had a double episiotomy and finally dd arrived.

I would not let them near me with a crochet hook ever again. In fact I probably will not ever have a baby again and certainly not in that hospital

[levan]

I had mine broken as had been stuck at 4 cm for ages. This intensified contractions but four hours later I was still 4 cm and therefore needed more intervention. Won't let them do it if I have another one.

[whomovedmychocolate]

I'm still writing 'feck off with your crochet hook' on my bump just in case I get carted off to the hospital. But I still plan to have this baby at home, the midwives have less things to hurt me with than the doctors .

[systemsaddict]

I was induced, contractions started after 2nd pessary 6pm. 14 hours later I was only at 2 cm ... 2 hours after that they broke my waters, promising me it would 'speed things up a bit'. Took another 14 hours of really painful contractions before a badly-positioned ds was finally forcep-ly removed [oh dear terrible pun sorry], synto dialed up to the max by the end and things still moved very very slowly. So no, didn't help me much.

The thing that really p*sses me off about it, though, is that my 'official' labour time on my notes was counted from the moment of ARM so those first 16 hours don't officially exist!